I thought I'd post this because it's quite common for people to ask for trusted watchmakers.

I recently purchased a cal 563 from a private seller. At the time it was running perfectly at about +5-6 seconds a day. Unfortunately, within a month of purchase it stopped running. Of course, I turned to Omega Forums for a recommendation. I was looking for someone local, and after digging around with a few searches, I found Franz Lorist near my home in the Bay Area, and Paul's Watch Repair a bit further out in Sacramento. Special thanks to forum member @wsfarrell for giving me details on Paul's.

I emailed them both initially. Franz said he couldn't give a quote without seeing it. Raimond from Paul's Watch said it would be $85 service, and said it would be another $35 if the canon pinion needed replacement. Paul's Watch actually has a published price list.

I initially decided to go to Franz because he's within driving distance and I could go there in person if needed. After a half hour drive over there, he looked at it for about 5 seconds, told me the mainspring was broken, and that it would be $350 for a service and repair. I asked him to break down that price into service + repair, so I could tell how much he was charging for the mainspring, and he refused, saying he only does full service or not at all, and doesn't break it down. I politely told him that was a bit more than I was expecting. His response was - it would be great if things were free, but that's not how the world works. I responded that of course it shouldn't be free, but I was expecting something closer to $150. His final response, which drove me out of the shop, was that you can hardly get anything for $150 today, and he compared it to buying 10 happy meals at McDonalds.

So, turned off by Franz's attitude and pricing, I went outside and called Raimond. I told him I had it checked out the mainspring was broken. Raimond said he doubted it's the mainspring because they rarely break, but if that was the issue, it would only add $55 to the service. He also talked me through his experience with vintage Omegas and made me feel very comfortable.

I walked right over to the post office and mailed it in. I also asked him for pictures to share with you guys, and he humored me with a few.

To Franz's credit, it actually was a broken mainspring, but the way he delivered the message didn't engender any trust.


Back on the wrist, walking by the Bay.


The whole thing took a week with Paul's watch. I mailed it in USPS flat rate on Saturday, he got it Monday, mailed it back Thursday, and it arrived Friday.

Overall, the experience was excellent. I liked the communication and transparent pricing. I always felt like Raimond was honest and trying to help me. While Franz was right about the watch, he was the exact opposite of Paul - terrible customer service and fuzzy pricing. I worry that he's become used to people of Menlo Park and the surrounding area just paying without asking any questions. I would've paid a premium for face-to-face, local service, but not that much.

Because of Paul's service speed, and the ease of shipping USPS, I'd recommend Paul's Watch to people outside the Bay Area as well. I just told my father to send his 1967 Omega there.

 

So how much was the service in the end.?

 

1. Complete overhaul service - $85
2. Replace new mainspring - $55
3. Request no polish on case (will polish crystal only and do a heated ultrasonic cleaning of case only) - Credit ($15)
4. Return shipping costs with signature confirmation $6.50

Grand Total = $131.50

 

Does Paul's work on Speedys?

 

Not positive, but I'd guess so. His price list covers chronographs.

 

Turnaround time is a product of workload and workload is usually a product of reputation.

What concerns me and probably accounts for the low price, is the lack of dis-assembly. IMO it is only one step up from Duncan Swish. Surely he didn't put it through the cleaning machine with the centre wheel dangling from the cannon pinion.

 

They do--old and new.

On the dis-assembly issue: I can't vouch for what they did with this particular watch, but almost every time I've gone there I've seen watches further dis-assembled than this one. I'm sure they'd give you an honest answer if you asked.

That said, I'm bringing out the neuralyzer now, and no one reading this will remember anything about Paul's.

 

That price list has me scratching my head. Automatic w/date $85/$275 for Average/High grade. What the heck is the difference in service between average and high grade? That's a big price gap. Is it simply charging more for more valuable watches?

My limited experience so far, with independents, is about those high-grade prices for everything. Still looking though, since I wasn't much impressed with the service anyway.

