Watch service..

Ls9009

I see many posts asking how much, how long, in house, not in house..When it comes to service. In fifty years I have had to service only two watches. One was the first Rolex Date/Just two tone that i bought in the mid 70's. It was just stopping when I took it off at night. I was getting ready to send it in so it actually was in my dresser drawer when the movers stole it. (solved that problem) the second was one of my Omega watches date would not change, it was warranty and came out fine. Now with all of that being said..I dont service my watches unless i have to. I understand some folks send their watche's in regularly. I have thirty some pieces if i did that it would end up costing more than the watch!! I do not have any real big hitters with alot of complications.I'm talking 90k plus pieces so maybe that is why I dont have problems. Any thoughts? Im curious how everybody handles this. Enjoy the hobby

#collecting #rolex #omega #servicing
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Mr.Dee.Bater
·

I literally keep this 8-page diatribe in a Google doc to be copied and pasted for whenever I come across a thread about service intervals!

#1 - Warranties and what they tell us about manufacturing quality

  • Most respectable manufacturers used to provide 2 years of warranty

  • Even today, almost any ETA-powered watch will typically come with a 2-year warranty

  • Why is that?

  • Well, because manufacturing used to suck - we were just AWFUL at manufacturing

  • Look at any car manufactured by the Big 3 from the 70's and compare that car to one produced today - it isn't a difference in degree, but a difference in kind entirely

  • Or, better yet, go check out a vintage example of the supposedly vaunted, robust tool watches of yore - like a Rolex Sub - and you will find it to be the jangliest, jankiest, junkiest piece of junk out there!

  • Today, almost all of the big brands offer 5 year warranties, because manufacturing techniques and technologies are so advanced that the manufacturers can comfortably offer longer and longer warranty periods

#2 - Lubricants

  • In the bad old days, watch movements used to use mineral oils, and they sucked

  • If they weren't in constant motion, they would gum up

  • If they were in operation too long, they would break down

  • You couldn't let a watch sit around all the time, nor could you have it running all the time!

  • Service intervals were short, because the mineral oils had short useful lifespans, and watches needed to be re-lubricated often

  • Nowadays we have the wonders of synthetic lubricants - they don't gum up, they don't separate, and their heat tolerances are far, far, far superior

#3 - Combination of factors

  • Given this combination of factors, should we take our watches in for service at the recommended 4 year mark? 8 year mark? 10 year mark? Whatever it is that the manufacturers recommend?

  • Why?

  • If modern materials are robust and resistant to corrosion, and all the parts are precision machined, and they continue to operate flawlessly, and the lubricants can last 50-100 years at normal operating temperatures... why would one take that machine apart?

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Now, with regard to GS in particular, I have 14 GS, and have had no issues whatsoever. But, then again, I've only had mine for, say, 2 years. But, then again, I had a couple of brand new Breitlings that broke within 1 month of ownership! Ha! Haven't had that experience with GS.

At this point, one should ask, "What is the most common failure mode for mechanical watches?" Well, in the bad old days, it used to be bad things happening due to the breakdown of the oils in the movement! Next on the list, the fiddliest part of the watch is the escapement and the balance spring. Well, GS Spring Drive watches don't have traditional escapements! It's the tri-synchro regulator that's a magnetic brake that does the work of an "escapement" - and that's why you can't magnetize a Spring Drive the way you can a normal mechanical watch! There is no balance spring to magnetize!

Given the tri-syncro regulator set up, the Spring Drive movement has fewer parts and doesn't even have the fiddly parts that typical mechanical watches have.

Thus, am I gonna bring any of my Spring Drive watches in for service at the 4, 8, 10, 12 year marks? No siree, Bob! If it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it.

Ls9009
·
Mr.Dee.Bater

I literally keep this 8-page diatribe in a Google doc to be copied and pasted for whenever I come across a thread about service intervals!

#1 - Warranties and what they tell us about manufacturing quality

  • Most respectable manufacturers used to provide 2 years of warranty

  • Even today, almost any ETA-powered watch will typically come with a 2-year warranty

  • Why is that?

  • Well, because manufacturing used to suck - we were just AWFUL at manufacturing

  • Look at any car manufactured by the Big 3 from the 70's and compare that car to one produced today - it isn't a difference in degree, but a difference in kind entirely

  • Or, better yet, go check out a vintage example of the supposedly vaunted, robust tool watches of yore - like a Rolex Sub - and you will find it to be the jangliest, jankiest, junkiest piece of junk out there!

