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So, just sent my wa...
 

[Closed] So, just sent my watch off for a service...

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[#5377985]

.. And it going to cost £580 and take 3 months!!!!

Am speechless...


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:10 pm
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I would be too, but I am unable to post a reply with nothing in it...


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:11 pm
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I take it this is no 1980s Casio then?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:12 pm
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I would have just sold it tbh but any sale price would end up being minus a service price so I'd still end up paying it anyhow. Very pissed off atm...


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:13 pm
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That can't be a service only? *inflection*


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:14 pm
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Meanwhile, at the watch servicing place....

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:14 pm
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Are you sure you didn't mistake your watch for your family car?

Go on - what is the watch?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:16 pm
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That can't be a service only?

Includes a crown but that is included in the price of the device anyhow. After having recently had to spend £900 on a new turbo for the car and now this, the worst kind of things to have to spend money on.

The watch is an Ebel BTR GMT, it was a 30th present from the wife so obviously I couldn't really sell it. I always kind of thought a service could cost around £250ish, never in my wildest dreams could I have thought £580.

I could have bought a used Sinn U1 for not much more, which I'd much rather have done.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:17 pm
 DT78
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I would have sold on eBay and bought something else....unless its got sentimental value of course


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:19 pm
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Stop pussyfooting about, what silly more-money-than-sense watch have you got? 😀

Unless the above is actually the case of course...


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:20 pm
 wl
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I always thought half the point of posh watches at silly prices was their quality and reliability. They don't really do anything extra or better than a normal cheapo watch, unless you count conferring status.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:22 pm
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Madness in the extreme. Plenty of great looking watches about for less than £200. If I had a remotely nice one I would be too scared to wear it.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:24 pm
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Ebel BTR GMT, the problem is they have a proprietary movement which might win enthusiast brownie points but means that it cost big money to work on, unlike ETA based movements which can be worked on by any competent watch mechanic. Didn't cross my mind when I bought it, and why would it. You live and learn I guess.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:25 pm
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You should have used Genesis ( http://genesiswatchmaking.co.uk/) fabulous service by a person at least as competent than by the watchmaker (if it's an inhouse movement) themselves. Approved by TZUK and if your a member of TZUK you get a further 15% off.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:26 pm
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[b]You could nearly get a set of forks for that!!!!![/b]


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:26 pm
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[b]Or more than 450 Sayers' meat and tater pies!!!!![/b]


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:27 pm
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I is confused.

If you need a watch to find out the time, a cheap digital one will do the job.

If you like the look of a nice watch as a piece of jewellery, then what does it matter whether or not it actually works?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:27 pm
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You could nearly get a set of forks for that!!!!!

😆

Never thought of it like that, and I guess that's context for you, forks can now cost nearly a grand, and are generally used for a few years, I guess the watch will last decades.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:28 pm
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£580 over 3 months, that's about £1.20 an hour, which seems pretty cheap.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:28 pm
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You could nearly get a set of forks for that!!!!!

The hypocrisy is deafening isn't it? 🙂


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:28 pm
 wl
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What does the proprietary movement actually do? My £80 Nixon loses about 1 second per week and is now 10 years old. Are posh watches any more accurate than that, and what would be the point anyway? I'm genuinely curious.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:29 pm
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You should have used Genesis ( http://genesiswatchmaking.co.uk/) fabulous service by a person at least as competent than by the watchmaker (if it's an inhouse movement) themselves. Approved by TZUK and if your a member of TZUK you get a further 15% off.

I am on TZUK and tried Genesis, they said the same thing, due to the movement it would be hideously expensive and would be better to get Ebel to do it anyway.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:30 pm
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now this, the worst kind of things to have to spend money on

Really? [i]Really?[/i]

You know you could just have bought a new watch, right? For less than a tenner, and it would have told the time just as well. Probably better.

But no, you're right. A £600 watch service is [b]literally[/b] the worst thing to have to spend money on.

