Servicing movements - Why? What's the importance?

[Davey]

High end and chronomovents should be serviced regularly IMHO! Some of the cheaper end stuff (Miyota, ETA28xx) is just cheaper to replace with new

[RWG Technical]

It's ok, we understand you.

My take is that sure, if I had a pricey genuine watch like a rollie or, more probable, an IWC, I'd follow the manufacturer's recommended service intervals, but I find it hard to justify a service on a 2836-based rep, as a service vs service and repair/parts is minimal. A 7750 (asian or swiss) would be different as the difference between service/repair and service is larger.

Having said that, I'm seriously considering thje TZ course to learn to service my 2836/24 reps.

Thank god someone understands me, can I get you to call Jennifer and explain me to her??

I agree on the value/availibility of the movement vs servicing. But it will always be cheaper to clean than replace parts. Like a car, the cost of the parts individually is much more than a complete movement.

As strange as it seems, the simple movements like the 6497 handwind, ends up on my bench a lot. Why should it fail? Mostly because it's a handwind and they seem to be more prone to problems due to lack of oil. The weakest link in any movement is the human to movement interface, the less you allow the owner to mess with the internals, the better off you are. In the case of a handwind, well you have to manuall wind it every day or so, and due to this action, combined with the lack of lube, they seem to fail quicker. A good cleaning, fresh oil, and they work perfect again. The majority of the problems are with the winding, not the actual movement timekeeping stuff...

On the TZ course, great idea, shoot me a PM, I can help (wink, wink) with the "Ahem..." training material..."say no more..." if you catch my drift...

RG

[SenileCoot]

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.

The oil change is an interesting topic. The 300,000 mile truck guy was surely one of the luckiest men in the world. I used to have Pontiac that I would bring for all schedule maintenances and oil changes but after 85,000 miles there were so many little problems popping up everywhere that I have decided to get rid of it. The American cars were never known for their reliability but my friend's '95 Ford Escort has 280,000 miles on it and still works like a Swiss watch.

The 3,000 miles oil change is largely a creation of the oil industry, indeed. I believe that Toyota (and we can hardly say anything bad about the reliability of Toyotas and Hondas) recommends an oil change after the first 1,000 miles and then after each 7,500. Mercedes and BMW tells you to change only when their sensors go off or once a year. I've heard of a study which determined that with 10,000 miles oil change wear and tear is small enough that some manufacturers pick that over a more frequent oil change as a convenience for a customer. That said, every mechanical device will wear, and wear faster without a proper lubrication. Your hard drive's heads, platters, and electronics might work for a decade but its bearings will most likely wear out much sooner than that.

[mhinagoya]

I don't post much, but I can't leave this one alone. Sorry guys.

I enjoy watches because they are stunning examples of precision mechanical contrivances. As such, I think enough of them to have them serviced on a reasonable schedule. It is a matter of my appreciation for the mechanism, not the money involved. A watch isn

[robertk]

My $.002. I've only had one movement serviced out of 70+ and that's because it crapped out. Service cost $75 and it's run fine since. I just don't feel the need to have all these serviced. I've owned and own many gens. I have had more problems with them!

[milwaukee]

I am really leaning behind the idea that I will not service a watch for the first 4 to 5 years. At that time If I still love the watch I will have it serviced. If I don't I will sell it. I can completely understand that idea that servicing a watch is cheaper than replacing parts, that said, if it's a watch you love, the service cost will be money well spent.

All that said, I have purchased more than one watch, that looked like a good idea when I bought it, only to find out that I can't take off the watch I have been wearing for the last 6 months to give it a chance and it goes unworn.

This is a great topic guys, thanks for all of your thoughts and feedback.

[RWG Technical]

Hey Ziggy, would you care to take a wild guess at how much a new balance would cost for the watch of mine you just lumed and sent back?

Oil is cheaper than metal, folks. If you're going to use a mechanism you've got to keep it lubed.

Now explain that to Ms. Nanuq. Ziggy is grinning with the knowledge of how her little 68-years old Rolex looked on the inside.

Don't tell me how much the parts cost, it make me nervous when I take them apart...

That 68 year old Ladies Rolex that I just restored, is working again, I hope you like the results when it gets home.

RG

[Watchmeister]

I may have to buy a 68 year old Rolex just to see Ziggy sweat.

[dazzla]

I think it all depends on the movements. For example the Asian 7750's which are appearing in more and more reps have a high service charge and I could never justify paying

[freddy333]

Milwaukee, if the watch contains an ETA movement and it is a watch you intend to keep, I would consider getting it serviced now and then again every 5-7 years. That way, you know the watch is in good working order and the watchmaker can give you a baseline appraisal of the overall condition of the watch.

As Rob (Ziggy) and others have suggested (though I'm not sure the point was made sufficiently clear), most (all?) of the movements in rep watches are surplus. That is, the movement in your "new" watch was likely removed from another working watch or may have been old stock that sat on a shelf, motionless, for years (while the rubber bits and lubricants degraded).

If you are courageous (and competent) enough to open the case and perform a movement transplant, then, for standard ETA movements at least, replacement is probably the better option since the cost of a "new" ETA movement is usually a bit less than the cost to service your existing movement. And if you can get 5-7 years of useful life out of each replacement, that would seem the most sensible approach.

In the case of Asian movements, they're usually not worth servicing (if you can even find replacement parts), so it's best either to replace the watch or replace/upgrade the movement (to an ETA or similar).

Things get a little gray in the case of chronographs. The 775x movements--both Asian and Swiss--that power these watches are relatively more complex and time-consuming (read: expensive) to service. In the case of the Swiss movements, these, too, are generally surplus and expensive to replace, so servicing makes alot of sense here. The Asian chronographs, which are essentially clones of the Swiss movements, are relatively cheap but I haven't seen many for sale. Since the cost to service an Asian-based chronograph is likely going to be close to the cost of the original watch, it probably makes more sense to run the watch until it quits and then replace the watch. The more hard-core hobbyist types (though the terms inventors and artists may be rather more appropriate here) frequently opt to swap-out the Asian chrono movement for a Swiss and then service that.