Gallet service experiences for vintage?

Joe_A · Jan 29, 2019

Adding a bit to the narrative . . .

I recently sent my MC12 to Gallet for service. Based upon what I have read here and elsewhere, I do not expect to see it again for quite some time . . . and I do hope no additional polishing is done to the watch as I did specify DO NOT POLISH. They should not see the need as the front surfaces of the lugs had been polished previously.

I recently spoke with a fellow named Larry who is a member of the Gallet service department. Larry mentioned to me that they do have two benches open. I inferred from the conversation that they have a few more than two benches in service ordinarily, but I did not ask about what constitutes full staffing. Larry mentioned that one fellow died and one retired.

Gallet is looking to fill the two positions and they aren't looking to do it "on the cheap."

I will update in this thread or another one when I learn more on the subject.

asrnj77 · Jan 29, 2019

Doesn’t the MC12 use a Valjoux movement? Why couldn’t any reasonable watchmaker work on this. Why deal with the Gallet headache. What parts are they making?

Joe_A · Jan 29, 2019

asrnj77
Doesn’t the MC12 use a Valjoux movement? Why couldn’t any reasonable watchmaker work on this. Why deal with the Gallet headache. What parts are they making?

EP40-68

One can find the MC12 with a Val.72 movement, an EP40 and in my case, an EP40-68.

After reading of some positive experiences over at WUS, I decided to give the David Laurence gang a go at it.

The current incarnation of Gallet bought up a supply of NOS parts, or so I have read . . . and all they do is work on Gallet watches, so, to some degree a specialization.

I've no idea whether they do any in-house manufacturing, probably not, but they do have access to a shop or shops that manufacture.

Their current line is a collaboration with Vaucher.

But yes, of course any competent watchmaker who services vintage watches of the period ought to be able to do a good job.

I have a watch with a Val. 72 movement in it that needs service as well and I will either take it to Grand Central Watch or else bring it out to RGM, unless I learn of other positive recommendations in the NY area.

Gallet Racing Heritage Chronograph Watch Review

The above review talks about the present Gallet company as well.

hungdangnguyen23 · Jan 29, 2019

Are Gallet parts propriety and unavailable to 3rd party watchmakers? Unless that is the case, I personally would never send a vintage watch back to the manufacturer and have it sit for over a year, that's absolute madness. Your local watchmaker can't hide and duck your calls/emails, not like these guys at Gallet.

Joe_A · Jan 29, 2019

hungdangnguyen23
Are Gallet parts propriety and unavailable to 3rd party watchmakers? Unless that is the case, I personally would never send a vintage watch back to the manufacturer and have it sit for over a year, that's absolute madness. Your local watchmaker can't hide and duck your calls/emails, not like these guys at Gallet.

An unnecessary wait? Yes; I'll grant you that.

But characterizing sending a Gallet watch to the Gallet service agency for service as "absolute madness," may be a bit over the top.

In any case, assuming that I am here six months or a year from now when the watch is returned, I'll report back as to how it went. 😉

Dan S · Jan 29, 2019

hungdangnguyen23
Are Gallet parts propriety and unavailable to 3rd party watchmakers? Unless that is the case, I personally would never send a vintage watch back to the manufacturer and have it sit for over a year, that's absolute madness. Your local watchmaker can't hide and duck your calls/emails, not like these guys at Gallet.

If you needed to find a correct crown or pushers or hands or something like that, I might understand the rationale to send it to Gallet, since they supposedly bought up the stock of the original company. If it's just for a movement service, I wouldn't do it, especially after the experience I had. They also charge twice what my watchmaker charges for a routine service and there's something a bit fishy going on with the lack of responsiveness and excuse-making.

asrnj77 · Jan 30, 2019

Dan S
If you needed to find a correct crown or pushers or hands or something like that, I might understand the rationale to send it to Gallet, since they supposedly bought up the stock of the original company. If it's just for a movement service, I wouldn't do it, especially after the experience I had. They also charge twice what my watchmaker charges for a routine service and there's something a bit fishy going on with the lack of responsiveness and excuse-making.

Well one of their watchmakers is sick and the other died so I guess we have to cut them some slack 😉

Dan S · Jan 30, 2019

asrnj77
Well one of their watchmakers is sick and the other died so I guess we have to cut them some slack 😉

Not unless they have constantly had people sick and dying for years. They are always making excuses, like the kid whose uncle is always dying so he can be excused from school. And there's no excuse for failing to respond to emails for weeks, or even months. But you don't have to believe us, we're just trying to give you the benefit of our experience.

