Now a days, when you say "fine watches", the Swiss immediately come to mind. This hasn't always been the case, both the English and the Americans were once considered leaders in the watch field. The development of the American watch industry was one of the symbols of America's emergence from an agricultural country to an industrial power.
Watches before 1850: The English and Swiss Rule Supreme
Although the English aren't famous for watchmaking now, from around 1650 until around 1850 they made the highest quality, most accurate watches in the world. The English watches tended to be bulky and not very fashionable, but the plain style matched the "puritan" ethic of England. The Swiss, on the other hand, had a flair for the fashions that were desired by the rest of Europe and the world. The Swiss made a very wide range of watches, from cheap junk to very high quality complicated watches, although few were as accurate as the English. Both of these two major watch centers made watches in small batches by small companies with a lot of hand work. Both of these countries dumped their cheapest junk onto the American market.
1850s: The Founding of the American Watch Industry
Starting around 1850, the Americans pioneered the use of automated machines to mass produced high quality watches with interchangeable parts. This became known as the "American System of Manufacturing." By the 1860s-1870s the American watch companies had proved that this system could make watches that were every bit as good as all but the best watches that were made by hand. They were also able to make watches that were cheaper than all but the cheapest hand made watches.
1870s: American Watch Companies Are The State Of The Art
By the mid 1870s, the Swiss noticed a significant drop off in sales to the American market. To find out why, they sent a representative to the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. There, the Swiss saw Waltham's automated screw making machine and were shocked by what it could do. A spool of wire was fed into one end of the completely automated machine, and a steady stream of perfectly formed screws the size of pin heads were delivered out the other end. Similar quality watch screws simply could not be made by the hand controlled machines the Swiss used.
It wasn't just screw making that the American's had perfected. Almost every part of a watch had a specially designed machine that could make parts faster, more accurately and with less labor than anything the Swiss or English could do.
By the early 1880s, the Swiss and English were pretty much run out of the American market. The English just kind of folded up shop and stuck to the high end ship chronometers needed by the many ships of the huge British Empire. They also made over priced junk that could only be sold at home. The English reacted to both the growing Swiss and American watch industries by lobbying the parliament for higher tariffs and restricting imports. The Swiss, on the other hand, reacted by adapting to the new market.
1880s: The Swiss Respond
Before the 1880s, the Swiss watch industry was made up of cottages in little villages where only a few parts of a watch movement or watch case were made. Those parts would then be assembled in other small shops. Each watch had to be hand tweaked to account for the differences between the parts. A difference in one part would often require that the other parts that it touched to have to be adapted.
After seeing the American System of Manufacturing, the Swiss reorganized into centralized factories, with a fair amount of automation. These factories were very small compared to American companies and they still weren't as automated. They did, however, make enough improvements that they could make knock offs of American watches ("Swiss Fakes") and also to keep from losing the rest of the world's markets.
One drawback to the American System of Manufacturing is that each part required a machine to make it, so complicated watches such as minute repeaters, chronographs and very high end watches were not practical to make. Sometimes American companies would "cheat" and simply make these watches with semi-automated means similar to the Swiss, but the quantity was limited and by the 1890s, most American watch companies had stopped making them. The American watches were very high quality, but also very simple.
1900s: The Power of Competitive Markets
While the American companies had dabbled in foreign markets in the 1870's and 1880's, for the most part, they were quite happy to limit themselves to the US and Canadian markets. Americans, in general, were quite isolationist, and Elgin and Waltham were generally selling everything their factories could produce.
By around 1900, the Swiss technology had pretty much caught up with the Americans. One big difference was that the Swiss had many companies involved in the making of a watch. There were a bunch of companies that would make "movements in the gray" (ebauche), and these movements would be sold to other companies that would finish them off and sell them. Other companies would specialize in things like chronograph attachments, watch dials, mainsprings or tools. With so many Swiss companies each doing only a part of the manufacture, as a whole, the Swiss were able to produce everything from very cheap watches, to watches of the highest quality.
