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  1. The Father Went out for smokes in ‘78 not seen since Jul 30, 2018

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    After looking around on the web, a new watch warranty from the major brands runs from 2 to 5 years depending on brand and com0lications. Please let me know if I erred. This leads me to a couple questions. I have not purchased a brand new watch yet but it is on the horizon. (New Speedmaster, or Tudor GMT, or Seamaster)

    -how many have used the warranty for a new watch? Is it a rare occurrence?
    -why don’t the major brands offer lifetime warranty, based on having watch serviced according to the brands standards? Have a fleet of company trucks around $50k a copy that have lifetime warranties based on having them serviced according to schedules.
    -grey market sellers of new watches. I realize that these grey markets don’t sell the newest models in most cases. Is the limited warranty period of new watch worth the grey market discount you can find. Some say support the front line dealer, but the grey market product originates from the front line dealer.

    Would like to hear about some warranty uses on new buys? What breaks in a watch? Etc etc

    Apoligaize in advance for the meandering newbie question
     
  2. Canuck Jul 30, 2018

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    It may have changed, but Cartier used to offer a “lifetime” warranty. I worked for a Cartier dealer 30 years ago. We sent one back for service under the “lifetime” warranty, to find that the mainspring was the only thing covered under the warranty. Non-warranty work amounted to hundreds of dollars at dealer cost! Lifetime warranty? Is there really such a thing? If there is, I fail to see how such a warranty would cover deterioration due to use and abuse.
     
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  3. Donn Chambers Jul 30, 2018

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    I had to have my old Omega Seamaster GMT serviced under warranty back in 2005 after I bought it, because the timing was horrible - it was gaining over 30 seconds a day. But this was during a period when Omega allowed Omega-certified watchmakers to perform warranty repairs, and the shop I bought it from had one. So it never left town. He fixed it up and it ran fine for many years until I sold it. That’s 1 out of 3 new Omegas I have purchased.

    The only way to come close to a lifetime warranty is to have the watch serviced by Omega every time the warranty expires. It will come back with another 2-3 year warranty (depending on the model). But this is really a waste of your money, IMO, to service the watch earlier than every 5 years. Because if something is going to break due to a bad part or poor assembly, it should be within the warranty period (unless it just sits in a safe the whole time).

    I’ve had to deal with warranty repairs on quite a few items (cars, firearms, computers) and all but one have occurred in the first few months of ownership. The one exception is my 2007 Mustang, which I still own. I won’t bore you with the details, but a part failed about 7 years after I bought it that should NOT have failed, but it wasn’t covered under a warranty by that time. It took the dealership mechanics and an engineer from Ford in Detroit over a month to trace the problem to that specific part, but they got it working. As a bonus, I got to keep the $2000 in parts (including a new computer) that they put in trying to diagnose the problem, and didn’t have to pay a dime for them!
     
  4. Dan S Jul 30, 2018

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    I sent my wife's Omega for repair under warranty within the first 6 months. I can't remember the details any more, but I think it was something simple, like no re-setting correctly. Nothing that couldn't have been repaired cheaply by my watchmaker, but I thought it was best to take advantage of the warranty. BTW, some of the larger grey market sellers offer their own warranty.

    Lifetime warranty? Apparently you have some experience with this for trucks, but I think that's a rare exception in any industry. People are bound to take advantage of something like that and ruin a good thing (Google LLBean warranty change). And I find the few companies who offer limited lifetime warranties (e.g. Patagonia) have bloated retail prices.
     
  5. BlackTalon This Space for Rent Jul 30, 2018

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    Since analog watches are mechanical devices, they inherently suffer wear issues. Not unlike cars. It would be corporate suicide for a major maker to offer a lifetime warranty unless they tripled or quadrupled the initial cost of the watch. And every word printed on the warranty papers would be another way for them to get out of the obligation.

    Of course they could issue lifetime warranties that are only valid for the lifetime of the watch. When the watch dies, the warranty is no longer valid :D
     
  6. The Father Went out for smokes in ‘78 not seen since Jul 30, 2018

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    I guess my idea for the lifetime warranty, service would be required to keep the warranty valid. You would have to pay for the service to keep the warranty in place. Again, these are just my newbie thoughts. I am surprised I guess that a high dollar watch has a short warranty period.
     
  7. Donn Chambers Jul 30, 2018

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    As I sad, you can already do this — you just have to have it serviced every 2-3 years by Omega, when the warranty is up, and they will add another two years to it. Is it really worth all that extra money over the lifetime of the watch to do that?