Joe_A · Jan 30, 2019

Perhaps I am among the fortunate, once again?

I have been able to obtain three prompt responses to three separate emails sent and I have had one 20-minute and relatively wide-ranging discussion with a staff member at the Gallet Georgia facility via phone. The conversation ended after 20 minutes only because I felt a need to get back to work and so I excused myself. 😉

David Laurence is accessible via Facebook. I do not know him from Adam, but I have him as a FB "friend" and can communicate with him. I'm sure he is using social media as a tool to sell the Racing Heritage Watch, but there is nothing wrong with so doing as only very backward people fail to exploit social media for promotion in my view. Even the Russians use it. 😉

I was told that Gallet are trying to recruit a couple of young people to train up to become watchmakers, but I was also given the salary range they are willing to pay for someone with experience.

This exchange can further lead to a longer one on the future of watchmaking, perhaps better located elsewhere. I note that Craig at Chonodeco is now retired. Watchmakers are aging out, (or ageing out if you prefer.) Is this business of watchmaking not a dying area of endeavor? It certainly is not thriving.

I sent my watch to Gallet with my eyes wide open. From my reading over at WUS, I expect them to do fine work, but take a longer than normal period to complete the work. I had thought, should I decide to sell my watch on at some point, that the certificate they issue upon service would add a small bit of value to the watch.

It appears we seldom know much about the actual condition of a vintage watch when we buy one sight unseen. Is this not so?

As a fellow new to this field, I have read that repairers of watches generally take up to months to return a watch fully serviced. Am I mistaken? If so, I stand to be better educated.

I need to have one of my Sherpa Graphs serviced in the New York area and I am open to suggestion. I have narrowed my choice thus far to the two entities I have mentioned above. Any others?

This is a welcoming community and great place to hang out for anyone interested in watches. I am happy to be a member here and I look forward to knowing more tomorrow than I know today.

Cheers,

Joe

Joe_A · Jan 30, 2019

Here is the page which describes how Gallet services a watch sent to them.

Gallet Repair Service

How do we know that all of the work will be done according to best practices?

We don't.

Unless we are able to watch the skilled craftsman at work, we never really do know, do we?

asrnj77 · Jan 31, 2019

Dan S
Not unless they have constantly had people sick and dying for years. They are always making excuses, like the kid whose uncle is always dying so he can be excused from school. And there's no excuse for failing to respond to emails for weeks, or even months. But you don't have to believe us, we're just trying to give you the benefit of our experience.

I agree with you. You missed my sarcasm emoticon👍

knafel1983 · Aug 24, 2020

I'm becoming concerned myself. I have a clamshell that I sent to them in early June 2019. So it's going on 15 months now. I heard this is still within other timeframes, but a lot can happen in 15 months. My two local watchmakers would stop taking in more watches, if it took that long.

pantelis25 · Aug 24, 2020

knafel1983
I'm becoming concerned myself. I have a clamshell that I sent to them in early June 2019. So it's going on 15 months now. I heard this is still within other timeframes, but a lot can happen in 15 months. My two local watchmakers would stop taking in more watches, if it took that long.

Well have they ever told you that will take so long? Mine took with a lot of pressure from my side around 13 months.
I understand that they do a very good work and they are the only with available spare parts but this delay is truly unacceptable.
I agree that they should stop taking in new jobs until they manage to do the work within a logical time frame.
On the other hand the work they do is very very good😀 Expensive but really good!

knafel1983 · Aug 24, 2020

P pantelis25
Well have they ever told you that will take so long? Mine took with a lot of pressure from my side around 13 months.
I understand that they do a very good work and they are the only with available spare parts but this delay is truly unacceptable.
I agree that they should stop taking in new jobs until they manage to do the work within a logical time frame.
On the other hand the work they do is very very good😀 Expensive but really good!

My clamshell needed pushers, which were just about impossible to find without going through them. Otherwise, I would have had the watch serviced locally, and had it back long ago. I also just noticed they have a C- rating with the BBB.

knafel1983 · Sep 17, 2020

Did get an email from Gallet, saying my watch was complete and ready to ship. I got another email from FedEx with a tracking number, but that was days ago, and it's still in the "label created" status. So it took roughly 15 months. Wish they would drop it off at FedEx already.