The American market, in contrast, was effectively a duopoly of Waltham and Elgin, with several smaller companies trying to survive in niche markets. All of these companies produced everything but the watch case. A factory that builds everything has certain advantages, such as it is easier to coordinate, but having one factory that did everything from making jewels, to making dials, to sales and promotion also had draw backs. If a Swiss company was having problems with the quality or quantity of, say, the dials, they would change suppliers. If an American company couldn't make dials, they were stuck. A new Swiss company could enter the market fairly easily, but the American "watch trust" made distributors and Jewelers leery of accepting a new brand of watch and risk loosing their supply of Elgins and Walthams.
1920s: The Return of the Swiss
The Swiss were early adopters of the wrist watch, and after WWI, they made significant inroads into the US market. Of the American watch companies, only Elgin, Hamilton and the company was to become Timex really successfully made the switch to wrist watches. Waltham held on, but due to poor management, they failed to invest in the newer equipment that was needed to make the smaller watches. The dozen or so other American watch companies either merged, were bought out and moved to other countries or shut down.
After the market crash of 1929, watches became a luxury that most people could put off buying. All the watch companies suffered, but those that hadn't switched to wrist watch production couldn't recover. During the 1930s, watch companies all over the world just kind of hung on.
During WWII, the American watch companies sunk a great deal of their remaining capital into converting to war production. Bomb "fuses" (timers), specialized navigation timers, and ship chronographs were all new designs which required new equipment. The Swiss, being "neutral", were allowed back into the American market in a big way and when the war ended, the American watch companies were in a world of hurt. They had lost a large chunk of their home market, they had no foreign markets, and they needed time to retool back to watch production. The American public, on the other hand, was flush with money that they couldn't spend while the war was on, and the Swiss were all too willing to supply them with watches.
1950s: The Swiss Take Charge
By the 1950s, the Swiss had perfected machine made complicated wrist watches such as chronographs, automatic winding watches, and day-date watches. The Americans had never produced these kinds of watches (in any real numbers), they weren't making much money and they had exhausted their reserves. None of them were able to make the transition from simple watches to the complicated ones that were in demand in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Like the English, the American watch companies reacted to the growing Swiss market share by lobbying congress for higher tariffs and restricting imports. They also tried to get more military contracts, but even the Korean war didn't help much. I have a wonderful article from Elgin whining to congress about how there "needs to be a parity of price at the borders" and "We need a tariff on Swiss watches and a subsidized export market." And to think, Elgin was in much better shape than most.
The only American watch company that survived was Timex, which made cheap, "disposable" watches. While they were looked down on by the elite watch makers, they were at least turning a profit. By making the watches "disposable", Timex was able to do things like completely seal the watch case. This meant that it couldn't be opened to be repaired, but it also wouldn't let dust in. The Timex also lacked any jewels, which meant that it would wear out after a while, but it was also more rugged that way. A sharp knock would often break the jewels in an expensive watch, but a Timex could "Take a Licking, And Keep On Ticking!"
The other American company of note was Bulova, which up until the 1950s had imported their movements from Switzerland. In the 1960s, they created the revolutionary electronic "Accutron" watch. This watch used a tuning fork to keep time instead of a rotating balance wheel, and the result was an incredibly accurate watch. The Accutron became the high end watch from the early 1960s until the early 1970s when the quartz watch took over.
1970s: The Quartz Age
In the 1970s, the Swiss took another shock when the Japanese perfected the quartz watch, but like the shock from the "American System of Manufacturing", they adapted and recovered.
Today, you can still buy watches with the great American names of Waltham, Elgin, and Hamilton, but none of these watches are made in the USA. Many watch companies license these names, and little attention is paid to their quality. They probably aren't any worse than many other brand names that you can pick up at Target or Wallmart, but they have nothing to do with their once great past.
from http://elginwatches.org/history/short_history.html
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The First Watch in Space
On April 12, 06:07 GMT, 1961 Juri Gagarin, at the controls of Vostok One, ushered in a new era, one of manned space flight, and the world was forever changed. The technology that put this man in space and brought him safely home, was some of the newest and most modern equipment available. Ironically, on his wrist was a technology that was already centuries old-- watch making. It may seem odd to us now in this time of extremely accurate quartz watches, but at the time, the mechanical wrist watch was an important piece of gear, and it’s accuracy and reliability were of paramount concern. In light of these concerns, the choice of watch Gagarin took with him would not have been a decision made in haste.
