3135 movement using the parachrom blue

[olpercy2]

Sorry, this is my first post. I just acquired a SD Z series (2006). Looked up info on many sites but keep going down rabbit holes. Just want to know if it has the blue parachrom spring ? Seems not all cal. 3135 have it. How to know if your 3135 has it ? Year of production ? Thanks

[Tools]

The Parachrom hairspring was introduced in 2000 in the 4130 movement and was not "blued" until 2005 when it was put into the 3186 movements.

It was used, but not advertised, in the Sub/SD 3135 movements as a matter of course as Rolex was not as rabid about these things as enthusiasts have become.

Since yours is in the era of blued springs, the only to truly know is likely to look at it.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

Sorry, this is my first post. I just acquired a SD Z series (2006). Looked up info on many sites but keep going down rabbit holes. Just want to know if it has the blue parachrom spring ? Seems not all cal. 3135 have it. How to know if your 3135 has it ? Year of production ? Thanks

Makes little or no difference whatsoever hairspring in in your watch,whether the nivourax ones used by Rolex plus most of the Swiss watch manufacturers over the past 60 odd years or the parachrom so in that time era could be nivourax or parachrom.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

Sorry, this is my first post. I just acquired a SD Z series (2006). Looked up info on many sites but keep going down rabbit holes. Just want to know if it has the blue parachrom spring ? Seems not all cal. 3135 have it. How to know if your 3135 has it ? Year of production ? Thanks

Welcome to the forum
Yours possibly dates to before the transition period from memory. My impression was that the change over didn't happen for the 3135 until sometime after 2009 - 2010

It probably doesn't make much difference if any to timekeeping.
But if i remember the marketing around it correctly, the claim to fame of the Parachrome Hairspring was resistance to magnetism. Though Rolex never published figures as to how much better it was over the Nivarox that was also used around that era which i think was also classified as Antimagnetic.
Now i could be wrong, but a Hairspring that's capable of withstanding a 4800Am strength magnetic field for a given time period is effectively deemed to be, or classified as Antimagnetic.

Having said that, i did magnetise a watch whilst doing some deep Spring cleaning once, because i moved a couple of large HiFi speakers while wearing an early 3130 movement that had a Nivarox in it.
That watch, along with a couple of others with 3185 movements which i had at the time were magnificently accurate. The magnetised watch started to run astonishingly fast over a short number of hours so i sent it in to Rolex. They happily demagnetised it for me free of charge as i gave them the heads up about what i was doing when it went crazy fast on me so i suspected it was manetised and it had not long(a couple of weeks) come back from a service running perfectly.

Both my current Rolex watches have the Rolex Hairspring but they're sadly really not as accurate but have very good precision.

In summary.
If accuracy is your concern, i wouldn't give it another thought as there are a whole bunch of factors that will come into play around that
And as far as i know Rolex only ever claimed the Parachrome was more Antimagnetic than the Nivarox but there are no official figures given for it and the Nivarox was recognised as being Antimagnetic anyway
As has been said, the Parachrome was used in the Daytona before Rolex blued it and called it the Parachrome Blue and trumpeted its wonders without quantifying it.

[olpercy2]

Thanks a lot for your quick replies, so if I understand correctly, Nivarox and Parachrom are the manufacturers of these hairsprings used by Rolex ? Wow ! Funny you say that it was "blued" by Rolex ! Applying blue color to metal ? as advertising ? I have a full color catalog from Rolex (2010) including a full page photo of the blue Parachrome spring stating :" it is not affected by magnetic fields and is 10 times more resistant to shocks".
Whatever the answer is, I know I have a top quality watch on my wrist, I was just curious about details. BTW , accuracy is not important to me, it's only worn on and off. Anyway, it's in for service, so I will confirm what hairspring it has a bit later. This is a great forum, thanks again !

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

Thanks a lot for your quick replies, so if I understand correctly, Nivarox and Parachrom are the manufacturers of these hairsprings used by Rolex ? Wow ! Funny you say that it was "blued" by Rolex ! Applying blue color to metal ? as advertising ? I have a full color catalog from Rolex (2010) including a full page photo of the blue Parachrome spring stating :" it is not affected by magnetic fields and is 10 times more resistant to shocks".
Whatever the answer is, I know I have a top quality watch on my wrist, I was just curious about details. BTW , accuracy is not important to me, it's only worn on and off. Anyway, it's in for service, so I will confirm what hairspring it has a bit later. This is a great forum, thanks again !

The Parchrome is exclusively manufactured by Rolex.
The Nivarox we refer to is made by Nivarox. It is very common and they make various Mainsprings and Hairsprings at differnt qualities. I think Rolex used the best(highest grade) that Nivarox make.
It's to be assumed that Rolex are heat bluing as opposed to chemical bluing.

I totally forgot about the shock resistant factor

[Easy E]

FWIW, I seem to recall the watchmaker at the AD I used most telling me if you send an older watch in for a full service today it will get the updated spring. So another question for the OP and the 06 model, has the watch been recently serviced? Maybe Bas can validate or refute what I have in my head.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Easy E

FWIW, I seem to recall the watchmaker at the AD I used most telling me if you send an older watch in for a full service today it will get the updated spring. So another question for the OP and the 06 model, has the watch been recently serviced? Maybe Bas can validate or refute what I have in my head.

