Noob question from a "senior" member...

[fitmic]

When you have a watch that's working perfectly, why service it?

Is it too late to hand the watch over to your watch smith when the watch is already dead?

Has too much damage been done to the movement, if not been serviced already?

[P4GTR]

great question. I believe zig posted some pics a while back about non-oiled/serviced movements, and showed some close ups of the damage and wear it caused to the parts.

[alligoat]

It just depends. If the watch stops because it's just dirty, a cleaning and servicing will get it up and running again typically.

But if parts are worn out or damaged, they probably will have to be replaced. On an asian 21j, it's not cost effective and parts aren't available so you put a new movement in there. With an ETA, you can get parts so you can repair it.

If you have an ETA and you wear it alot, it might not be a bad investment to service it (around $100) if you want to keep wearing it for 3-5 years. But I still just service mine when they stop- ETA or asian. I did have Ziggy service a asian 7750 rep that I really like- $200! But now I should be good for 3-5 years with that watch.

[fakemaster]

You should service your watches as soon as you get them.

[freddy333]

Any watch movement can be repaired. But it is always easier (and cheaper) to clean & lubricate than to replace broken/worn parts.

That said, most 'dead' movements just need to be cleaned & relubed. They tend to die because the oils either dried out or gummed up.

Whether you should automatically service every new rep is a judgment call in my opinion. If the watch contains a POS Asian movement, I would let it run until it dies since the cost of servicing will easily exceed the value of the rep. But I think watches powered by ETAs fall into a gray area where they are definitely worth servicing, but the service costs tend to equal the value of a replacement (surplus) ETA. I think Ziggy's recommendations are probably best -- If it is an important watch that you intend to wear & rely on to keep good time, you should have a general service (clean/lube) when the watch is new so you will not end up with a dead watch or have to spend more to replace worn/damaged parts.