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Why servicing - correct - servicing is so important...


RWG Technical

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Using the current exchange rate, if you convert the cost of full overhaul of automatic movement from British pounds to dollars, it is around $80, from certain independant watchsmiths.. Gen Rolex will be slightly more of course.. And getting your gen Rolex serviced by AD will be a lot more than that.

The fear for me in this case, is what is that independent watchsmith REALLY doing?? Are they REALLY doing a complete disassembly, full cleaning and proper oiling? If so...that's cheap. I imagine corners are being cut...call me skeptical and flame to high heaven...but if you get a quality full servicing for that price...I think you found Watch Servicing Nirvana!!

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The fear for me in this case, is what is that independent watchsmith REALLY doing?? Are they REALLY doing a complete disassembly, full cleaning and proper oiling? If so...that's cheap. I imagine corners are being cut...call me skeptical and flame to high heaven...but if you get a quality full servicing for that price...I think you found Watch Servicing Nirvana!!

Yes, complete full overhaul. The thing is though, we don't find it all that cheap here in the UK, its only because the pound has dropped so much against the dollar. When the pound was worth $2 or around that, then the servicing cost for regular automatic would be $100-110.

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I always believe in paying a workman for his labor, especially moreso if the guy is an artist.

So if a service is $100 and it takes 4 hours to get it apart, ultrasonically cleaned, inspected, oiled, reassembled, checked on a timer for beat... that's a lousy $25/hour.

An artist is worth far more than that, and I personally wouldn't want someone tearing my vintage gen down and slapping it back together in 4 hours.

I have a carefully constructed mental image of Ziggy sitting in a warm wooded den, tools askance, briar pipe nearby with a snifter of good brandy, Debussy on the stereo, all dressed in tweed and slippers, J purring on the couch, and he's inspecting each minute detail of my watches with the biggest magnifying lens you've ever seen. After each successful inspection he dips the part, one at a time, into a vat of cleaning solution, and carefully hand dries it, placing it carefully on a padded velvet cushion. Of course he changes the solution between each part.

See? That's how an artist does it... honest. Just ask J. And the results are well worth the going price. :tu:

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I always believe in paying a workman for his labor, especially moreso if the guy is an artist.

So if a service is $100 and it takes 4 hours to get it apart, ultrasonically cleaned, inspected, oiled, reassembled, checked on a timer for beat... that's a lousy $25/hour.

An artist is worth far more than that, and I personally wouldn't want someone tearing my vintage gen down and slapping it back together in 4 hours.

I have a carefully constructed mental image of The Zigmeister sitting in a warm wooded den, tools askance, briar pipe nearby with a snifter of good brandy, Debussy on the stereo, all dressed in tweed and slippers, J purring on the couch, and he's inspecting each minute detail of my watches with the biggest magnifying lens you've ever seen. After each successful inspection he dips the part, one at a time, into a vat of cleaning solution, and carefully hand dries it, placing it carefully on a padded velvet cushion. Of course he changes the solution between each part.

See? That's how an artist does it... honest. Just ask J. And the results are well worth the going price. :tu:

Couldn't agree more. I wouldn't want no rush job on my gen either.. but it seems that watchmakers of the same calibre as The Zigmeister are not available in large numbers.

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I have a carefully constructed mental image of Ziggy sitting in a warm wooded den, tools askance, briar pipe nearby with a snifter of good brandy, Debussy on the stereo, all dressed in tweed and slippers, J purring on the couch, and he's inspecting each minute detail of my watches with the biggest magnifying lens you've ever seen. After each successful inspection he dips the part, one at a time, into a vat of cleaning solution, and carefully hand dries it, placing it carefully on a padded velvet cushion. Of course he changes the solution between each part.

:rofl:

In contrast to the image you have of the Zigmeister's smoke-filled, paneled den, the reality (for those, unlike our Nanuq, who really may not know) is that most watchmakers' benches tend to look more like this

workbench010a.jpg

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