That's a really big call and may not necessarily be easy and certainly not cheap.
My understanding is that the Hairspring and Balance are sort of a matched set and replaced accordingly.
Perhaps that would preclude it happening as a matter of course

Are you possibly confusing the Hairspring with the Mainspring?
The Mainspring is replaced as an assembly with the Barrel on some movements, with this new way forward we get a slightly longer power reserve.
Mainsprings are routinely replaced at service anyway and the newer assembly being an update in of itself.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by Dirt

That's a really big call and may not necessarily be easy and certainly not cheap.
My understanding is that the Hairspring and Balance are sort of a matched set and replaced accordingly.
Perhaps that would preclude it happening as a matter of course

Are you possibly confusing the Hairspring with the Mainspring?
The Mainspring is replaced as an assembly with the Barrel on some movements, with this new way forward we get a slightly longer power reserve.
Mainsprings are routinely replaced at service anyway and the newer assembly being an update in of itself.

Perhaps, that conversation was every bit of two years ago, and no immediate action followed. So, I may very well have that out of sorts.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

Thanks a lot for your quick replies, so if I understand correctly, Nivarox and Parachrom are the manufacturers of these hairsprings used by Rolex ? Wow ! Funny you say that it was "blued" by Rolex ! Applying blue color to metal ? as advertising ? I have a full color catalog from Rolex (2010) including a full page photo of the blue Parachrome spring stating :" it is not affected by magnetic fields and is 10 times more resistant to shocks".
. . .:

Nivarox FAR, which makes excellent hairsprings is owned by Swatch.

A few years back Swatch made the decision to no longer supply parts and ETA movement ebauchs to non-Swatch group manufacturers.

Rolex responded by developing their own hairsprings, the Parachrom. They further went so far as developing their own separate movements for Tudor and a few other non-Rolex partners, notably Cartier and Breitling.

Bluing is a long-time sign of luxury in machined parts and is usually a heat treatment, although now days is also accomplished chemically.

When Rolex says "10x more effective than normal springs", they are referring to basic springs and not the top line Nivarox FAR springs.

Rolex has also developed a silicon hairspring, Syloxi, used in the ladies movements and may be the future for hairspring technology.

[Pepperjack]

Originally Posted by Easy E

FWIW, I seem to recall the watchmaker at the AD I used most telling me if you send an older watch in for a full service today it will get the updated spring. So another question for the OP and the 06 model, has the watch been recently serviced? Maybe Bas can validate or refute what I have in my head.

The hairspring/balance wheel is not replaced unless it's necessary, in which case the customer would be charged for it. I suppose it could be a requested change by the customer. If I remember correctly, it's around $480 USD for a new oscillator.

[olpercy2]

The watch is currently being serviced, it should be ready in a couple of weeks. I asked them about the hairspring and I'm waiting for answer. Cheers.

[sgt10p]

Originally Posted by Tools

Nivarox FAR, which makes excellent hairsprings is owned by Swatch.

A few years back Swatch made the decision to no longer supply parts and ETA movement ebauchs to non-Swatch group manufacturers.

Rolex responded by developing their own hairsprings, the Parachrom. They further went so far as developing their own separate movements for Tudor and a few other non-Rolex partners, notably Cartier and Breitling.

Bluing is a long-time sign of luxury in machined parts and is usually a heat treatment, although now days is also accomplished chemically.

When Rolex says "10x more effective than normal springs", they are referring to basic springs and not the top line Nivarox FAR springs.

Rolex has also developed a silicon hairspring, Syloxi, used in the ladies movements and may be the future for hairspring technology.

Great information, thanks a lot. 👍

[Tools]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

The watch is currently being serviced, it should be ready in a couple of weeks. I asked them about the hairspring and I'm waiting for answer. Cheers.

They don't always come through with useful information. As mentioned, it is one of those things that are very seldom replaced because there is no real advantage, plus it is not included in a normal service.

Let us know what they say.

[Andad]

Thanks for the details Larry et alia.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

The watch is currently being serviced, it should be ready in a couple of weeks. I asked them about the hairspring and I'm waiting for answer. Cheers.

They cannot just change the hairspring the complete balance escapement will have to be changed as well.

[olpercy2]

Reply from Service center: (They are very nice and sent me many pics of the inside of my watch). Mine doesn't have the Parachrom. Their chief watchmaker said the 16600 model comes with the steel one, not the Par. Said mine was in great shape, did not need to be replaced. (This 2006 watch's first service, BUT keep in mind I wore this watch only about 25% of the time). Said if replacement was required , the Parachrom is the only option (Proof that Rolex wants to use their own hairspring ) and I could chose to put it in at anytime, but would cost me $550 CAD. (Like a few of you guys said). I told them I'd like to keep the Nivarox, it has made its proof over the years as a workhorse, and I bet it will probably outlive me ! Hope this info is of interest to some of you. Cheers.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by olpercy2

Reply from Service center: (They are very nice and sent me many pics of the inside of my watch). Mine doesn't have the Parachrom. Their chief watchmaker said the 16600 model comes with the steel one, not the Par. Said mine was in great shape, did not need to be replaced. (This 2006 watch's first service, BUT keep in mind I wore this watch only about 25% of the time). Said if replacement was required , the Parachrom is the only option (Proof that Rolex wants to use their own hairspring ) and I could chose to put it in at anytime, but would cost me $550 CAD. (Like a few of you guys said). I told them I'd like to keep the Nivarox, it has made its proof over the years as a workhorse, and I bet it will probably outlive me ! Hope this info is of interest to some of you. Cheers.

Great
Thanks for the feedback