Darcy: For someone claiming they know little about what they have and watches in general, you surely do have a lot to say about the diagnosis of a movement and what is or isn't missing. In addition, how you can tell if your watch is running well without a timeographer is amazing. I have owned dozens of watches over 30 years and I still am unable to determine if a watch is running properly without putting it on a timing machine, so bully for you!

You have all the answers now. A perfectly running, 20k watch without any mechanical issues. Now go sell it and let us know how much you got.

 

Let's not get pissy I have been enjoying this watch for a couple of months and it hasn't seem to cause any grief or loss/gain any time from where it was set. I do appreciate your knowledge it's far more than mine, maybe I'm a little knee-jerk

 

Why are you so angry?

 

I'm not angry at all, texting sometimes lacks the emotion behind the comments and can lead to miscommunication. I'm grateful for your insight your wit and yes a little bit of your sarcasm. Cheers to you as well I hope you have a great weekend

 

I stand corrected, picture posted and I believe you are in possession of the watch. I also believe you didn't come on here to establish anything other than an audience likely to buy the watch from you and make you offers.

You arent talking about maintenance you are talking about service. So, if the watch is going to go in for service, then what is wrong with it that requires service? I guess I am an idiot because I have no idea what I would tell my mechanic what I need serviced if nothing was wrong..

 

bottom line, I owe you an apology that "screw loose" comment was uncalled for and provocative and I'm very sorry for that I hope you can accept my apology and I do appreciate your comments, really. Darcy

 

What's the difference? i've been on watch forums for a while now and this is the first time I hear that "service" means something is wrong any more than "maintenance" would.
Many collectors get watches serviced as a standard procedure when they get a watch and any watchmaker will tell any newbie they need to service their watch if they intend to wear it on a daily basis.
The OP wanting to service the watch seems perfectly normal.

I appreciate there are many people posting watches here trying to skirt the rules of the sales forum but does that warrant being abrasive and nasty from the get go to someone who could also be in good faith coming after having done a bit of homework?

The OP never asked "what's it worth?" Only members here started obsessing over its worth, and that's just because this crowd is an acquisitive bunch but there's no reason why a newcomer should be held accountable for other people's obsessions.

 

Feel better now that you got that off your chest?

 

Pot calling the Kettle black……… ??

 

Was I speaking to you?

 

Get over yourself……

 

This is like mumsnetfightclub

 

I service watches for a living, and I can tell you there is no difference between service and maintenance. The brands do refer to the places watches go for any kind of work as "service centers" after all. Why the person in question chose to play games with the semantics, only he knows.

Not in my view, but clearly others see boogeymen with bad intentions in every new poster it would seem.

Cheers, Al

 

Ok, Im going to try and put an end to my comments in this thread because it has run its course. (can't wait to see how many thumbs up to this)

The semantics between service and maintenance is splitting hairs. The point of the matter is that the OP said the watch has always been running perfectly, has never had any problems and is still running perfectly. A. If its running perfectly it doesn't need a service or maintenance. B. How does the OP know its running perfectly (as opposed to being off by 15 seconds a day) without a timeographer?

Now those of you out there looking to start it up can say "it hasn't been serviced in 20 years so its due" or "is there something wrong with routine maintenance" and of course the answer is no. But, in reality very very few of us would bring in a watch for a $500 chrono service if the watch was running perfectly and all functions working. If it aint broken no need to fix it or risk potential damage to dial or hands for no reason.

With regards to the term frankenwatch... A watch that has parts on it from different models or years. Do I think because the OP's watch has the wrong caseback its a Franken? In my opinion it is not. It is an original watch with incorrect caseback. Thats my position. If it had a dial from a different year, hands from other years AND the incorrect caseback I would describe it as a franken, but in this case and in my opinion, it isn't.

And as far as Archers comment.. Let's see if the OP sells the watch or services it. I know 3 people in discussions with Darcy to buy it now so its somewhat of a loaded question because I already know the answer.. And NO I am not one of them.

 

Well it was you that made a big deal of the distinction between "service" and "maintenance" so now you are saying there's no practical difference. There isn't any difference.