Dan S · Sep 17, 2020

P pantelis25
Well have they ever told you that will take so long? Mine took with a lot of pressure from my side around 13 months.
I understand that they do a very good work and they are the only with available spare parts but this delay is truly unacceptable.
I agree that they should stop taking in new jobs until they manage to do the work within a logical time frame.
On the other hand the work they do is very very good😀 Expensive but really good!

In what way is it particularly good? I noticed nothing particularly special about the work they did on the movement, the attention to detail was mediocre, and they polished the case against my wishes. They seem to do adequate work, but nothing special. The price is exhorbitant, the communication is terrible, and the lead time is ridiculous. Never again.

Zapatta · Sep 17, 2020

@knafel1983 photos or it didn't happen 🍿

pantelis25 · Sep 17, 2020

knafel1983
My clamshell needed pushers, which were just about impossible to find without going through them. Otherwise, I would have had the watch serviced locally, and had it back long ago. I also just noticed they have a C- rating with the BBB.

Well to be honest work done on my watch was very good. I needed a crown which i could not find anywhere and the museum restoration was really good. I could do it half price though i guess if i had the crown....

Dan S
In what way is it particularly good? I noticed nothing particularly special about the work they did on the movement, the attention to detail was mediocre, and they polished the case against my wishes. They seem to do adequate work, but nothing special. The price is exhorbitant, the communication is terrible, and the lead time is ridiculous. Never again.

Well i had only one watch serviced there (Museum Restoration). Was a watch that needed some parts due to a bad restoration from a well known watchmaker.
They provided the correct parts available and whatever they did not have they created it by hand. Watch came unpolished as would be according the Museum Restoration. I know that they are expensive and they have big delays. Also communication is terrible.
If it was for a simple service i would prefer someone else (cheaper,quicker). But in my case i could not do otherwise since i needed correct parts from someone who knows best the watch......

Dan S · Sep 17, 2020

P pantelis25
Well to be honest work done on my watch was very good. I needed a crown which i could not find anywhere and the museum restoration was really good. I could do it half price though i guess if i had the crown....

Well i had only one watch serviced there (Museum Restoration). Was a watch that needed some parts due to a bad restoration from a well known watchmaker.
They provided the correct parts available and whatever they did not have they created it by hand. Watch came unpolished as would be according the Museum Restoration. I know that they are expensive and they have big delays. Also communication is terrible.
If it was for a simple service i would prefer someone else (cheaper,quicker). But in my case i could not do otherwise since i needed correct parts from someone who knows best the watch......

"Museum Restoration" is just a BS marketing term. If they are a unique source of parts, then you are stuck unfortunately ... I guess. But I would buy a parts watch before using them again.

To be honest, the price and delay were annoying, but I wouldn't have been as unhappy if they had left my watch unpolished. When I bought the watch, it was a filthy estate sale purchase, but untouched with razor sharp lugs and just minor fine scratches. Against my specific written instructions, they machine-polished the case and softened the edges, and that really made me angry. I can never trust them again. Even several years later, my blood pressure rises every time I look at the watch. They ruined it for me, and I don't get as much joy from it. I should probably just sell it.

pantelis25 · Sep 17, 2020

Dan S
"Museum Restoration" is just a BS marketing term. If they are a unique source of parts, then you are stuck unfortunately ... I guess. But I would buy a parts watch before using them again.

To be honest, the price and delay were annoying, but I wouldn't have been as unhappy if they had left my watch unpolished. When I bought the watch, it was a filthy estate sale purchase, but untouched with razor sharp lugs and just minor fine scratches. Against my specific written instructions, they machine-polished the case and softened the edges, and that really made me angry. I can never trust them again. Even several years later, my blood pressure rises every time I look at the watch. They ruined it for me, and I don't get as much joy from it. I should probably just sell it.

I really understand your frustration. I would demand a refund for not following my instructions!

Gallet service experiences for vintage?

Joe_A

asrnj77

Joe_A

hungdangnguyen23

Joe_A

Dan S

asrnj77

Dan S

Joe_A

Joe_A

asrnj77

knafel1983

pantelis25

knafel1983

knafel1983

Dan S

Zapatta

pantelis25

Dan S

pantelis25

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