I sold a friend's wife a watch of mine that he had admired for a special birthday of his. I was happy to be part of it. It's a pretty nice cal. 26.5T3 PC, nothing fancy, but a classic of a sort. Well, he really wanted to have an Omega crown on it, so I obliged and ordered one from Cousins, but it didn't get to me in time before his wife had to fly out to meet him. Looking back, I may not have tightened the crown button completely, having undone it to make an accurate measure of the stem and thinking I was only going to take it off and replace it the next day anyway. I like to put a dab of Loctite on a stem to make sure, and certainly didn't this time.
Anyway. He didn't tell me about this, but his wife mentioned that 'there was a problem with the watch.' She doesn't know what it is, but off he trotted to Omega.
They estimated €1150 to 'repair' it. Of course, I will charge him nothing and will get it sorted out by my own friendly independent watchmaker and perhaps 'lose' a bit of money on the deal. But that's my choice.
I sold her the watch for market value; nothing like that, as you'll all know. But its intrinsic value is immaterial in the story.I know that. But I'd sure like to see what work they were proposing to do, all the same.
My own opinion is that their service charges are high because the work is good (aside from the odd horror story), but more importantly, their price structure (their estimate is simply their standard published tariff for a vintage watch of the period) is calculated to 'seduce' people into buying … a new watch.

 

I'm sure that includes a full service, as Omega would not just put a new crown on a watch that had it missing.

I rarely if ever use Loctite on crowns. If the cut end of the stem is prepared properly, Loctite isn't needed. The only time I will use it is on a quartz watch that might have a very thin and flimsy stem, but I've never needed it on a mechanical watch stem (even the ETA 2892 and family, which is a pretty thin stem in spots)...

Just something to consider.

Cheers, Al

 

Different places charge different amounts, with (maybe) manufacturers at the top of the cost heap. I have a watch store near my house that services a lot of vintage and newer watches. I brought one of my chronos in for an estimate for a general service. They quoted me $900. I then got a quote from a well known watchmaker in town who specializes in vintage chronos. They did the work for $300. So often there is no rhyme or reason other than price structure.

 

Thanks, Al.
I got the idea that they were going to do a full service, not just change a crown. Anyway their list price didn't include parts, so we know they were going to leave the old one on it. Last bit's a joke, of course.
Omega prices are famous, with good reason. I just can't get to a place where I can grasp €1150 as a reasonable tariff for the work, but they have a plan and I don't.

 

Are you saying they didn't list the parts, or that the parts would increase the price? It's common for them not to list the price of parts separately (unless they deem them optional replacements) but they do replace certain parts of course at every service, and the "mandatory" parts are simply part of the Complete Maintenance Service price, if they are needed or not. Crowns are often parts of the mandatory parts to be replaced, at least in my experience with sending watches to Bienne.

Cheers, Al

 

Al, I think the telltale part was "Last bit's a joke, of course."

 

How about some outfits whose name I won't mention who put a lifetime warranty on their watches? When you send it in for warranty service, they send you a huuuuge bill for items not covered by the lifetime warranty. When you decide you don't want the watch done, they hold it for ransom until you remit postage and handling charges! It has happened to me!

 

By lifetime warranty, they mean for the life of the watch. Warranty expires when watch stops working.

Eric

 

I had a similar "absurd charge" from Omega a few years ago.
My Omega, from 1949, had a small piece of dirt between the dial and crystal. I went to the local AD (Jarred) thinking that's where you go. I didn't know any watchmakers at the time. I just wanted them to open it up, blow out the dirt, and snap it shut. No big deal right.
Well they couldn't do it. I'm guessing they were too scared they'd break something.
They told me they would have to send it to Switzerland! "Well Okay" I told them, what do I know.
The minimum price to blow out the dirt...
$930.
I decided not to do it.
Hard to believe I know.
Found a local watchmaker, and installed a new crystal, total price $50.

 

I understand your frustration, but this was not a charge for "just" blowing out the dirt. It was for a full service.

So it's actually not hard to believe at all.

Cheers, Al

 

Archer,
I wasn't frustrated at the cost, as you say for a full service this isn't hard to believe. My frustration was that it was all or nothing, they wouldn't just do what I asked and nothing more ( it had only been one year since its last service).
It all turned out alright as I found a local watchmaker to use in the future.

 

I completely understand why you are frustrated, and I'm not saying in any way that your frustration isn't warranted.

I was just pointing out that for others who may view this thread in the future, what you described (blowing out the dust) was not the full scope of the work to be done for that price.

Cheers, Al