The STURMANSKIE, (or ШТУРМАНСКИЕ in Cyrillic,) which had been issued to new graduates of the prestigious Orenberg Flight School along with their diplomas since the late 1940’s, was a logical choice, due to the high quality of the movement and inherent accuracy of the watch. Gagarin would have been supplied with such a 1st Moscow Watch Factory Sturmanskie opon graduation from Orenberg as well, but it is doubtful that he would have received the Sturmanskie he wore into space at that time. Most likely, he would have been awarded a 15 jewel watch, very similar to the one he wore in space but lacking some of the newer features that were unavailable at that time.
Based on an earlier French design, the Lip R26, from which the Soviets purchased the machinery to produce the watch. The Soviet’s had updated the design by adding a central seconds complication and a hacking feature that allowed the watch to be precisely stopped and synchronized with a given time signal. A critical detail on any military watch, but especially so on a Navigator’s watch, where often location would be ascertained by correctly estimating where the aircraft was by accurately measuring time to distance.
The Sturmanskie Gagarin wore into space had a highly finished (including Geneva striping!) 17 jewel, shock protected movement. The movement was housed in a chrome plated, two-piece case measuring 33 mm across, 12 mm high, with a 16 mm lug size and had a stainless steel screw back. Unlike the earlier watch’s stainless steel snap back, the new watch was fully gasketed providing better water resistance.
As a matter of fact, the Sturmanskie’s movement and case, were virtually identical to the civilian Sportivnie (Спортивные). Only the dial separated the two watches visually from each other. After his world famous flight, the watch Gagarin wore was donated to what was soon to become ПОЛЕТ or Poljot, meaning flight, in honor of Gagarin’s groundbreaking mission. Where it currently resides as part of their present day collection.
from http://www.netgrafik.ch/russian_space_watches.htm
The STURMANSKIE, (or ШТУРМАНСКИЕ in Cyrillic,) which had been issued to new graduates of the prestigious Orenberg Flight School along with their diplomas since the late 1940’s, was a logical choice, due to the high quality of the movement and inherent accuracy of the watch. Gagarin would have been supplied with such a 1st Moscow Watch Factory Sturmanskie opon graduation from Orenberg as well, but it is doubtful that he would have received the Sturmanskie he wore into space at that time. Most likely, he would have been awarded a 15 jewel watch, very similar to the one he wore in space but lacking some of the newer features that were unavailable at that time.
Based on an earlier French design, the Lip R26, from which the Soviets purchased the machinery to produce the watch. The Soviet’s had updated the design by adding a central seconds complication and a hacking feature that allowed the watch to be precisely stopped and synchronized with a given time signal. A critical detail on any military watch, but especially so on a Navigator’s watch, where often location would be ascertained by correctly estimating where the aircraft was by accurately measuring time to distance.
The Sturmanskie Gagarin wore into space had a highly finished (including Geneva striping!) 17 jewel, shock protected movement. The movement was housed in a chrome plated, two-piece case measuring 33 mm across, 12 mm high, with a 16 mm lug size and had a stainless steel screw back. Unlike the earlier watch’s stainless steel snap back, the new watch was fully gasketed providing better water resistance.
As a matter of fact, the Sturmanskie’s movement and case, were virtually identical to the civilian Sportivnie (Спортивные). Only the dial separated the two watches visually from each other. After his world famous flight, the watch Gagarin wore was donated to what was soon to become ПОЛЕТ or Poljot, meaning flight, in honor of Gagarin’s groundbreaking mission. Where it currently resides as part of their present day collection.
from http://www.netgrafik.ch/russian_space_watches.htm
What You Need To Know About Watch Repair
Which watches can be repaired?
In theory, any watch can be repaired, but in practice many watches can not be repaired for less than the cost of replacing them. This is most often true for low cost watches and quartz watches, but it is also true for badly damaged watches such as ones that have rusted. It can also hard or expensive to find certain replacement parts. A watch may still be worth repairing even if the repair costs exceed the replacement costs if the watch has some sentimental value to you, such as your grandmother's watch. Watches used to be heirlooms traditionally handed down when a child became an adult as new watches were too expensive for them to buy. I highly recommend keeping your watch even if you aren't that interested in it right now.
