Who would you trust with an Omega watch repair

[MPx]

I know there's some watch experts out there so here's a question.

Fran's had her Omega de Ville for more years than I've known her. Its been "serviced" once before when she was hoping it would be recalibrated to fix it gaining 4 mins a day. That was years ago and it wasn't recalibrated so it always gained. Then a couple of months ago it stopped working. We've been to a couple of jewellers and the safest bet we've been offered is for the watch to be shipped to Switzerland for about 3 months at a cost between

[Simon350S]

Argos do a good range for a lot less than that!

[Paul C]

Mine all go to Watchdoctors:

http://www.watchdoctors.co.uk/

They have done dozens of Omegas for me, a few Rolex and they actually have a Breitling and a nice old tissot of mine with them at the moment. Their prices are excellent. As a guide, a service, crown tube and pressure test at Rolex is £350-400 and a three month wait minimum. The guys at WD do it for less than half that and you get it back in a week. I have actually bought broken watches knowing these guys can fix em for me to sell on at profit.

Omega are ace as they sell parts to third parties. This means a company like Watchdoctors have no problems. Breitling withold all parts, so if the chrono Avenger i have with them for service/regulation needs parts then i have to send to the UK breitling service center at tunbridge wells and wait for months while paying twice as much. Rolex are pretty good supplying parts to third parties, but they do not supply any submariner parts anymore to stop (there was a time you could buy a complete case set, this meant people could 'make' genuine Subs by using the correct movement from regular datejusts) fakes models being created.

[Bibs]

I used Watchdoctors on Paul's advice when the crown fell off of my 4 year old Tag Carrera. Tag refused a warranty claim saying I'd 'abused' the watch (it looks almost new and I never take it off!) and quoted £350 and 8 weeks. Watchdoctors was £85 and it was returned within a fortnight an they even removed a link in the bracelet for free. Top service.

[red vtec]

There is also Swiss Time Services in Essex. They are an approved Omega Service Centre

http://www.swisstimeservices.com/

[MPx]

That's great info, thanks guys. Both places look better than we've found ourselves. I'll sound them out and let you know how I get on.

[shawty_82]

I'll talk to my dad, loves his watches (has around 300+) and gets his more expensive ones (longines, audemars piguet, patek philippe etc) serviced at a guy in Sussex who should be able to do this for not too much! If you're willing to post it of course!

[MartinL]

Hi, I have been in the jewellery/watch trade for over 30years and although i am a goldsmith/diamond mounter by trade, I feel qualified to comment (feel free to take note or ignore as you please!)

Firstly, mechanical watch movements are not accurate.......i have NEVER seen an accurate Rolex (must be one out there!) but 4min out per day is not acceptable, however the older the watch the more wear and play in the moving parts cause problems...............most of us have rebuilt worn engines due to mechanical wear!, same problem.........poor irregular oil changes cause damage to moving parts.

Now we have made the connection between cars and watches,keep thinking on the same lines, if you employ a time served expert to work on your pride and joy then expect to pay for time and parts, if you want only genuine manufacturers parts used make it clear!, aftermarket parts are available for most watch movements often at a fraction of the cost.

Not all mechanics understand your Lotus, not all watchmakers understand your Omega/Rolex/Longines etc. Seek out a specialist for your needs and remember all things mechanical have a usable life expectancy. regular sympathetic sevicing Will extend that life, dont be a "wait till it breaks then fix it" man.

Like a car, a normal sevice should only take a few hours, but ordering of parts may take days or weeks if waiting for parts from manufacturers, no professional will keep you waiting longer than need be as he only gets paid when the job is done!!

i am in no way touting for work but will happily help anyone with a problem .

martin.

ps. if you want an accurate watch, buy one with a quartz movement next time you call in your local petrol station! ( many cheap watghes share the same insides as expensive brand names!!!!!)

[MPx]

Just thought I'd let you guys know that Fran's watch has been repaired and was returned in time for Christmas. It had a new main sprng and hair spring for

[MartinL]

Well done! job sorted at a sensible price.

[internets]

As per Paul C's post above, watch doctors..

[ramjet]

Welcome to TLF John.

 

You've resurrected a 5 year old thread so based on that maybe Watchdoctors is still the go. The UK guys will know more when they get on.

 

You should duck over to the Introductions section and say hi in there as well.

 

Did you find TLF only for the watch thread, or do you have a Lotus as well?

[Bravo73]

I’ve  just  started wearing my Father's Audemars Piguet watch  which has been in a drawer  for ten years. Could it need to be cleaned and oiled? Where can i get it repair?

has

I would recommend that you contact Duncan at Genesis Watchmaking: http://genesiswatchmaking.co.uk

I've got a number of niceish watches and they all go to Duncan for servicing. A large number of us over on tz-uk.com use Duncan for our servicing.

[auRouge]

I have a TAG Grand Carrera 8... Bloody thing has broken down twice. First time warranty. Second time out of warranty the crown failed to screw back in... Went in for a service / repair to TAG via a local jewellery shop acting agent.. Standard charge by TAG is £395.00 plus £20 insurance for dispatch

[Bibs]

As above I used Watchdoctors for my Tag Carrera. Much cheaper, much faster for what appears to be exactly the same job

[internets]

From memory I pay around £40 for a service on my Tag with Watch Doctors and takes a few days, the official Tag service centre in Manchester costs another £100 and takes around a month in my experience!