How would you handle this...?

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

Dropped a watch off 10 weeks ago to a local dealer who has a referral to a trusted local watchsmith. When I dropped it off I didn't receive a definitive "it will take this long" estimate, but upon following up was told that he would talk to the smith and see how long it would take, pending parts availability. I offered to help with parts sourcing in order to speed things up. But still never could nail down a timeframe. (odd?)

A month ago today I was finally told that he would circle back with the smith and get me a solid date. Followed up 10 days later (March 28th) and was told his smith had COVID and can only now work a couple hours per day. Ok fine, still would be nice to have an idea of when this watch will be done.

Friday this week will be 10 weeks after I dropped the watch off and I still don't have an answer from the dealer as to when his guy will be done my watch. Starting to get a little impatient, so followed up with him on late last week and got no response.

Am I being impatient or should I just ask for my watch back and use another smith? I'm not looking for a quick-turn rush job, I just want a realistic idea of when I can expect to have my watch back and the fact that we cannot even pin down a date has me a little concerned.

FWIW, I started talking to a local AD and they said they could turn it in 4 weeks.

cvalue13 · Apr 19, 2022

I don’t think you’re being impatient exactly, and no doubt your dealer didn’t help by themselves not being realistic, but these days it seems everyone should treat service expectations like home-building expectations.

If you assume it’ll take twice as long and cost twice as much, you won’t be too disappointed.

Sorry, and hope your watch is back and tip-top soon!

Dan S · Apr 19, 2022

Sounds like it's your choice depending on how must you value the work done by the two different watchmakers, the prices, and whether you need the watch in a particular timeline. Personally, if the watch is important to me, I would prioritize the quality of the work done over the time it takes.

blufinz52 · Apr 19, 2022

Your 1st issue was going through a dealer. He's in the middle between you and the watchmaker; he has to try to keep you informed as to the progress of the work, while trying not to aggravate the watchmaker with constant questions of when the work will be completed. I had a watchmaker give me an 8 week turnaround that turned into a full year. If it were me, I'd stay the course and let the watchmaker complete the job.

JwRosenthal · Apr 19, 2022

dsio · Apr 19, 2022

Yea don’t go through a dealer go direct to a watchmaker. But depending on the watch, the parts situation and how busy they are it’s not super surprising. Rolex last year took over six months to service a Daytona for me in Australia.

I’ll also add that most of the watchmakers I’ve dealt with that are good at watchmaking are not that good as businessmen or customer service people, adding a dealer as a middleman doesn’t help that.

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

cvalue13
I don’t think you’re being impatient exactly, and no doubt your dealer didn’t help by themselves not being realistic, but these days it seems everyone should treat service expectations like home-building expectations.

Everything post-COVID is taking exponentially longer it seems. Which I'm fine with, it seems standard and of good customer service to at least give a ball park estimate. Thanks, hope to see it soon!

Dan S
ersonally, if the watch is important to me, I would prioritize the quality of the work done over the time it takes.

Absolutely. I put trust in the fact that this dealer is well known locally (and online) and that he would be using a good smith, so I'm not in a hurry, but I do think it's weird that we cannot figure out a realistic timeline to completion.

blufinz52
Your 1st issue was going through a dealer. He's in the middle between you and the watchmaker; he has to try to keep you informed as to the progress of the work, while trying not to aggravate the watchmaker with constant questions of when the work will be completed. I had a watchmaker give me an 8 week turnaround that turned into a full year. If it were me, I'd stay the course and let the watchmaker complete the job.

100%...I've learned this

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

dsio
Yea don’t go through a dealer go direct to a watchmaker. But depending on the watch, the parts situation and how busy they are it’s not super surprising. Rolex last year took over six months to service a Daytona for me in Australia.

The reason I went through a private dealer is that good smiths are few and far between locally (and he happened to have one), and of the 5 or so I spoke to none of them wanted to work on a Tudor (because it's Rolex! and parts!...it's an early 90's sub with an ETA). I intentionally avoided going through a Rolex AD because I assumed (incorrectly?) that it would be prohibitively more expensive than a private watchsmith. Turns out after talking extensively with one of the local Rolex AD's that they can perform a service for about the same cost.

