Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Time to move on

After nearly 35 year behind watch repair bench, I think I am ready for downsizing. Servicing 'all brands, all makes, all models' is no longer practically possible. Swiss manufacturers refuse to supply spare parts to independent watchmakers and with no spare parts there is very little I can do to fix your timepiece.
I've started apprenticeship in my fathers workshop at age of 12. I clearly remember times when we could get almost any spare part shipped in no time. Swiss spare parts dealers were bending backwards to get our business!

Unfortunately for watchmakers, time has changed. Small, independent, highly skilled and experienced watchmakers are now seen as 'pain in bum'. Big brands wants all the repair work done 'in house' which allows them to act like any other monopoly. They charge what they want, they give no options.

In all fairness, if you are perfectionist then you should have nothing to worry about. Your watch will be serviced/repaired/restored to factory-new condition by it's Swiss maker. Yes, such service is expensive and will take for ever but quite frankly no independent watchmaker can provide service that can come even close to factory standard.

Since I have run out of most spare parts for most brands (except for Rolex for which I am still able to source spares from overseas supplier) as of this month I am providing repair service for Rolex watches only. More precisely for makes and models manufactured between 1960 and 2005. This includes all Datejust, Date, Precision, President, Submariner, GMT, Explorer and other sports and standard models. The only exception is Rolex Daytona, Tudor and OysterQuartz line.

Focusing on one brand will allow better turnaround time and hopefully better overall service. It will allow me also to step away from work bench and spend more time sourcing, buying and selling other fine timepieces and to finally commence restoration of vintage Rolex watches from my own collection. It's time to move forward!

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