I've got a few watches that are overwound and need a cleaning/tune-up. How would I go about selecting a proper place? I've heard of a guy in Pennsylvania that one can send their items out to and he does a good job. As I don't feel 100% comfortable doing that I was hoping to gain some insight on how to select a dependable watch repairman? Thanks in advance
If your referring to Mark Siriani, don't bother. He 'cleaned' the minute/second track off one of my dials. How could that happen when there were no instructions to clean the dial at all? Well, I can speculate that he doesn't fully disassemble the watch (which is why his prices are so cheap), and some of his solvent got onto my watch's dial. That's not servicing a watch IMO. This is how a real watchmaker does it: http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/thread17441.html We have watchmakers here - Steve / N2FHL in NJ and Al / Archer in Canada. The watchmaker in the link above is Sam Kalter in Philadelphia.
Lou, I use the restaurant method. I get good referrals from friends I trust and then I look for a place that is crazy busy. I grease the head guy to get service, see if I like it and then try to build a relationship of trust and communication. I am trying to establish 3 levels: Steve in Jersey, I would trust completely with a priceless family heirloom and any degree of complicated service on any watch. I have the trust and communication with him and hope he feels the same. For the next level, I belong to the local watchmakers association ($15 a year to join) met several nice contacts and have established a relationship with a local watchmaker that I would use for de-mag, cleaning and oiling, parts and basically anything Steve wouldn't want to mess with. I also get good leads on used tools and watches that are around. Level 3, a moron to change straps, clean and to attempt some basics. I'll let you guess who that is.