    For me, it isn’t.
     
  8. Canuck Jul 30, 2018

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    Does Omega really do a “warranty” service on a watch which is nearing the end of its warranty? Not free, for certain. And how does the Omega repair warranty compare to the new watch warranty?
     
  9. tyrantlizardrex Jul 30, 2018

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    As I understand it, it covers the work they have undertaken, and the parts they have replaced.
     
  10. dennisthemenace Hey, he asked for it! Jul 30, 2018

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    The perfect example of an oxymoron, no?
     
  11. Donn Chambers Jul 30, 2018

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    Is this true? My understanding was if you do a full service, it will come with another full 2-year warranty. Not just a warranty on the parts replaced.
     
  12. tyrantlizardrex Jul 30, 2018

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    Nope, just on the service work - in the same way as if you had a gearbox rebuild on a 5 year old car, they would warranty that work for X amount of time, but wouldn't as part of the warranty on gearbox also cover the body shell, or the interior.

    You just get a warranty for the work carried out.

    From the Omega service paperwork on my old Speedmaster X-33: "We offer a 24 month warranty on the work carried out on your watch..."

    284404-1fad91842b855149a2b729d74139ec7e.jpg
     
  13. Donn Chambers Jul 30, 2018

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    Interesting. But if it was a full service of the movement — where it is disassembled, cleaned, oiled, and reassembled — doesn’t that mean the full movement is warrantied? How could they just warranty part of the movement if the entire thing was taken apart?

    Just curious. I understand that other parts (dial, bezel, case, etc) won’t be, but surely the entire movement would be under warranty?
     
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  14. tyrantlizardrex Jul 30, 2018

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    I suspect common sense would prevail... if it goes back under a service warranty because it's stopped running/isn't running right, unless there are signs that you've done something bad, they're more than likely to fix it.
     
  15. Thegreatroberto Jul 30, 2018

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    Tudor pelagos been back twice. First for a seized bezel. Second time because it started to loose time over a month. Been a great timekeeper before that. Rolex of course dint tell you what was wrong. Believe that the watch was serviced on its second visit to the RSC in Kent. The AD was good on both occasions.
     
  16. Steve Essex Jul 30, 2018

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    I have two Omegas, both grey market imports with international guarantees. Both had never been worn and came with boxes, papers, stickers etc. A Speedmaster ‘57 which comes with a 4 year warranty (my one came from Watchfinder with 3 years, 9 months remaining) and a SMPc 300M diver that comes with a 3 year warranty (that came from Browns family jewellers with 2 years, 11 months remaining). Both, coincidentally, originally came from Italy. I had cause to take Speedmaster back under warranty and took it to my nearest Omega boutique (turned out there was nothing wrong, just me operating it incorrectly) but that was sent away. Came back after about 2 weeks and it had had an external clean and polish and was returned with an Omega travel case F.O.C. I saved a combined total of £1,820 on both watches buying grey imports.
     
  17. Larry S Color Commentator for the Hyperbole. Jul 30, 2018

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    My Montblanc Timewalker GMT was a problem ... Richemont tried to wiggle out, twice claiming I had banged it on something. Fortunately my local boutique and subsequently another dealer went to bat. It was not a positive experience. I dropped my divemaster 500 on a hard surface and Victorinox fixed it no questions asked. So good experience there. I’ve not had any issues with my GMT Master 2. My two JLC’s are relatively young still but I will endeavor to have them serviced at factory when time comes.
     
  18. Buck2466 Jul 30, 2018

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    My first Omega PO Chronograph seized within the first 6 months of ownership. It had something to do with the Co-Axial movement. I sent it in under the warranty and low and behold Omega sent me a brand new PO back with new box and warranty cards stamped Omega Bienne. To this day I don't know what happened, but I was impressed by Omega's handling of the situation! About a year and a half later the new PO stopped and was sent off again. It came back running and has been fine ever since and is now out of warranty. To me, Omega went above board and I was impressed.
     
  19. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Jul 30, 2018

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    It is effectively like the original warranty if Omega does a full service. They will completely service the movement, reseal the case, replace worn parts in the bracelet, etc., so there's very little of the watch that doesn't get touched (mechanical watch at least).

    But Omega is not going to service it under warranty unless there is a specific problem. So it's not like you can just send it in near the end of the warranty period for another service, so getting it serviced every 2 years to ensure it was perpetually under warranty would mean those services would be paid for by the watch owner.

    Cheers, Al
     
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