Wheeling Jim Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 A few days ago I was trying to remove a screw from my GMT bracelet. After breaking 2 screwdrivers and destroying the slot in the screw, I decided to take it to a watch repair shop. I checked the yellow pages and the closest repair place was a very high end jewelry store near my house. Since they sold watches, I phoned to make sure they didn't sell Rolex. All they sold were Seiko and Movado, so I felt safe to take it in. When I arrived, their were 2 repair people and I showed one the problem and he took it back to the repair area. As I was looking around at the outragously priced jewelry, I noticed him calling the other person back to the repair area. At that point I became a little nervous about being called out and being asked to leave the store. After a long 10 minutes, both of them came out and walked up to me with the watch. The older man then told me they had a hard time getting the screw out & it took both of them to do it. He then said "This is a beautiful watch, you wouldn't believe how many people come in here with fake rolex's and expect us to repair them. I have been in this business for over 25 years and can spot a fake half way across the room". I then replied that something should be done to stop all these fakes after people spend thousands of dollars for a watch. I was wearing my datejust with the gold bezel and mid links. I took it off and showed it to them. They were wowed and showed it to the other clerks in the store. They passed it around and were in awe. I then asked how much I owed and he said "no charge. It was a pleasure working on a fine watch". I got back in my car and laughed all the way home. I purchased the two watches from a member for a total of $140.00. The moral of the story is that we really don't appreciate the quality of the reps we get from our trusted dealers. Everyone spends so much time picking apart every little flaw in the watches, that I don't think we really understand how good they acually are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_brian_ Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Classic story, thanks for sharing! There are some similar stories with jewelery stores but one may not forget that it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john7830 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Excellent story. It would seem reps have gotten so good, that these days, maybe 1-2% of people who REALLY know their stuff could spot one and thats impressive in its own right. It used to be you could spot a fake 10ft away. Not anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialvat Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Better not to bait the professionals tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maulermacall@hotmail.com Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Any chance you could post pics of the two watches? Be interesting to see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yodap Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Any chance you could post pics of the two watches? Be interesting to see them. +1. A good story BTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I would warn against feeling too confident based on this experience. Any professional watchmaker with more than a few years' experience working on gen Rolex watches should be able to tell a good rep from a gen when the former is in his hands. Most likely, these guys are either not as experienced as you think they are or their exposure to rep watches (beyond the Canal Street variety) is very limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I don't care for stories where people laugh at other's expense/inexperience, even if the repair person was kind of bragging. They treated you very well, and at no charge, you took advantage of their services and then had the audacity to laugh at them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted June 6, 2009 Report Share Posted June 6, 2009 I don't care for stories where people laugh at other's expense/inexperience, even if the repair person was kind of bragging. They treated you very well, and at no charge, you took advantage of their services and then had the audacity to laugh at them? +1 And for all the noobs dont take rep into ADs, read the rules. Yes some of the reps are good but not that good that an AD cant spot them, there is always a tell, the only reason you did not get called out is that these two guys are only proberbly aware of real cheep and nasty reps. The fact that this is a gmt only high lights this point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agrippa Posted June 6, 2009 Report Share Posted June 6, 2009 Good story up until the point where you laugh all the way home at the expense of someone who very kindly fixed your watch for no charge at all. Not exactly a sign of class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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