Be aware that many watchmakers only work on antique watches and may not be able to help with the newer ones, such as quartz watches. It might surprise you that there are lots of people who can repair watches from the 1930's, but not watches from the 1990's. The reason is that the ones from the 1930's, for the most part, were designed to be repaired while the ones from the 1990's, for the most part, weren't.
Also, many watchmakers do not handle certain things like replacement watch bands, replacement links to watch bands, replacing diamonds and other jewels on a watch case and other similar "jewelry" aspects of a watch.
Where can I get my watch repaired?
The quality of work and the price charged by watchmakers varies widely. While there are many great watchmakers, there are also some "botchmakers" out there. In my opinion, it is MUCH more important to find a good watchmaker than a close one. Don't count people out because they live 3000 miles away, since they are really just as close as your mailbox.
When looking for a watchmaker, here are some questions you should consider asking:
What kinds of watches do they work on?
Some watchmakers only work on pocket watches, others on Rolexes and high end watches, many will not work on electronic watches of any kind.
Does it cost to get an estimate?
Figuring out what is wrong with your watch can take quite a bit of time. Some watchmakers will charge for estimates, often this charge will be waved if you go ahead with the repairs.
Guarantees
Most watchmakers will offer a guarantee that the watch will function correctly for some time after you get the watch back. The length of this guarantee varies from weeks to months. This guarantee will not cover the watch being dropped, nor to keep perfect time.
How long will it take?
Most good watchmakers have a backlog, but some watchmakers are just slow. Long delays is one of the most frequent complaints about watchmakers.
How are the watches cleaned?
As discussed in the repair cost section, the quality of a cleaning can vary. I recommend making sure the watchmaker fully disassmebles the watch and hand oils the watch.
Just like you should do with all your valuables, it is a good idea to take pictures of your watch, both the outside and the watch movement (where the gears are). You should also record all serial numbers and markings on the watch. Good watchmakers will help you with this, if you have problems.
About the only thing I would recommend against doing is taking it to a random jewelry store. Once upon a time, almost all jewelry stores had a good watchmaker on staff, much like all gas stations had a mechanic. Mechanical watches have become rare and watch repair is very specialized work. Just like few gas stations have mechanics anymore, most watchmakers no longer work in jewelry stores. Many jewelers will claim they still repair watches, but actually send them to someone else, or have some guy who is past retirement who used to be good but now repairs only couple of watches a year, or worst of all, some new guy who doesn't know much of anything. I'm sure there are some really good watch makers that are still work in jewelry stores, but chances are, you are either going to pay more for having a middle man or get really bad results. Of course, it is different if you know your jeweler well and know that they have a good watchmaker. Don't take your car to the 7-11 or gas-n-stop to get it fixed, and don't take your watch to a random jeweler.
How often should I get my watch serviced?
If you are going to use the vintage watch on a daily basis, you should get your watch serviced when you first get it and every couple of years there after. Water resistant watches can usually go 3-5 years, but if want to count on it being water resistant, you should have the seals checked every year. You shouldn't wait for your watch to stop working before servicing it any more than you would wait for your car to stop working before changing its oil.
If you aren't going to use the vintage watch, you should have it inspected to make sure that what you got was what you thought you were going to get. There are pros and cons involved with having a watch in your collection cleaned. Every time a watch is worked on, there is a certain risk that something will be broken or lost. Many cleanings will also dull the finish on the parts, and this is especially true for damaskeened and two-tone finishes. Cleaning will often also clean off some of the paint in the lettering on the movement. And, of course, there is the added expense of having a watch cleaned.
On the other hand, a cleaned and oiled watch is less likely to rust or have corrosion from gunk on the metal. They aren't making any new replacement parts for antique watches, so If your watch needs parts now, you are more likely to get it fixed now than in the future.
You should also immediately get your watch cleaned if the insides (movement) ever gets wet, or even if you just see moisture forming on the inside of the crystal. Don't trust the "water proofing" on vintage wrist watches, treat them like pocket watches and non-water resistant wrist watches. Water resistant watches can actually be worse because the gaskets and seals wear out and end up trapping water inside instead of keeping it out.
Watches need to be cleaned whenever the oil has broken down or when there is too much dust and dirt on the gears. It used to be said that watches should be cleaned every year, but the quality of the oil has improved and most people don't live in as dirty an environment as they did when people used horses to get around town and heated their homes with coal.
