Do watch collectors service all their watches?

Fortunately, I'm not very OCD. I don't worry about these things. On this matter, I follow Fed's advice (the only YTI I trust and follow regularly). Get your watches serviced when they stop keeping good enough time. Good enough varies a lot with the movement; what's good enough for a Miyota isn't near good enough for an in-house movement or even an ETA. If you have a timegrapher, which I now do, periodically check the amplitude which is the key. Should be between 270 and 320. And that's it!

I'm sure others will recommend factory-recommended intervals, but some companies obviously take advantage and recommend ridiculously short intervals just to milk us for more money. So I take those with a grain of NaCl.

If this is of major concern, stick with watches with ebauche movements and keep the maintenance costs down.

Okay, I personally dont service a watch until it needs it...but that is just me. I wore a Rolex date/just from 1978 until 2016 and when it acted up I sent it in after almost 40 years of wearing it..... My Omegas have never been in and they run just fine. Some of the High end pieces cost more to service than a good watch costs new...Now, with all of that being said I have quite a few different watches so the wearing time is alot different then when I wore the datejust daily for years.. JMO

I only started collecting in late 2020, the year I turned 51. I'll likely send four of my five pricier watches items in for service about a year before I retire in four or five years, and that will be that. Anything less than 1k, I likely won't.

I agree with @Trerters ; once every 10 years, or when problems arise. Cheers! 🍷

Technically you should service it as per manufacturers instructions which can be different depending on the brand, however they don't account for the fact that lots of these watches aren't worn every day. Some of my nicest special watches don't get worn that often and sit in silence, nothing moving, apart from the lubricants drying out there is next to no wear on moving parts so theoretically it could go longer between services.

It all depends on the diligence of the owner, I guess it's very similar to a nice car, if you were to sell it in the future, a person is more likely to pay the top price for something that's been serviced in reputable places and shows signs of being looked after, however if they're keepers then it's entirely up to you.

Alternatively buy quartz and get a decent toolkit to do battery changes and you'll be fairly self sufficient 👍

According to Phillip Dufour a watch that’s sitting in a safe is worse than a watch that is at least set in motion once a month. I don’t know how much of it is true given modern oils and lubricants. But I tend to service them every 10 years. But I religiously wind all my watches every (or other) Monday just to make them tick for 8-12 hrs.

I only service my watches if they display some sign of lackluster performance or if there's a specific issue that needs to be addressed (such as a broken crown). When doing so, I always try to use the manufacturer's service and request that they don't refinish the watch especially if I'm the original owner.

I have never serviced anything and have noticed no time keeping discrepancy despite what I will list below. I bought a night diver from eBay a few weeks ago and I just went to wind it last night and something snapped so I probably my have to replace the whole movement but it’s quartz and cheap. Still mad about it. I also have a 1930s annual calender I found at an estate sale that runs slow if it gets below 50% power reserve so I should service that too but again have not yet.

Federico is the man! I watch him the most and he was a big inspiration for me creating my own YT channel

Collectors tend to be in a state of denial about this reality. I'm not a collector, just someone with too many watches. Two more inherited non-runners just got added, and the onus of getting them back to life is a financial burden that I don't welcome. Of course I'll get to it and I have a reasonably priced watchmaker, but still I acknowledge the issue and that it is getting out of hand.

To use a rather harsh analogy, I suspect that a bulk of collectors are equivalent to the crazy cat lady animal hoarders. They want to help and have all these animals/watches but they have overextended themselves to an untenable degree and the objects they love suffer because of it. It's pointless to mention this, but it is what I fear is true.

I'm lightly on board with stretching service intervals for economy's sake, but ultimately preventative maintenance is the best route in the long run. Procrastination has nasty results. I highly doubt any part or labor will be getting any cheaper or more accessible in the future, so putting these things off really doesn't pay.

Yes, I service the watch once it doesn't work as it should and I also keep track of all my watch related spending.

Expensive watches are relatively cheap to maintain, about 1% of the watch price per year (or less). For less expensive watches like a Seiko 5 or even entry level Swiss mechanicals it is usually more economical to swap movements but that will cost you almost as much as a new watch...

I would only bother servicing expensive watches. Anything sub $1000, let's say, that gives you 10 years service has paid for itself. Unless you really love it, I wouldn't worry. But when you start talking multiples of $1000, and a watch that you want to pass along to someone one day, or sell one day, then yes, it makes sense to service it. But if that's only every 10 years or so, it's not really that big a deal and is worth it.

All my mechanical watches have exactly one type of movement. I can disassemble and reassemble the movement, should I be so inclined. I can also purchase it for around $25.

My heirs can worry about service.

I've only serviced mine when it acted up. Thankfully they were mostly affordable pieces so I sent them to an affordable but very reputable local watch repair shop. If you can find an affordable and reliable repair guy, it won't be as intimidating to get things fixed when there are issues.

When I started this hobby it was to make a few quid. I bought a couple of vintage watches, had them serviced and moved them on. Other than that I haven't had to have one serviced. Modern watches are now lubricated with high tech lubricants, so services only need doing about every ten years, and that's when they are worn regularly. Mine are worn on a rota basis, so I would think they won't need servicing for about 20 years or so. If it is an inexpensive movement I am capable of changing it myself, and wouldn't bother having it serviced.