As have been debated in multiple threads already, the Swiss is working to stop or severely limit parts supply to independent watchmakers.
In an attempt to influence the Swiss watch industry an initiative have been started by Christian and @Mitka both working at watchguy.co.uk.
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO FILL IN THIS SURVEY!

From Christian & Mitka:

As you know, the Swatch Group will not supply spare parts starting 1/1/2016, which means that we won't be able to source parts for your Omegas, Longines, or anything else Swatch Group, including all watches with an ETA movement. This is 72% of all Swiss Watches, but the other 28% are already not selling to the free trade, such as Rolex, PP, AP, ...

We have put together a little survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/swiss_watches and would be very grateful if you could take 5 minutes of your time to fill it in. Also, if you know any other watch enthusiasts, please pass the URL along and spread the word. We would like to get over 1000 surveys filled in to make this meaningful.

We will use the data to get on to CEAHR to support their efforts to open up the spare parts trade, and will also give the results to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. We feel that it should be the customers that decide where they service their watches, and not the companies that sell the watches.

Also, if you have some additional time, please contact the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry at http://www.fhs.ch/eng/contact.html and let them know how you feel and what you would like as a customer.

Thank you very much for your help; it's greatly appreciated.

 

Survey completed!

I think it is a quite good initiative. I think shortage of supply for spare parts is not fair for us, consumers. I have already paid my watch! I do not want you Brand to make business with my repairs.

 

Done.

I'm relatively new to watch collecting but it's a scandalous situation that a watchmaker that I have used and trusted for these last 2 years is now telling me that he will be retiring as he will not have access to necessary parts in the future. This is a guy that has spent over 50 years repairing watches and I would bet knows more about watches and repairs than most AD conveyor belt workers....

 

Completed.
Fk the swatch group policy

 

Thank you everyone so far. We have 98 responses in the first 90 minutes of the survey going live - great stuff!

 

Done

Started keeping the paperclips at work in case I need parts for my pre-moon speedie. (I got a few spare for you @dougiedude )

 

While I applaud the efforts, the focus should be a joint effort through the only body that seems to be able to challenge the Swiss, that being the CEAHR, www.ceahr.org.

On the CEAHR website is a petition, that is what concerned members and customers should be filling out.

The Swiss are united in their efforts which is why they are so strong, and the only united opposition has been CEAHR, so lets support what they have already done by taking the Swiss to court (twice) and what they are working towards at this moment, with the Industry Action Fund, along with Cousins efforts, and the BHI input. Without a united assault through the courts, we don't have a chance of bringing about change, if indeed change is possible, personally I don't think the Swiss are going to back off no matter what hits them, their minds are made up and that's that...

So please, if you want to do something positive, help the IAF with a donation through the British Clock and Watchmakers Guild, sign the CEAHR petition and present a united effort. For any possible chance of success the effort has to be funneled through one source, and through the courts, which is what CEAHR is doing.

 

I see no conflict in this? Ref: "We will use the data to get on to CEAHR to support their efforts"

 

152 surveys filled in so far - thank you everyone!

 

I am working very closely with the IAF and have donated a very sizeable amount to it - you might want to check that before diverting people away from this effort.

As for the BHI, last time I saw Dudley Giles (the CEO of the BHI), he said that the time of the independent watchmaker was over. Not quite sure what support I can expect from someone who says that.

Thank you.

 

Done

 

I remember reading a survey in Canadian MacLeans magazine in the middle 1950s that indicated that the era of watchmakers was over! In fact, rumours of the demise of watchmakers goes all the way back to the emergence of the dollar watch over 100 years ago! As long as there are watches that the major brands service centres won't touch, there will be a role for watchmakers. That may mean that watchmakers who still possess the traditional skills will survive, while those who don't possess those skills may fall by the wayside. Many watchmakers will be busy for a long time to come, in my view.

I did the survey, but the old adage that "there are none so deaf as those who refuse to listen" seems to apply the the Swiss.

 

Agreed, but that is not an excuse to accept bad business practices by your favorite "dope dealers"

 

Completed! Thanks for leading the charge!

 

Survey completed, and I certainly appreciate the effort. I do wish though that the language being used was a little more accurate:

"As you know, the Swatch Group will not supply spare parts starting 1/1/2016"

This is not true. They are not stopping the supply of spare parts, but are stopping the sale of spare parts to 3rd party material distributors. I know for those who only buy their parts from a material supplier (Cousins, Otto Frei, etc.) it means the same thing, but it isn't the same thing in reality.

Those who have a parts account can still get parts after this date. No guarantee for how long of course, but for now there appears to be no plan to discontinue the sale of parts to those who meet the requirements set out by Swatch. I don't believe this language is meant to be intentionally misleading, but being accurate about what is happening is the right thing, and if nothing else will hopefully help stem the flow of emails I'm getting from people asking if I will still get parts after the first of the year...

Also, a recent post on the WUS Omega forum by someone stated that they spoke to Bob Frei and he confirmed that Otto Frei has already been cut off. So as I have mentioned previously, Swatch want their business with these places wrapped up by the end of the year, so they have already stopped selling to some it appears, so they can get their accounts closed up by year end.

Cheers, Al

 

Yes, Ofrei has already taken up their allowance for 2015, so they can't order any more parts. Sorry if the language wasn't correct; I didn't mean to mislead.

 

Thank you for you PM with more details.

So far the only success (failure?) that I have seen concerning this issue is from CEAHR where they have actually taken the Swiss to the EU courts. And knowing that I am sure you can appreciate that that appears to be our only way forward, even the IAF is working with/through the CEAHR to bring it to the courts once again.

As an independent watchmaker I have as much to loose as you do. And my comments are aimed at a single point of attack against the Swiss.

If the initial post that opened this topic stated that your efforts were part of the IAF and the BWCMG, then that sheds different light on the subject.

I have to ask why hasn't this survey come from the IAF or the BWCMG? Why is it left to an independent watchmaker to put up a survey as you have? Wouldn't a larger target be reached if this came from CEAHR, IAF, or the BWCMG?

My apologies if you were offended by my comments.

 

Thank you very much for you PM, too.

We (Chris Papworth and I) discussed yesterday if this should be done in the name of the BWCMG, but we felt that it would be better if it was more international, and more independent. As my blog has roughly 1,400 reader per day, we felt that I could reach a more relevant audience (watch owners) with the survey than the BWCMG could.

No offence taken - I just wanted to keep the focus on this survey, rather than having it redirected.

Best regards,

Christian

 

No worries mate - you know we are all good.

Cheers, Al

 

That's another one done!