Dust will act as an abrasive and grinds away the metal. This increases friction, both by making the surfaces rough and also by changing the shape and position of the gears. The gears are designed so that the teeth roll on each other, instead of sliding. Once the right shape is worn away, they will never be as good. In general, the older the watch, the poorer the job the case will do in keeping the dust out. Water resistant watches, even when the seals no longer keep out water, tend to do a good job of keeping out dust.
How much should a servicing cost?
The amount of work that a watchmaker does for a "cleaning" can vary widely, as can the price. Higher prices don't always mean a better job, but considering the amount of skilled labor involved, I can't see how anyone charging less than $30-$40 can be doing a reasonable job and still make enough to live on. Reasonable prices seem to be in the $50-$150 range for cleaning a simple pocket or wrist watch, although I have heard of quotes ranging from $20 to $500.
For $25 or so, some watchmakers will run the entire movement through an automatic cleaning machine, and maybe throw some oil in key spots. This will often make a watch that was too dirty or is gummed up with old oil to at least "run". This lets dealers sell the watch at a much higher price because it is "running and recently serviced" rather than "not running".
For a "real" servicing, the watch needs to be completely taken a part. All parts need to be inspected for damage and wear. Any broken, worn or missing parts need to be fixed. The parts need to be cleaned, usually with an automatic cleaning machine, and then inspected to make sure the parts really got clean. The watch must be reassembled, and checked to make sure it is running well in all positions. If the watch isn't running well in all positions, the problems must be diagnosed, fixed, and possibly the watch will need to be re-cleaned and re-oiled. Finally, most watchmakers let the watch run for at least 24-48 hours to make sure everything is working right.
Some botchmakers also use "automatic cleaning and oiling solutions" which deposits an oily goo all over the watch and eats away the finish. A "real" cleaning requires hand oiling, in the right amounts and in the right spots. Too much oil can be worse than not enough.
There are some watchmakers who will charge more to people who contact them directly than they do when they work for a jeweler. This is especially common if they think you have only one watch that is a family heirloom and this is their only chance to get money from you. These watchmakers may well be willing to negotiate on their price. Others watchmakers charge everyone the same price and won't be flexible at all. They may even be slightly put off if you ask.
Complicated watches such as chronographs, repeaters, fusee, and such will cost more, as will brands that have hard to find or expensive parts such has the high end Swiss watches. Watches from Switzerland, England or other non-American watches made before around 1910 can be very hard to find parts for, often the parts have to be custom made by hand.
Remember, the price quoted as $50-$150 is for just a cleaning, you should expect that any other work your watch requires will cost more accordingly. Old watches were put away in a drawer for a reason, often because they were broken or unreliable.
Most watchmakers won't try to make a watch run more accurately than when they were originally manufactured, so when I say "check the timing in each position", on an unadjusted 7 jewel movement, they probably will just make sure that it is keeping time within 10-60 seconds/day. A high grade railroad watch, on the other hand, will probably be made to run to within 10 seconds/day in every position, with the goal of having some positions cancel the errors of the others. Railroad watches were designed to keep time, while in rough use, to 30 seconds/week and most can be made that accurate even today.
The point here is that a quote of "$25" to repair a watch probably isn't a bargain, but $150 (or more) may be very reasonable for a given watch. On the other hand, the $150 quote might be no better than $25.
What does it mean if I was told I "over wound" my watch?
You really can't "over wind" a watch, at least not without taking out a pair of pliers and really cranking on the winding crown well past the point of it being hard to turn. If you have been told that your watch is "over wound", it means one of two things:
The person who told you that the watch is over wound doesn't know what they are talking and isn't honest enough to admit it.
The person who told you that the watch is over wound either doesn't want to try and fix it, or can't fix it and isn't honest enough to admit it. They are also willing to make it sound like it is your fault by saying that "you over wound it."
Either way, you can take it as a sign that you should never try to have a watch repaired by them and that you should always go somewhere else.
Watchmakers who blame problems on a watch being over wound are like car mechanics who blame problems on gas tanks being over filled. Most people would laugh if they were told their car's flat tire was caused by over filling their gas tank, but they accept a broken roller jewel as being caused by over winding. There are many reasons why a watch won't run, just like there are many reasons why a car won't run. Neither a car with an empty gas tank nor a watch that is wound down will run. If cars didn't have fuel gauges, I suppose that most people would at least try filling the gas tank first, just like most people try winding the watch first. Being the last person to fill the gas tank doesn't mean you broke the car, nor does being the last person to wind the watch.
