Repairs to a Replica

[OldPilot]

I went to a local jeweler today to talk about repair/overhaul of my genuine Rolex Explorer. At the same time I asked about adjustment of my replica GMT Master II. (It is about 20 sec per day fast). He said that his "relationship" with Rolex that allows him to be a certified repair facility precludes him from being able to even touch a replica. I understand this. It does not seem unreasonable.

The main question here is. What do most folks do to get simple adjustments to their reps? Is it that difficult to find someone reliable/capable of making adjustments and repairs?

[rogerthat]

Most watch or clock repair shops are ok with reps <br />Jewelry stores that sell brand names I would assume are not ok with reps <br /><br />That said not all watch and clock repair guys are good enough watchsmiths to trust to fiddle with your watches<br />It is kind of a dying field and most are changing batteries and otherwise not doing much else on watches <br />

Edited September 18, 2012 by rogerthat

[panerai153]

We have a very nice fellow close by to me who was certified by Omega, years ago.I'm sure he is OK, but I'm a little reluctant to take anything I truly care about to him for repair. In the past 15-20 years, I doubt that he has actually worked on more than a handful of mechanical movements a year. I asked him if he had a pressure tester, his answer was "I've got one, but it's been so long since it's been used, the seals are all dry rotted" Pretty much all he is doing now is changing watch batteries.

Watchmaking as a profession is truly a dying art. more and more quartz watches, which in a lot of cases have become throwaway watches. Not to say that there aren't high end quartz watches, because there are, but considereing that the cheapest mechanical watch will cost over 200.00 USD, it's easy to see why the masses are wearing 49.99 Quartz watches. The trend doesn't bode well for the profession.