Servicing movements - Why? What's the importance?

[milwaukee]

Hey guys,

I need your help on something. I have purchased a few reps, all with swiss movements, some manual wind some automatic and all have kept great time. I am now at the point where I would like to have some mods done, all cosmetic at this point. Which brings me to my question... What is the point of servicing a movement if it is working properly. It is rather expensive, which is understood considering the movement is taken apart.

I am asking this because I have no idea why this should be done, and will have it done if somebody can convince me of it's importance. Would I be better off waiting until the movement quits working properly, or should I have it done as long as i'm already having a relume, crown fix, etc done. (FYI - I considering this on a panerai and omega)

Any help or thoughts on this topic would be much appreciated.

Cheer,

Milwaukee

[deltatahoe]

my thinking = wait till it stops working properly, then decide if its worth the dollars to get the watch fixed / serviced. by the time one of my watches breaks and/or needs servicing, i may or may not like that particular watch as much anymore, and there may or may not be other/better replicas out there. for me, i'd rather save the money now (read: spend on other watches) and cross the bridge when i come to it. i've only been collecting replicas for ten months or so now, but (knock on wood) i haven't had any issues with any of my movements. we'll see if my decision works out in the long run or not.

however, as with most things, it will likely be more expensive to fix and service a watch that is broken (assuming you are able to find the correct parts) than to service a watch that is still working properly. given the possibility of breaking beyond repair, i think some people decide to service watches that they absolutely love (ie. pugwash's iwc gst ti), to give themselves the peace of mind that the watch will have a nice, long life.

one other thing to think about -- you do read about some of the movements (mainly the cheaper asian models) in replica watches having i) dirt in them, ii) lack of proper oiling from the factory, iii) a whole host of other issues (ie. gears with broken or missing teeth, etc), which would of course be taken care of by a servicing.

in the end, i think it's basically just different strokes for different folks.

hope this helps...

deltatahoe

[jkerouac]

Do you get regular maintenance on your car, or do you wait until it runs dry of oil, the tires, fall apart, or you find yourself on a country road without a working headlight? In any of these situations, wouldn't preventive maintenance be less expensive than waiting until something catastrophic happens? So why should other mechanical devices, such as watches, be any different?

It also depends in part on how much you value your watches. Some reps, I will admit, will disappear from my collection when the watch breaks down. Others that I cherish would be irreplaceable. And finding replacement parts for reps with generic Asian movements may not be as simple as for a genuine.

The Zigmeister has discussed this topic a number of times, from the perspective of someone who sees some severely broken movements. In his opinion, and I am sure it is not just to promote his business because he has all that he can handle. preventive maintenance is far less expensive than waiting until there is a catastrophic breakdown.

[jfreeman420]

I think servicing movements is a bunch of bull. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I had a 20 year old rolex president never serviced and kept great time. I also had a 1950's rolex precision serviced once kept great time. I have 23 watches several are over 5 years old never serviced, keep good time.

I read an article once where a guy had a pickup truck with 300,000 miles on it and never changed the oil. He just added a quart here and there and his truck ran like new. There is a lot of skepticism about the every 3000 miles thing. Basically marketing for the oil companies. I smell conspiracy.

Of course I do change the oil in my car every 3,000 miles. That is one conspiracy theory I don't want to test. Besides it's a fun ritual, part of taking care of your pride and joy.

I don't think I wold ever pay $200 to get a $200 watch serviced. It doesn't make any sense. If a genuine Rolex starts gaining or losing, I would then have it serviced.

[Pugwash]

I had a 20 year old rolex president never serviced and kept great time.

Sure it was serviced. It was serviced just before you bought it. The movements in our watches can't always claim this, hence the need for servicing.

Having said that, I've had precisely one of my watches serviced.

[eddhead]

Sure it was serviced. It was serviced just before you bought it. The movements in our watches can't always claim this, hence the need for servicing.

Having said that, I've had precisely one of my watches serviced.

not to overstate the obvious but... it depends... am i going to service my $100 noobmariner.. uhh no... am i going to service my 2892 029... probably... replacement cost for the first is a lot cheaper than replacement cost for the second.... if you can even GET the second anymore...

[Pugwash]

not to overstate the obvious but... it depends

Hear hear.

I've not considered servicing on an ETA 2836/2824 because for the price of posting it to Canada and back, I can pick up a replacement and drop it in. People scared of opening their watches, however, don't have this option.

[milwaukee]

Thanks guys, I guess I am at the point where I have a $320 rep and I am planning to stick in another $200, what's another $100. I will have to give it some thought as it is my understanding that the movements in my watch's seem to be pretty run of the mill movements.

This is a tough one.

BTW, I do try to change the oil in my car every 10,000 miles (synthetic), but a replacment engine may run me slightly more that a new rep.

Thanks for the replies, I look forward to other opinions.

I would also love to hear some stories about how long reps have lasted with no service.

[Pugwash]

I will have to give it some thought as it is my understanding that the movements in my watch's seem to be pretty run of the mill movements.

What movement is it?

If it's a 2836/2824 I'd not worry about maintenance just yet.

[milwaukee]

What movement is it?