JwRosenthal · Apr 19, 2022

Anthony Lane
The reason I went through a private dealer is that good smiths are few and far between locally (and he happened to have one), and of the 5 or so I spoke to none of them wanted to work on a Tudor (because it's Rolex! and parts!...it's an early 90's sub with an ETA). I intentionally avoided going through a Rolex AD because I assumed (incorrectly?) that it would be prohibitively more expensive than a private watchsmith. Turns out after talking extensively with one of the local Rolex AD's that they can perform a service for about the same cost.

Unless Tudor tweaked that eta with proprietary parts, it should be a no-brainer service for any watchmaker.

Enzo · Apr 19, 2022

Do you know if the service on your watch has actually started?
I agree that I would not want to have two watchmakers work on it...but if the work has not been started I would be inclined to withdraw it and send it somewhere else.

Dan S · Apr 19, 2022

Anthony Lane
Absolutely. I put trust in the fact that this dealer is well known locally (and online) and that he would be using a good smith, so I'm not in a hurry, but I do think it's weird that we cannot figure out a realistic timeline to completion.

I think this is a mistake. I would never simply trust a dealer because he is well-known. Some dealers use a variety of watchmakers and often low-ball them, trying to turn as much profit on servicing as possible. Our local ("well-known" and "highly reputable") Rolex AD sends some non-Rolex watches to a local watch repair shop that is absolutely awful ... like dip-and-swish services. He sends vintage Rolex watches to a good independent watchmaker, but is only willing to pay for work/parts that are sufficient to get the watch basically running. In general I would not use a middleman to find a watchmaker at all, but if I did so, I would insist on know exactly who would be working on the watch, and I would also want some details about the person's experience/credentials, what type of work they do, etc.

The Father · Apr 19, 2022

Tell him to give you back your fυcking watch
Just sayin

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

Enzo
Do you know if the service on your watch has actually started?

I asked this last week and have yet to get a response

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

Dan S
I think this is a mistake. I would never simply trust a dealer because he is well-known. Some dealers use a variety of watchmakers and often low-ball them, trying to turn as much profit on servicing as possible. Our local ("well-known" and "highly reputable") Rolex AD sends some non-Rolex watches to a local watch repair shop that is absolutely awful ... like dip-and-swish services. He sends vintage Rolex watches to a good independent watchmaker, but is only willing to pay for work/parts that are sufficient to get the watch basically running. In general I would not use a middleman to find a watchmaker at all, but if I did so, I would insist on know exactly who would be working on the watch, and I would also want some details about the person's experience/credentials, what type of work they do, etc.

I asked if this maker was good and he said that he uses him to services all of the watches that he sells--he deals a lot of Rolex, Patek, AP, and Omega, among a lot of vintage pieces. It felt like a safe option and I put my trust in the dealer...he seems like a good guy, but this timeline is suspiciously long. Or maybe his maker is just really backed up. Still think it seems more than reasonable to get a straight answer regardless.

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

Dan S
Our local ("well-known" and "highly reputable") Rolex AD sends some non-Rolex watches to a local watch repair shop that is absolutely awful ... like dip-and-swish services.

oof. thankfully this isnt the case with the one i have been talking with

Dgercp · Apr 19, 2022

Would help if they gave you an estimated time rather than leaving it open ended. Recently I serviced a Tudor, was told 12 weeks. Not happy with that length but at least I knew what to expect. I totally agree with @Dan S , first priority is the quality of your watchmaker. Most of us have several dozen watches to hold us over while our baby is getting serviced 😀

bombaywalla · Apr 19, 2022

Anthony Lane
Dropped a watch off 10 weeks ago to a local dealer who has a referral to a trusted local watchsmith. When I dropped it off I didn't receive a definitive "it will take this long" estimate, but upon following up was told that he would talk to the smith and see how long it would take, pending parts availability. I offered to help with parts sourcing in order to speed things up. But still never could nail down a timeframe. (odd?)

A month ago today I was finally told that he would circle back with the smith and get me a solid date. Followed up 10 days later (March 28th) and was told his smith had COVID and can only now work a couple hours per day. Ok fine, still would be nice to have an idea of when this watch will be done.

