The Mentalist Posted October 20, 2007 Report Share Posted October 20, 2007 Can anyone recommend a good UK based watchmaker who can service my growing collection of reps? Nothing demanding, just regulation, replacing seals, pressure testing etc. None of the ones I've approached will touch them, knowing that they are reps. I'm in East London, if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratchpot Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Someone on RWI said that there's a watch repair guy in Piccadilly Underground station that works on reps. I don't remember the precise details and unfortunately RWI appears to be down at the moment. Good luck though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mentalist Posted October 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 I know the guy you mean. Been there for years. Nice old fella. I tend to avoid the West End as they normally charge tourist prices. I'll have a look though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a german in denmark Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 You might want to contact TomH on TRC. He did some work for me, movement swaps and servicing. Took ages (you have to be patient, he'll get through), but great job, as far as I can see. Just got my watches back today, actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mentalist Posted October 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 You might want to contact TomH on TRC. He did some work for me, movement swaps and servicing. Took ages (you have to be patient, he'll get through), but great job, as far as I can see. Just got my watches back today, actually... TRC? Sorry for being so dense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a german in denmark Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 TRC? Sorry for being so dense. No no, it's not being dense, I should have pointed you to http://www.replicacollector.com/ Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Is it worth bothering to service the cheaper reps? I would imagine that it would cost about the same as a new rep. Is it possible to do very basic servicing yourself. What I mean is really just oiling the mechanism. You can buy the tools and oil on e bay how easy is it to get the back off one of these reps and is it obvious where to put the oil? If you do find anyone in east London who does it put it on here, I am in Ilford and would use someone cheap and local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Is it possible to do very basic servicing yourself. What I mean is really just oiling the mechanism. You can buy the tools and oil on e bay how easy is it to get the back off one of these reps and is it obvious where to put the oil? Um, to service the movement, you need to strip it down to its component parts. For instance, here is my IWC GST on Master The Zigmeister's bench: As you can see, that's some fiddly stuff right there. When you reassemble it and oil it, using the 5 different required oils according to the oiling charts, you need to regulate it as well. Expect to pay 80 quid to have someone do an ETA 2824/2836 movement service in the UK. Chronographs are a little more, but don't expect anyone to touch the Chinese 7750 copies we use. Or, you can do the Timezone course and learn to do your own ETA 2836. It's what I'm doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mentalist Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) Is it worth bothering to service the cheaper reps? I would imagine that it would cost about the same as a new rep. Is it possible to do very basic servicing yourself. What I mean is really just oiling the mechanism. You can buy the tools and oil on e bay how easy is it to get the back off one of these reps and is it obvious where to put the oil? If yu do find anyone in east London who does it put it on here, I am in Ilford and would use someone cheap and local. I think I've been to every watchmaker in East London. Most of the reputable ones wouldn't go near a rep with a bargepole and the one that does (PM for details) doesn't do the full works. [PM for details] on Barking Road will do things like regulation and servicing but can't do pressure testing or waterproofing work. God help you if you've got a dodgy gasket on your Noobmariner. All in all, Colin's is your best bet. Edited February 9, 2008 by cornerstone Please try to keep this info to PM; it sometimes irks these guys if they come up 1 on Google for servicing reps :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Oh come on with all this take the whole mechanism to pieces and use five different types of oil. I simply refuse to believe that if you mange to get the back off and shove a bit of oil on it it won't run better. You are just over complicating things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Oh come on with all this take the whole mechanism to pieces and use five different types of oil. I simply refuse to believe that if you mange to get the back off and shove a bit of oil on it it won't run better. You are just over complicating things. I just rated this as Funny ... but then I had a horrible thought that maybe you're not joking. There is a kind of "service" called a dip-and-swish where they take off a bit of the movement and dunk the rest in cleaner followed by swishing it in paraffin. This is cheap (like 20-30 quid) and is what cowboys do when they want to take your money under the pretence of doing actual work. So, yes, if you want your watch to run perfectly for the next 5-10 years, you need 5 different grades of oil, an ultrasonic bath, trichlorethane, a beat-counter and all the right tools to strip it to its component parts and rebuild it. Here's the manual for the 2836 our reps have: http://pugwash.cat5.org/ETA/CT_2801-2_FDE_291887_07.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomhighway Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 I can do most servicing , regulation , pressure testing etc and in UK . TomH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivefive Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Someone on RWI said that there's a watch repair guy in Piccadilly Underground station that works on reps. I don't remember the precise details and unfortunately RWI appears to be down at the moment. Good luck though anyone know if he is still there?? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paolo Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Yes he is. It is called Watches to Go. I took my rep Rolex GMT to him a couple of years ago and he was genuinely interested in it, I guess he gets fed up with changing batteries in quartz watches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivefive Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 thanks, any idea how much it will cost for him to adjust a steel bracelet please? (UPO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesg Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 I'm sure it cost me less than Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corgi Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Oh come on with all this take the whole mechanism to pieces and use five different types of oil. I simply refuse to believe that if you mange to get the back off and shove a bit of oil on it it won't run better. You are just over complicating things. The best thing to do is just open your watch and smear some household butter or marjorine in there... that should make all the gears spin real smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Unfortunately I can only recommend to you who to AVOID in the UK. A certain someone who apparently is still (as of this week) working on (and ruining) watches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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