  • Today, almost all of the big brands offer 5 year warranties, because manufacturing techniques and technologies are so advanced that the manufacturers can comfortably offer longer and longer warranty periods

#2 - Lubricants

  • In the bad old days, watch movements used to use mineral oils, and they sucked

  • If they weren't in constant motion, they would gum up

  • If they were in operation too long, they would break down

  • You couldn't let a watch sit around all the time, nor could you have it running all the time!

  • Service intervals were short, because the mineral oils had short useful lifespans, and watches needed to be re-lubricated often

  • Nowadays we have the wonders of synthetic lubricants - they don't gum up, they don't separate, and their heat tolerances are far, far, far superior

#3 - Combination of factors

  • Given this combination of factors, should we take our watches in for service at the recommended 4 year mark? 8 year mark? 10 year mark? Whatever it is that the manufacturers recommend?

  • Why?

  • If modern materials are robust and resistant to corrosion, and all the parts are precision machined, and they continue to operate flawlessly, and the lubricants can last 50-100 years at normal operating temperatures... why would one take that machine apart?

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Now, with regard to GS in particular, I have 14 GS, and have had no issues whatsoever. But, then again, I've only had mine for, say, 2 years. But, then again, I had a couple of brand new Breitlings that broke within 1 month of ownership! Ha! Haven't had that experience with GS.

At this point, one should ask, "What is the most common failure mode for mechanical watches?" Well, in the bad old days, it used to be bad things happening due to the breakdown of the oils in the movement! Next on the list, the fiddliest part of the watch is the escapement and the balance spring. Well, GS Spring Drive watches don't have traditional escapements! It's the tri-synchro regulator that's a magnetic brake that does the work of an "escapement" - and that's why you can't magnetize a Spring Drive the way you can a normal mechanical watch! There is no balance spring to magnetize!

Given the tri-syncro regulator set up, the Spring Drive movement has fewer parts and doesn't even have the fiddly parts that typical mechanical watches have.

Thus, am I gonna bring any of my Spring Drive watches in for service at the 4, 8, 10, 12 year marks? No siree, Bob! If it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it.

👍

nichtvondiesemjahrhundert
·

Here's my approach. For context, I rotate through 20 or so watches, mostly vintage.

Modern synthetic lubricants are very long-lived. Once a watch has been serviced by a trusted watchmaker and is running well I reckon it will be fine for at least ten years. Especially as it will probably only be worn 20 or so days a year. After ten years I can ask my watchmaker to have a look at it, put it on the timegrapher, see whether there's still oil in the jewel settings etc.

However, whenever I buy a vintage watch that I'm going to keep I service it immediately. Even if it's running OK the lubricants may have dried out or there may be worn or damaged parts. The longer I leave it, the harder and more expensive the parts will be to find.

Ls9009
·
nichtvondiesemjahrhundert

Here's my approach. For context, I rotate through 20 or so watches, mostly vintage.

Modern synthetic lubricants are very long-lived. Once a watch has been serviced by a trusted watchmaker and is running well I reckon it will be fine for at least ten years. Especially as it will probably only be worn 20 or so days a year. After ten years I can ask my watchmaker to have a look at it, put it on the timegrapher, see whether there's still oil in the jewel settings etc.

However, whenever I buy a vintage watch that I'm going to keep I service it immediately. Even if it's running OK the lubricants may have dried out or there may be worn or damaged parts. The longer I leave it, the harder and more expensive the parts will be to find.

That makes sense...I dont purchase used or antique pieces if i did that is the way to do it..Thanks for the input

nichtvondiesemjahrhundert
·
Ls9009

That makes sense...I dont purchase used or antique pieces if i did that is the way to do it..Thanks for the input

If you have anything else like your 70s Rolex I'd get it serviced.

Ls9009
·

👍

Ls9009
·
nichtvondiesemjahrhundert

If you have anything else like your 70s Rolex I'd get it serviced.

👍

solidyetti
·

This is why some of my harder used pieces, I try to get in to a watchmaker I've used for a basic cleaning, seal check, etc when possible every few years. Oddly enough have only really had two watches he said actually needed it, the rest have been preventative or out an abundance of caution.

Less worried about water ingress, more worried about super fine dust and corrosion of gaskets, damage to the movement/holder due to shock/vibration, etc.

It is a bit OCD and maybe more than necessary, but for the most part a watch of some kind is a necessary part of my daily kit.

And believe it or not, I've broken more G Shock/SUUNTO/Protrek 's than steel cased analog micros since 2010.