Friday this week will be 10 weeks after I dropped the watch off and I still don't have an answer from the dealer as to when his guy will be done my watch. Starting to get a little impatient, so followed up with him on late last week and got no response.

Am I being impatient or should I just ask for my watch back and use another smith? I'm not looking for a quick-turn rush job, I just want a realistic idea of when I can expect to have my watch back and the fact that we cannot even pin down a date has me a little concerned.

FWIW, I started talking to a local AD and they said they could turn it in 4 weeks.

agree weird that you could not get an time estimate at the time of drop-off. that is one of the 1st things tehy tell you knowing that everyone wants their watch back sooner than later. to me that would have been an alarm which would have told me to not drop the watch off.
RSC is a good option for your Tudor.
It seems to me that your watch service/repair has not even begun. Ask for your watch back & take it elsewhere.

Dan S · Apr 19, 2022

Anthony Lane
oof. thankfully this isnt the case with the one i have been talking with

To be totally candid, I'm not sure you are really equipped to determine the quality of the work done on your watch. It sounds to me like you are simply trusting the dealer's statements. He will give you the watch back and collect your money. If you have a problem, he will repair it under warranty, and he's taking his chances that it will be ok. It's unlikely that you'll ever know exactly what was needed and what was actually done. The dealer I mentioned is a high end retailer, multigenerational storefront. Nobody would imagine that they actually farm out some of the service work to a hack. As long as the watch comes back in running condition, the type of person who has their watch serviced by a dealer is probably happy 99% of the time.

When you deal directly with top-notch independent watchmaker, they will often keep you informed about what they find when they carefully inspect the watch, and explain how them will deal with major issues that arise. Sometimes you may even have options about how you would like to proceed. When you delegate everything to a middleman, all you will ever know is the price, and that the watch is now "fixed" or "serviced". I really don't recommend this approach for a collector. Either use the manufacturer factory service center, or deal directly with an independent watchmaker that you trust.

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

Dan S
To be totally candid, I'm not sure you are really equipped to determine the quality of the work done on your watch.

Fair point, and I agree completely, but I don't think I'm doing that.

When looking for an independent I spoke to half a dozen or so over the phone and one in person. All of which had good "reviews", but none where referred to me by other watch folks. I tried, but I have not serviced a watch locally and found it really difficult to find recommendations or referrals on any of the watch forums for my city. Felt a bit lost TBH. So that's why I turned to a local independent dealer. When I asked him if he trusts and uses this watchmaker and he responds with: "Yes, I use him for all of my watches and have a couple with him now." it seemed like the best option considering the circumstances. The other option would have been to ship the watch out and go with someone out of town.

Unless you are a watchmaker yourself how would you ever know if the person working on your watch is a hack versus someone skilled? I'm certainly not qualified to distinguish between the two on my own. The same thing can be said for a car mechanic. There just has to be a level of assumed trust. I didn't look up "watchmaker" on Craigslist and pick the first one. I went with the recommendation from the independent dealer.

There's an element of uncertainty for any person sending their watch off, I suppose.

With regard to the Rolex AD that I'm in talks with, they have two in-house watchmakers that are certified under Rolex to work on both Rolex and Tudor...I feel very confident in them. I do not suspect they farm watches out...but again, I could be wrong, but I don't think so given they told me that everything is done in-house.

alane24 · Apr 19, 2022

bombaywalla
agree weird that you could not get an time estimate at the time of drop-off. that is one of the 1st things tehy tell you knowing that everyone wants their watch back sooner than later. to me that would have been an alarm which would have told me to not drop the watch off.
RSC is a good option for your Tudor.
It seems to me that your watch service/repair has not even begun. Ask for your watch back & take it elsewhere.

I was fine with the open-endedness of it all given the watchmaker hadn't seen my watch yet. FWIW, I followed up at the 1 week and 2 week marks to inquire if I could get a time-to-service estimate. Ha, still haven't 10 weeks later.

I've asked for the watch back. I just really hope I didn't get fleeced here and my watch is on the wrist of some other fellow.

How would you handle this...?

alane24

cvalue13

Dan S

blufinz52

JwRosenthal

dsio

alane24

alane24

JwRosenthal

Enzo

Dan S

The Father

alane24

alane24

alane24

Dgercp

bombaywalla

Dan S

alane24

alane24

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