This may be your approach, but I don't think you can speak for others here. My gut (and inbox) tells me that people who are smart and plan on wearing the watch will get a new acquisition in for service fairly quickly after it's been purchased, if they are unsure of the service history. As I have illustrated before the fact a watch is running well and all functions work is not an indicator that it doesn't need servicing. With 321 based watches preserving the parts that are inside the watch should be a priority (many discontinued parts and what remains of those is a dwindling supply on the open market), and regular servicing is the way to do that. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra does not apply to all watches, so this assertion you are making is questionable at best.

But I do see that this and the "difference" between service and maintenance are part of your narrative...

I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt and not be so sure I know their motives right off the bat, as some here are inclined to do.

Having said that, it's pretty clear that if someone comes here with a dog of a watch and makes a post asking for information that is a thinly disguised sales advert, they will get jumped on. It's also pretty clear that if someone does the same thing with a desirable watch, they will get offers via PM. This has been discussed before and even some top collectors have admitted to PM-ing members who do this and have bought watches this way.

I don't personally care much either way, but if the "forum" in general is going to pretty much condone/accept this, it's hardly the fault of the new people who are posting their watches here. The only way to stop it is to remove these posts immediately (and removing legit requests along with the people trying to skirt the rules), or for the people who are sending those PM's to stop. Other tactics have been discussed like blocking access to PM's for new members for a while, but again I'm not sure such a step is what most people really want, so I don't see much happening any time soon. But feel free to keep tilting at that windmill...

Cheers, Al

 

Al, if I was a watchmaker whose primary business was servicing watches I would take the same position as you..

 

I understand the implication you are making - it's not the first time someone has said this to me and it's pretty much the expected response. Just to clear up my position on watch servicing, you should read this:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/how-often-service-watch-watchmakers-view-789280.html

As I wrote in that post around 5 years ago now, and have repeated many times since on this and other forums, sometimes letting the watch run until it stops is not a bad idea - if you have a modern watch and use a service center then it may make perfect financial sense. The key thing is understanding that there is no one rule to cover all situations, which is why my answer to "how often should I service" is always "it depends." Using the same rule for vintage is not a good idea...but of course people will hold onto their beliefs even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary.

I can assure you that if I restricted my business only to watches that would not function any longer at all, I would still have more work than I could possibly do. So question my motives all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that because a watch is running and keeping good time, it still can be completely dry and chewing itself up inside. I see it at my bench often.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/if-...-does-that-mean-it-doesnt-need-service.20475/

You can think what you like of my motives, but you are dead wrong.

Cheers, Al

 

don´t feel offended - but this is just BS

PS: wrote my comment while Al did his response

 

I have had my share of watches, both modern and vintage and YES I disagree with you.

If a watch is "dry and chewing itself up inside" then there is no way it can be keeping proper time. And I have always said that if a watch is not functioning properly or keeping proper time then it requires a service.

A watch sitting in a drawer for 30 years will certainly have dried up lubrication and will not run perfectly if at all.

This also goes back to the "should I keep my watch on a winder or not" theory..
And since you have heard the "expected response" before then I suppose I am not alone in my flawed thinking.

Finally, I cannot imagine why you would state that "letting the watch run until it stops is not a bad idea - if you have a modern watch and use a service center then it may make perfect financial sense." but, feel that the same thinking doesn't apply to vintage watches. Without reading your link, I can only assume the difference would be in the parts and how sourcing them is more difficult. But, the truth is that the most difficult parts to source on a vintage Omega aren't the mainspring, hairspring or even the gears, its the pushers and reset levers that aren't effected in letting the movement run on a regular basis. So letting it run until it stops (or until it demonstrates poor timing) makes perfect sense to me in most situations.

Again, I disagree with your servicing theory as I have seen more than my share of valuable Gilt and vintage dials and hands get damaged during routine maintenance with the owner saying "why didn't I just leave it alone, there was nothing wrong with it and I had to service it". And before you fault the watchmaker as being less than competent, think for a minute if you ever bent a hand or slipped and scratched a dial using the most expensive Bergeon hand levers...