What is everyone’s feelings about sales personnel scratching the underside of the lugs of your beloved watch when installing a newly-bought strap? The underside of the top lugs of my Tudor Black Bay 36 suffered some minor but annoying scratches at the hands of a careless sales rep today. She was about to install the bottom half of the strap when I snatched the spring bar tool from her hand and said I would install the thing myself. Am I doing things wrong here? Should I be bringing the straps home and installing them myself? Or are these just acceptable hazards of our hobby? This may seem like an insignificant matter, but I must say that I am more than a bit put off seeing someone incompetently handle something that is valuable to me.
Should be done home by yourself. You will scratch them anyway but at least it's not some incompetent other...
that can and will happen, especially with watches where the owner has a penchant for frequent bracelet/strap swaps. of course the chances are less if one does it themselves and is real careful, or has it done by a pro. however a few scratches under the lugs should be expected if one is going to frequently play with the watch. rolex products are especially vulnerable to noticeable scratches as the underside of the lugs is brushed and not polished. I wouldn't worry about it but definitely don't let just anyone handle your watch in the future. whenever you have that modern watch serviced by rolex/tudor they will probably re-brush the bottom of those lugs for you anyways
Would you let an independent Honda guy service your Porsche? or, put another way, would drive your Ferrari through an automated car wash? or would you wash the car yourself with your mink glove?.
I find the strap / bracelet change process to be like meditation. Needs quiet and interruption free time. This is especially true with female spring bars.
The only 3rd party people I've let install straps are trusted and experienced independent watchmakers. Sales personnel? Yeeeeesh. That includes "technicians" at ADs and boutiques.
I’m not sure I agree with this analogy - a spring bar change is an adjustment that should take place in an unexposed place of the watch. I’d sooner compare it to changing a muffler, heat shield, or something on the undercarriage of the car. Eventually somebody might put it up on a lift to see how things look but day-to-day no one will ever see it. The bigger question would be, if I had the money for a Ferrari, would I take it to a Honda dealer? No, I wouldn’t. To the OP, I don’t stress about scratches, dings, and wear to a watch - particularly those on the underside unseen when wearing. In contrast to the opinions above, I find the marks of wear to be endearing to a life well lived. It’s one of the reasons I love acrylic crystals and naturally their use on Speedys. Personally, I don’t have others change out my straps since I can do it myself. But don’t misconstrue the above with carelessness. More so I don’t stress the inevitable wear and tear, particularly from enjoying a strap change. Now I’ll qualify that with the assumption the person changing your strap didn’t use a Swiss Army knife, slip when doing it, and gauge the lug.
Same here. Ever since someone chipped the paint off a vintage Longines I've learned my lesson. If you don't want your watch to suffer any scratches then don't let anyone handle it. Anyone!
I'd do it myself. That said, it's not readily visible and I reckon you need a first scratch on a watch to be able to truly wear it rather than constantly protecting it so maybe they did you a favour without either of you realising it
No more stress than there is on a springbar tool I wonder why these aren't made of a softer alloy that won't scratch a watch case, or a modern synthetic material.