 

I see signs of the rotor dragging inside the case back! Notice the dark concentric ring showing clearly. The rotor bearing gear wears out on these Omega calibres. The repair synopsis might imply he didn't do anything about that! None of the pictures shows the watch entirely dismantled. Someone mentioned a "dunk and swish" cleaning job. The upper mainspring barrel arbor bushing wears, as does the upper and lower mainspring barrel arbor bearings. No comment was made as to the state of all those bearings, and whether he did anything about them. Let us know how the watch performs, and how happy you are with the repair! I hope it works out for you!

 

On the rotor issue - before service the winding sounded and felt a bit rough, maybe that was the rotor brushing against the caseback as you say. I can't hear it at all now, nor do I feel it moving on my wrist when I give it a shake, which I felt before the service. These questions and those from @Stewart H are worth bringing up with Raimond. They're on vacation for the next few weeks though.

Based on their description of what service entails, it's likely he just sent me a picture of the disassembly mid-way:

My initial impressions are good, prompting the recommendation. It comes with a one year warranty on service. Hopefully it runs problem free for the next 5 years or so and I'll send it right back to them. If I do have any issues I'll update this post though. I plan on wearing the watch once or twice a week.

 

That was my first thought Stewart!

 

Your best bet as to evaluating the repair they did would be to make it a daily wearer for the next couple weeks or so. Part time wear will not likely be sufficient to really evaluate post-repair performance. In other words, when it stops, does it stop because it ran down because you're not wearing it, or because the auto wind feature is not performing well (as in a dragging rotor). Just be sure that a repair at half the price isn't half a repair!

 

Perhaps these photos are part disassembly but, this is an interesting way to rest the balance on the bench.


I may not have much experience but, I have not seen that before. I always turn the balance over to protect the tiny balance staff pivots and hairspring. But let's trust more in what De Carle says, as he seemed to have some idea of what he was doing. 'Practical watch Repairing' available on Kindle for buttons (really, it's about $10-15 and is interesting even if you never intend to wield a screwdriver in anger - I have wielded them in anger, not recommended!):



Cheers, Chris

 

I sent away a Zodiac Sea Wolf that I picked up on Ebay to another out-of-state watchmaker. This Seawolf would hand wind, auto-wind, and run but needed a rehab. It was returned with a bill and a note telling me that it would never hand wind again but just to use it's automatic feature to power it up if I ever wanted to wear it.

I found Raimond at Paul's Watch shop through an online search for Zodiac repair. He took in my now really faulty 1950s Sea Wolf and, while it was fairly involved to rebuild, got it right the first time and I'm enjoying the watch yet. I can hand wind it too in order to start it up. The cost of repair didn't rip my head off either. I've since set him 15 or more watches and he's provided great service and expert advice. A couple of Ebay purchases have been too far gone, too generally worn out through neglect, to be worth rebuilding and he advised me of this with no charge for peeking inside.

I bought a mid-1980s Speedmaster at the first of this year and away it went to Sacramento where it was properly tended to at Paul's Watch and Clock Shop. They do work on Speedmasters and apparently do it right. They are aware of the desire of some watch aficionados to have watches sympathetically restored. All one has to do is ask.

I just received four watches back from Raimond today, including my Smiths and one women's gold Omega I intend as a gift. It needed a slight additional accuracy tweaking after being returned earlier last month. I'm never in a hurry for a watch repair but Raimond made sure to get the last batch of watches out before going on vacation without my prompting. They stand behind their work. Raimond particularly admires Omega watches too. I enjoy corresponding with Raimond and sending watches to them is much more convenient for me than to drive many miles from the middle of nowhere in Texas. Watches are fun again way out here.

Now if I can just get them to move to Texas ...

 

After the 11th of August.

 

I've had them work on a couple of my Hamilton watches as well. No problems with service or job standard to note. they even post updates on where your watch is in the schedule (at least they were doing that a couple of years ago).