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Help: Watch repairs in Paris


Pugwash

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This is a sad tale, so let's start with the important request before we go any further. I am looking for a jewellers in Paris that is happy to do work on replicas. If you can help me, please PM me.

So, I won this raffle. Some of you may have seen the myriad of pictures I posted of my new IWC GST Chrono. You can't miss them, they're on all the boards. Precious Time sent the watch and it looked like a dream and worked well ... for a while.

A few days into my owning it, I tried the Chrono and noticed it didn't fly back to 12. I tried it again to see if it would do it again and it advanced a little further away from 12. It looked like it may have been clipping the minute hand on the way back up. At this point, I took a couple of pictures and notified Precious Tim. Here's a pic that kinda shows what I thought was happening.

19788-2538.jpg

Tim's response (no, I don't know his real name. Tim's a good one for me) was essentially that Asian chronos are fickle beasts and that I should not use it too much, which was not unexpected. He said that I should take it to a jewellers if it persists and he would cover the costs, which was nice.

I tried the next day to run it so I could stop the hand at 12, and I missed, so I reset it and tried again. It didn't move. I thought the chrono hand had stopped moving, but that it was just being fickle. However, an hour later, I looked at the watch to see the time and realised the awful truth.

The watch had stopped completely.

I immediately mailed Precious Tim asking if a replacement was possible. He replied I should take it to a jeweller and he would cover costs. At this point a replacement would have been my ideal solution, but I understand that from his point of view, my taking it to a jewellers to get it looked at would be the better solution.

The problem I have is that I live in Paris. Here, we have a large amount of authorised dealers and the largest ratio of aloof snobs to human beings on the planet. I'm sure I can find an old craftsman willing to do the work but at what I imagine is an exorbitant cost. Any help, even if it's a reputable European watch-repairer that accepts replicas and jiffy bags, would be much appreciated.

I love the watch, as anyone reading my posts about it can imagine and don't want it to become a useless titanium reminder of why real watches cost so much.

This post is in no way meant as a slight upon Precious Time's character as he's been a civilised gentleman throughout. It is not to be seen as a slur upon the IWC GST Chrono, either, as I believe we have to take slight risks in quality control as watches shipped in bubble-wrap and discrete jiffy bags are going to get stress-tested very early in their lives. I still rate this watch as one of the finest replicas out there.

This is merely a tale of unfortunate circumstances and good luck turned bad.

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Im so sorry! Although I do not have the info you request as I dont live in France, I do hope all turns out for the best. You're an awesome guy and your reviews/contributions have not gone un-noticed by me and many members here. Again, hope someone can help you out on this quest!

All the best,

Dutchy

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You could try within the EU, and ask finepics if he can service/fix chronos. The best bet would be to contact The Zigmeisterzumba and ask him, he's had experience with Asian 7750s and has had experience fixing broken/non-working movements. He's in Canada but you'll have no problems - remove the bracelet and mark the package broken watch sent for repair or something of that ilk.

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I think you are not the only one facing this problem. The IWC GST Ti from EL is half dead on arrival. The day cannot be set and it is half way between Mon and Tue. I also notice I cannot feel the rotor moving so I open it up (since it is not that tight). To my horror the end of the rotor (heavier solid metal weight) is detached totally and stucked. I think the QC for this watch is really bad.... Now trying to resolve the issue with EL.

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Guest overboosted

Wow. I won a Pam 188 from PT in a raffle and the chrono resets to 2 o'clock. Did it the first time I tried to use it. I have 4 other 7750s and never had a problem with them.

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Best of luck to you, I know you really liked that watch based on your previous posts.

I actually just purchased one myself based on your review. Hopefully I don't get a lemon also.

Maybe PT will change his mind and just let you exchange it if you can't find anyone to repair it for you.

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I'm really sorry Pugwash. Hope you'll enjoy again your IWC as soon as possibile.

So the new and improved Asian 7750 is not bulletproof after all.... :unsure:

Sad but true consideration.

All 7750 seem pretty unreliable after all unless you service it just bought (but it costs...).

I love chrono replicas but i don't trust such replica movements and i'm not able to service it by myself.

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Oh dear! Looks like I should stay away from Asian 7750 even if it's the improved version. I was planning to get the IWC GSTchrono myself as it is a beutiful watch but I think I should stay away.at least for now.

The problem is I live in Malaysia and I don't know who to send the reps to for oiling etc!

What a bummer! <_<:(

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