Hey guys,

This may be a dumb question, but I'm still confused about it.

I see in FS listings on occasion that a watch has been 'oiled and regulated'. However in my limited experience, when I take a watch to a watchmaker, they usually do what (I think) is more aptly described as 'an overhaul'. My understanding of an overhaul is that the watch is fully disassembled, cleaned and reassembled while being oilded to very specific specifications (different lubes for different parts, depending on the movement).

So, is there a level of service that is less than 'an overhaul'? Or is 'oiled and lubed' code for 'my watchmaker took the back off and said it didn't need anything'?

Thanks!

 

Generally, a complete overhaul means entirely dismantled, jewel holes pegged where possible (if necessary), visual examination of all parts, replacement of broken or excessively worn parts, cleaning, rinsing twice, heat drying, re-assembling, lubricating, rating (which means adjusting where necessary, when necessary, to bring the watch to as uniform a rate as possible, considering the quality of the watch) in several positions, and over 24-hours. When rating is complete, only then can regulation be done. So, repair, rate, regulate. An incomplete repair often leaves out the RATING component.

The process of rating can involve numerous adjustments, including dynamically and statically poising the balance wheel, truing and poising the hairspring, curb pin adjustments, demagnetizing, and many other possible adjustments if necessary that are too numerous to list here. The REPAIR isn't complete until the RATING is complete. Only when the repair and the rating are complete can the watch be adjusted for uniform time keeping.

A lot of garden variety watches don't really warrant trying to attain seconds per week accuracy. The factory simply didn't build such watches with the potential to be that accurate. In repairing such watches, rating properly may return the watch to factory performance, but if it was not a great timekeeper when it left the factory, chances are hours spent trying to rate it to a higher than factory standard, may be a waste of time. On the other hand, a watch that was made as a highly accurate performer by the factory, can often be returned to factory performance rather easily. It depends on the condition of the watch, and the skill of those who may have repaired it before. And of course, how much the customer is prepared to pay to achieve the best result.

 

Can't speak to what others mean when they use those terms, but I refer to what I do as a service, rather than a "COA" or any other similar term. There is no set definition written in stone somewhere, so best to ask the seller what was actually done if that is important to you.

To me a full service includes all the things Canuck has listed and more, but based on many service photos I've seen posted over the years, not everyone does the same things clearly...

Cheers, Al

 

@Canuck, so is 'oiled and regulated' a useless phrase?

Can you oil without fully disassembling? Is there such a thing as a 'tune up' for a mechanical watch?

 

I have heard that some "production shops" pull the dial and hands, and the balance wheel, run the watch through a "cleaning" process fully assembled, rinsing in what I believe is called "Sololube" which (from what I understand is a rinse with lubricant in it), dry it, put the hands and dial and the balance wheel back into it, and call it done! No! You cannot lubricate properly without a/ dis-assembling, b/ cleaning, c/ lubricating, using the correct lubricants in the places where it is needed as you re-assemble! If someone calls a Sololube job a tune-up, I don't buy it! If you want to call a repair, rate, and regulate job a tune-up, I don't buy that either! The term tune up is meaningless because the term can't be defined as to what a tune up entails. I quit doing repairs for "antique dealers" because they just want enough done to the watch or clock so that it will run long enough for them to get it sold. I suppose if the words "tune up" actually meant anything, it's what the antique dealers generally want.

 

Oiled and lubricated = movement destroyed.

Overhauled = movement destroyed and dial/hands/case ruined.


Simple.

 

"Oiled and regulated", "overhauled", "revised", "serviced".

I don't care what it is called, or who's calling it what...

unless I see legit documentation from a watchmaker I know is legit, it ain't been done. Period.

Mentally factoring in the need for a service makes for less frustration, I've found.

 

Dorothy the Watchmaker

 

Oh, I always do! I was curious to know if there is some level of service between eyeballing it on a time grapher and actually taking it apart. Sounds like there is not.

 

You are pretty much at the mercy of whoever tells you it was "recently serviced", "fully reconditioned", "cleaned", or however they try to express it. Sometimes the seller is at the mercy of whoever does the work! But most sellers who are fixing something up for re-sale, are not perhaps going to turn the job over to the highest bidder! There are exceptions, of course! To paraphrase a Mercedes Benz commercial from some years ago, "repaired up to a standard rather than down to a price"!

 

I refuse to do trade work on behalf of stores or for dealers because they want the minimum done for the cheapest price possible. Often what they pay the watchmaker they send watches to is only half of what they charge the actual watch owner.

Dunk and swish...and you will still see Sololube type products for sale, and any watch material supplier I've spoken to about these solutions have indicated they still sell plenty of these. Some of these guys might take the time to lubricate the jewels with some oil, at least those that they can get to without taking anything apart.

Just one thing about cleaning assembled movements....some brands advocate what is known as "pre-cleaning" where the dial, hands, and calendar parts that would be harmed by the cleaning solutions are removed, and the entire movement is cleaned in an assembled state. This is done to facilitate a more detailed inspection as the movement is subsequently disassembled. So this is when you check and adjust end shakes, check the escapement clearances, etc. and having the movement in a cleaner state makes this easier, but the movement is fully disassembled and cleaned in that disassembled state before being finally assembled and lubricated properly. Rolex is the biggest advocate of this method, so if someone has sent their Rolex in to a service centre in the last 7 or 8 years, it was done this way.

Cheers, Al

 

To me
Oiled and regulated= bit of oil with back open and regulated to run as good as can get without paying for a service or watchmaker.

1 step above running well in the sellers eye,s but still 19 steps away from a real service.

 

I had a vintage Rolex serviced recently. The watchmaker replaced a winding gear on the automatic mechanism and crown shaft pinion. The watch was working before so I imagine that somebody could have just disassembled the whole thing, cleaned, oiled, put it back together and regulated it. None of the pieces that got replaced had to do with the actual time keeping of the watch so it would have been every bit as accurate after service with or without them.

Unless I can talk to the watchmaker I assume that it was just clean/oiled/regulated, there are quite a few people out there doing that. On itself I think that it is a good step as abrasive grime and dry mechanism would lead to wear on the components.

 

One of the problems with fewer parts available is that it forces watchmakers to potentially use parts again that really should be replaced. With many modern watches, the pivots seem to be very succeptible to wear, and once they start to wear, they wear quickly compared to vintage it seems...

I tend to be pretty ruthless with what gets replaced, because letting even slight wear go seems like a very bad idea in particular on modern watches. If I see any signs of wear when I inspect the parts under the microscope, they get replaced.

Cheers, Al