If it's a 2836/2824 I'd not worry about maintenance just yet.

I have a one 2824-2, and a 6497.

The 6497 is the most tempting to me, especially if I stick some good money into mods, but what's to say it won't break after a service.

oh the madness

[Pugwash]

The 6497 is the most tempting to me, especially if I stick some good money into mods, but what's to say it won't break after a service.

I've never even considered getting a handwind serviced.

[milwaukee]

I guess that answers that... I'll go ahead and upgrade that crown afterall

[ubiquitous]

Here's one of the reasons why I get my movements serviced...

Before...

And after the Ziggy treatment...

The movement is a 30 year old Zenith El Primero 400/3019, which I used in my 2nd Daytona project. After a proper overhaul, the movement looks and runs like new.

I've had Ziggy servce a number of my keeper pieces... The ones that are worth the investment as I plan on keeping them long term.

[Watchmeister]

My rule of thumb is to get the watch first. If it is one which I think I will have interest in wearing over the long term I do tend to get it serviced. At a minimum every piece floats by Ziggy anyhow and he tells me what it needs. The other huge benefit to a service is that you ensure that it is properly lubed and sealed at all the various water entry points.

[ubiquitous]

And, one more that I had done. This time, a V23 for my 6265, also overhauled by Ziggy...

Dirty, nasty parts...

Looking better...

And after...

Again... Looking like new...

When I rec'd the movement, it was initially running only intermittently, and then stopped completely. So, up to Rob it went. After tearing down the movement, he discovered that the cause of the problem was a rogue screw that had found it's way into the gear train. Especially odd, as the screw was not even part of the movement

Anyways... Ziggy had the entire movement stripped down, cleaned (he noted that he ran the parts through the cleaning solution twice, and the solution turned black after the 2nd rinse) and back together in short order (2 days). Now, I have the peace of mind that the movement is clean, stable, rate/beat adjusted properly and I now have a good baseline on service that will allow me to stay ahead of the curve by servicing regluarly (and not when something breaks).

[dachshund]

Servicing a movment depends on several factors, if its a watch that you really like and it has an extremely expensive movement, by all means have it serviced. Even with that type of movement I wouldn't have it serviced until it showed some reason to have it serviced. In a complete service all parts are supposed to be disassembled, cleaned, oiled and the main spring replaced, even if a couple of other parts have to be replaced, what do you add to the cost of service $25, $35, $50. Even if a fairly expense movement has to be replaced, barring your elite brands, which by the way, most of our reps do not have, you still can't compare that to the cost of replacing a $4000, and up engine in a car.

For the typical ETA rep (2824, 2836), a new movement can be purchased at todays prices for $75- $90, you can find NEW doner movements on ebay for as little as $35-$40, so why would one even consider servicing a rep with 2824/2836 when there are no signs indicating a service is needed.

[Corgi]

In my opinion service is not necessary. I have a Orient, works for 30+ years without service...

[Pix]

I've never even considered getting a handwind serviced.

Hi Pug,

any technical reason for this ?

Thx

[Pugwash]

any technical reason for this ?

No, but they all feel fine and are cheap enough to replace wholesale.

[HauteHippie]

Is changing the oil in your car important? Or is it a waste of money? It's one of those things you might not see the value in until you encounter problems. The point is well made about the cost of new movements vs. the cost of servicing. But the new movements are (A) likely to be unserviced, and ( getting more and more difficult to find.

[RWG Technical]

There are two camps,

Camp 1. never service a movement, waste of money, fix it when it breaks.

Camp 2. service it regularly, to maintain it, and prevent it from wearing out.

You

[Pix]

No, but they all feel fine and are cheap enough to replace wholesale.

I just bought one, so I'm fully satisfied with your answer !

[pman]

I fall into Camp 2. What I haven't quite figured out yet is when to have it serviced. I have three reps all less than a year old. All are swiss ETA, or at least I ordered ETAs. When should a relatively new swiss ETA watch be serviced? One year, two years into it's life? Some advocate that a watch should be served right away. The Zigmeister I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

[RWG Technical]

I fall into Camp 2. What I haven't quite figured out yet is when to have it serviced. I have three reps all less than a year old. All are swiss ETA, or at least I ordered ETAs. When should a relatively new swiss ETA watch be serviced? One year, two years into it's life? Some advocate that a watch should be served right away. Ziggy I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

Since I offer this service, no matter what I say will sound biased and a sales pitch...but here is my viewpoint.

Although the condition of the movements in the reps varies a lot (due to the fact they are surplus movements), my personal view is that a few years of running is not going to do them any harm. These movements typically have "some" oil in them in varying quantities, and given that spare parts are available, not very expensive (say compared to a Rolex or other high end model) then waiting a few years is not a big issue. Even if something is worn out, in my shop I have many spare parts for run of the mill ETA models...

Some choose to have them serviced right away, some wait till the performance drops (if it starts to run Faster, it's in need of service), some don't service them at all, preferring to hold out for a newer and better model.

It's to each their own, I would not go past the 5 year mark, as at that point, the oils are dried up for certain.

RG

[Pugwash]

But then again, I see this stuff first hand, so it