What does it mean if I was told that you can't get parts?
Unlike being told you over wound your watch, being told that "you can't get parts for your watch anymore" may be the truth. However, if your watch is of good quality, made within the last 150 years and reasonably common, parts are usually still around if you look hard enough for them. Most of the time, when a watchmaker says "you can't get parts", they really mean "I'm either not interested in working on your watch, or I don't know how to work on your watch."
Even if parts can't be found, a good watchmaker can often make those parts. If the part is simple to make, say, a winding stem, or if another part can be easily modified, this may not be too expensive and most watchmakers should be able to fix the watch. Difficult parts such as a new escape wheel, can still be made by expert watchmakers, but this can be very expensive.
Don't accept the first claim that "you can't get parts", go find a better watchmaker.
What does it mean if I was told that my watch can't be fixed?
Like being told you can't get parts for a what, sometimes people are told an old watch can't be fixed when the watchmaker really means "I'm either not interested in working on your watch, or I don't know how to work on your watch." Unless your watch is badly rusted, a good watchmaker can usually fix it. See the above section on "you can´t get parts".
Can I repair my own watch?
Short answer: NO! Don't even try!
Longer answer:
Yes, of course you can learn to repair your own watch. You can also learn to fly your own plane and overhaul your own car engine. It will take a certain level of mechanical skill, the right education, a lot of practice, and a bunch of money for the right tools.
It is tempting to think that all a watch needs is a little oil, but most of the time, the real problem is the dirt. You can oil many watches with a single drop of oil, and if you use too much oil, the watch won't work. Oiling a watch without cleaning it just doesn't work. To remove the dirt, you must disassemble and clean the watch.
Once a watch has been taken apart the parts are easily broken (even a bend of 1/100 of an inch can be irreparable). You won't be able to moved the parts without breaking or losing things. So, never take apart a watch unless you are certain you can put it back together. Taking a watch apart without breaking anything isn't too hard, although there are many small parts that are easily lost and springs that will literally jump out of the watch and disappear. Getting the watch cleaned and put back together without breaking things, however, is much harder. Just checking to see if the watch is working correctly once it is back together requires either a lot of time (days) or expensive equipment. If the watch isn't running well, and it likely won't be, diagnosing problems and repairing a watch can be very frustrating and requires a great deal of skill and knowledge.
Unless you have a dozen watches per year to fix and don't count your time as money, it is very unlikely that you will save money over having a watchmaker fix your watch. If you enjoy working on tiny machines and consider watch repair to be an extension of watch collecting, you might consider taking it up as a hobby.
from http://elginwatches.org/help/watch_repair.html
In theory, any watch can be repaired, but in practice many watches can not be repaired for less than the cost of replacing them. This is most often true for low cost watches and quartz watches, but it is also true for badly damaged watches such as ones that have rusted. It can also hard or expensive to find certain replacement parts. A watch may still be worth repairing even if the repair costs exceed the replacement costs if the watch has some sentimental value to you, such as your grandmother's watch. Watches used to be heirlooms traditionally handed down when a child became an adult as new watches were too expensive for them to buy. I highly recommend keeping your watch even if you aren't that interested in it right now.
Be aware that many watchmakers only work on antique watches and may not be able to help with the newer ones, such as quartz watches. It might surprise you that there are lots of people who can repair watches from the 1930's, but not watches from the 1990's. The reason is that the ones from the 1930's, for the most part, were designed to be repaired while the ones from the 1990's, for the most part, weren't.
Also, many watchmakers do not handle certain things like replacement watch bands, replacement links to watch bands, replacing diamonds and other jewels on a watch case and other similar "jewelry" aspects of a watch.
Where can I get my watch repaired?
The quality of work and the price charged by watchmakers varies widely. While there are many great watchmakers, there are also some "botchmakers" out there. In my opinion, it is MUCH more important to find a good watchmaker than a close one. Don't count people out because they live 3000 miles away, since they are really just as close as your mailbox.
When looking for a watchmaker, here are some questions you should consider asking:
What kinds of watches do they work on?