*mutter* first world bloody problems *mutter* 😉


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:32 pm
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Most high end watch manufacturers are now heading down the proprietary movement route (Panerai Breitling etc) as I guess they can justify the ridiculous prices more than using modified ETA movements like they always used to.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:32 pm
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Did it really need a service? or just a new crown, which any competent watch maker could do?

I've got a couple of expensive'ish watches, but I've never had them serviced in 12 years, they still keep time as accurately as they did when new - which compared to a quartz watch like the nixon above is not very accurate at all.

expensive watches really are a totally irrational purchase, there is no justification for one, other than ' I just want it'


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:33 pm
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There's no need to lose face over this. It's now out of your hands. It must be a wind up though. If you're struggling to fund the service, you could always em-bezel the funds.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:37 pm
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Are you sure there's no movement in that price? Of Quartz, if you're strapped for cash you could always buckle and not pay


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:44 pm
 Del
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jewellery, plain and simple. which is fine, if you're like that. 😉
on the other hand my forks typically cost 2-300 quid and i wear a g-shock, when i wear it. each to their own.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:45 pm
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[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:51 pm
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My Bike cost £800 second hand. My watch cost £80 in a sale.

10:1 ratio. What’s yours?

Edit: i do not own an octopus!


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:51 pm
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My Bike cost £800 second hand. My watch cost £80 in a sale.

10:1 ratio. What’s yours?

£4500 / £80 you do the maths.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 12:57 pm
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£4500 / £80 you do the maths

christ, does that mean his bike cost £45,000?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:00 pm
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£4500 / £80 you do the maths.

May the cock jousting begin 😆


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:01 pm
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Mine was ten weeks and 350, but I claimed off the house insurance for accidental damage. Incidentally that included two crowns and new fingers/hands. Why they change them is beyond me?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:01 pm
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christ, does that mean his bike cost £45,000?

it may have been £80. you get 2 for the price of 1 at Halfords.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:05 pm
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I've got a lovely Oris watch which is in for service at the mo (8 yrs old) because it stopped working.
It was a 40th birthday present. Keeps terrible time.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:06 pm
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What's involved in a watch service? they're fully sealed units, waterproof, shockproof, so nothing to get in there to crap the mechanism up.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:15 pm
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I've got a Rolex that hasn't been serviced for 10+ years, doesn't keep very good time and sits at home most of the time...the "estimate" for the OP has put me right off doing anything.....ho hum


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:21 pm
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ha! ha!

You are SurfMat and are just trying to show off about an expensive watch in a clever, subtle and roundabout way...

and I claim my £5


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:24 pm
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[img] [/img]

20 Quid from E bay, just fixed wife's fancy watch with this kit.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:26 pm
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try the Watchdoctor in Tring, substantially cheaper than having watch serviced by the official people


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:27 pm
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I thought a quote at £40 to fix a Citizen eco drive was bad news. In the end I retired it, it had cost £125 about 10 years earlier. Replaced with an £80 storm watch and have subsequently bought a £100 Fossil (they both look great – like something prised out of a 60s fighter jet console).

If any of them die i would just put them in the box a long side the Citizen waiting until they are sufficiently retro to do anything with. I also bought a watch tool kit as above to change batteries myself. That has paid for itself now that 2 batteries have been done.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:30 pm
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Similar problems here OP, I've had a Tag for almost 25yrs and the only thing I have had done is the bezel changing and the strap oh and the batteries.. But I left it in a draw for the last 6/7 years and got it out to wear, battery flat (expected) so went to local Tag dealer and estimated to "fix" £270, all I wanted was a battery change. Idiots.
So it went off for a battery change and still cost me £70.
I have a very local guy here that will change batteries for £4 but he doesn't like resealing them/pressure testing so that was out of the question, fine for my (insert German Car Branded) watch though 😆


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:32 pm
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It costs £15 at my local watchsmiths to do a pressure test.


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:40 pm
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Erm. What does a watch 'service' actually entail?
Presumably for almost £600 they must actually replace some bits? Or do they just open it, give it a wipe with some ipa soaked cotton buds and close it up again?


 
Posted : 30/07/2013 1:43 pm
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