to adjust/service 321 calibers? no parts needed (I hope...). if you do not want your precious watchmaker inundate with repair work and therefore delay your own access, send me a PM. kind regards. achim
no, still in Australia. just want to help a collector in Canada..... so, no replies..... no watchmakers in CANADA? kind regards. achim
Well, there's Al obviously.. I've used a place called Humberton Jewelers in Toronto. They are Omega certified (and an AD) and seem to be sympathetic to vintage. I had a cal 751 seamaster there not long ago and asked about reluming which they cautioned me not to do as it would devalue the watch.. they cleaned the watch up nicely on the inside though. That said, I'm not all that experienced and probably not much to go on.. I would still like to find a good independent too. As a final option, you could try Shane Ede in Toronto - http://watch-repairs.vrx.net/. I think he's mostly retired but I know he still works on the older stuff. He doesn't have a parts account though. J
Afraid I cannot help with Montreal, or Canada, other than Archer. Maybe just a good one elsewhere in Canada woud serve? I ship mine for repairs as it is more convenient than driving to the nearest alternative. Folks around OF are generally pretty stingy with watchmaker advice. Rather puzzling given the otherwise very generous nature of the members in general. Although I suppose the chances of a member knowing a good watchmaker in "Insert your city here" are perhaps rather small. A couple of other forums I frequent have "recommended watchmaker" threads that are a nice reference when/if needed. I have used one or two on occasion and found them to be no less accessible for being on such a list.
We're not exactly spoiled in Montreal for watchmakers. Chateau D'Ivoire is the local authorized service center for Omega but prices will reflect that. If you're willing to ship out I'd recommend contacting Al Archer
Have any of you tried Helvétia? I've had watches serviced by them and I've been pretty happy with their work.
Quebec City is the only place in Canada that still has a watch-making school. You'd think the province would be full of watch makers... I've used Shane Ede. He told me he hates mechanical watches and thinks it's crazy for anyone to use anything other than a quartz. But he still works on the mechanicals and knows a lot about them. He was very well priced, too. After adjusting one of my watches - from +25 per day to +1) and fixing my Damasko DA36, he decided to charge me just $20. Interestingly, he convinced me to sell my Damasko, after showing me the lousy build on the ETAs they use. They actually now only use friction pins to hold the balance arm which means if the watch gets a bump, the balance arm can swing over causing the balance wheel to rub slightly. In my watch this meant it went from running ~ +10 sec per day to -30 sec per day. Because there is no screw to tighten, you can only push the balance arm back in place and hope it doesn't get bumped again. I didn't recall every whacking the watch against anything, btw. When my current watches need servicing, they will go to Al Archer.