The perils of vintage #381

Sorry to hear about your loss. It’s a bummer. Living in a small city with basically one watchmaker I feel the stress to lose him. I believe that if he stays healthy I’ll be fine. I’m eqully worried that my AD, as he works for, not make it due to competion from on line sites etc. I hope for the best for us both.

Losing a watchmaker is rough.  My watchmakers is well into his 70s, overworked as is, and I'm pretty much screwed if I lose him.  The problem is I tend to go almost entirely by personal reference and most of my watch friends service all their recent models directly with the brands.

Perhaps that's just my future.  which is sad because I totally have this desire to take my shot at vintage again but won't do it without a great watchmaker in my corner.

I probably haven't thanked the OP for providing a link somewhere that led to me getting a new crystal for a 1950s rectangular watch. I figured this was a fool's errand, but it turned out to be a somewhat common thing.

I recently had my first round of "haha, I can't get parts for this" from a watchmaker for a Soviet watch. I still don't know if what I got online is correct, as it's still not fixed. Having had to professionally devote extraneous amounts of time and effort to research and sleuth in order to satisfy something that yielded inconsequential financial return, I understand wanting to dodge this sort of thing.

I do think that there is an amount of professional courtesy once a customer has proven not to be a whiner with unrealistic expectations. I tend to be low key and respect people's time and efforts, and I like to pay cash to boot.

I lost a pipe repairman to retirement this week, so I feel your pain. 

Gotta respect anyone brave enough to go into the vintage minefield and win doing it.

A decent watch repairer is worth their weight in gold, it's sad when one finally has to hang up their loupe and a loss to the world of watches as not many are replacing them. I certainly wouldn't have gone into vintage if I didn't have a local watch repairer to sort my collection out. Hope no.2 works out for you. Love the stadium watch, was very close to pulling the trigger on one a few weeks ago, same green as well.

My watchsmith is also retiring. He's 80. My Jeweler is interviewing for a new watchsmith and hope they can find someone with half the knowledge he had.

Take care of the watch!

Cheers!

There's a reason why I wouldn't even touch a vintage watch. Look and go "goo-goo ga ga," sure, but buying one? 

No thank you. The one watchmaker who I know and is close to my neighbourhood retired back in 2021. I think the guy got tremors in his hands or something. Here's hoping it's not Parkinson.

The thought of a beloved vintage watch breaking with no hope for repair is a very sad one.

I'm hoping to borrow @Strickos chap for a couple of my pieces. This will literally be my first time venturing into servicing 😬

I'm currently trying to develop a relationship with two local watchmakers. But really, this is why I stick to reissues of vintage watches. 

Do you think that  later down the line (lets say 50 years from now: 2070) It would be easier to source parts for a "modern" watch say for comparison someone looking to restore a watch from 50 years ago (1970 ironically). When looking at vintage collecting a common heart-throb seems to be a lack of parts. From a sentimental view it would be nice to keep my watches going throughout my life(and beyond)

Perhaps it will be easier for my generation(I am 29).We constantly have tech developing so that if there were no longer original parts you could probably replicate/produce a replacement easily.

Hope your watchmaker enjoys a long and happy retirement - with the knowledge that he’s played a part in giving joy to so many others 

In the future I think that it will be harder to source parts for our contemporary watches. Despite the criticism of "conspicuous consumption" that has been leveled at our culture for more than a century it was assumed that products would need repair and an entire industry was incepted for that role. There were small engine repairmen for your gasoline powered lawn equipment, shoe repairmen, appliance repairmen, etc. Watches would break, and for a nominal price, they would be put right again.

This supporting industry is dying. Appliances are now mostly replaced. Shoe repairmen are now nearly extinct. You throw away uni-sole shoes. What do you think will happen when your tough reliable Solar Eco-drive Citizen misbehaves in 15 years? Repair is unlikely. Citizen knows that. As these supporting industries wither, the relative cost goes up for all but the most expensive watches. Paying Omega $800.00 to repair a $7,000.00 watch makes sense. Paying a watchmaker $300.00 to repair a $100.00 watch will always make less sense. That's why some of us can buy those watches for pennies on the dollar. I don't lose as much per repair. I can't say that I gain, except that I get another fun watch to wear.

My watchmaker #2 had replaced #1 in the last 18 months. It is the next major loss that will hurt. I am covered for now.

As for fixing them yourself, I would much rather tinker with an old Schild movement than a Seiko and folks tinker with Seiko all of the time.

The healthy bones and sinew of a mighty hand stays able as long as progressive decrepitude will allow. Alas…that bitter desiccant has come.

I bought a watch from a seventy-six year old watchmaker today. My local watchmaker has since stopped servicing mechanicals due to deteriorating eyesight. Losing a jeweller is rough. Thankfully I haven't had to have any work done to my mechanicals or vintage pieces, but when the day comes to service one of them, I'll definitely be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Honestly, I'm better off learning it myself, but we all know that's a lot easier said than done.

If anyone knows of a good watchmaker in South Florida, please let me know!