Some watchmakers only work on pocket watches, others on Rolexes and high end watches, many will not work on electronic watches of any kind.
Does it cost to get an estimate?
Figuring out what is wrong with your watch can take quite a bit of time. Some watchmakers will charge for estimates, often this charge will be waved if you go ahead with the repairs.
Guarantees
Most watchmakers will offer a guarantee that the watch will function correctly for some time after you get the watch back. The length of this guarantee varies from weeks to months. This guarantee will not cover the watch being dropped, nor to keep perfect time.
How long will it take?
Most good watchmakers have a backlog, but some watchmakers are just slow. Long delays is one of the most frequent complaints about watchmakers.
How are the watches cleaned?
As discussed in the repair cost section, the quality of a cleaning can vary. I recommend making sure the watchmaker fully disassmebles the watch and hand oils the watch.
Just like you should do with all your valuables, it is a good idea to take pictures of your watch, both the outside and the watch movement (where the gears are). You should also record all serial numbers and markings on the watch. Good watchmakers will help you with this, if you have problems.
About the only thing I would recommend against doing is taking it to a random jewelry store. Once upon a time, almost all jewelry stores had a good watchmaker on staff, much like all gas stations had a mechanic. Mechanical watches have become rare and watch repair is very specialized work. Just like few gas stations have mechanics anymore, most watchmakers no longer work in jewelry stores. Many jewelers will claim they still repair watches, but actually send them to someone else, or have some guy who is past retirement who used to be good but now repairs only couple of watches a year, or worst of all, some new guy who doesn't know much of anything. I'm sure there are some really good watch makers that are still work in jewelry stores, but chances are, you are either going to pay more for having a middle man or get really bad results. Of course, it is different if you know your jeweler well and know that they have a good watchmaker. Don't take your car to the 7-11 or gas-n-stop to get it fixed, and don't take your watch to a random jeweler.
How often should I get my watch serviced?
If you are going to use the vintage watch on a daily basis, you should get your watch serviced when you first get it and every couple of years there after. Water resistant watches can usually go 3-5 years, but if want to count on it being water resistant, you should have the seals checked every year. You shouldn't wait for your watch to stop working before servicing it any more than you would wait for your car to stop working before changing its oil.
If you aren't going to use the vintage watch, you should have it inspected to make sure that what you got was what you thought you were going to get. There are pros and cons involved with having a watch in your collection cleaned. Every time a watch is worked on, there is a certain risk that something will be broken or lost. Many cleanings will also dull the finish on the parts, and this is especially true for damaskeened and two-tone finishes. Cleaning will often also clean off some of the paint in the lettering on the movement. And, of course, there is the added expense of having a watch cleaned.
On the other hand, a cleaned and oiled watch is less likely to rust or have corrosion from gunk on the metal. They aren't making any new replacement parts for antique watches, so If your watch needs parts now, you are more likely to get it fixed now than in the future.
You should also immediately get your watch cleaned if the insides (movement) ever gets wet, or even if you just see moisture forming on the inside of the crystal. Don't trust the "water proofing" on vintage wrist watches, treat them like pocket watches and non-water resistant wrist watches. Water resistant watches can actually be worse because the gaskets and seals wear out and end up trapping water inside instead of keeping it out.
Watches need to be cleaned whenever the oil has broken down or when there is too much dust and dirt on the gears. It used to be said that watches should be cleaned every year, but the quality of the oil has improved and most people don't live in as dirty an environment as they did when people used horses to get around town and heated their homes with coal.
Dust will act as an abrasive and grinds away the metal. This increases friction, both by making the surfaces rough and also by changing the shape and position of the gears. The gears are designed so that the teeth roll on each other, instead of sliding. Once the right shape is worn away, they will never be as good. In general, the older the watch, the poorer the job the case will do in keeping the dust out. Water resistant watches, even when the seals no longer keep out water, tend to do a good job of keeping out dust.
How much should a servicing cost?
The amount of work that a watchmaker does for a "cleaning" can vary widely, as can the price. Higher prices don't always mean a better job, but considering the amount of skilled labor involved, I can't see how anyone charging less than $30-$40 can be doing a reasonable job and still make enough to live on. Reasonable prices seem to be in the $50-$150 range for cleaning a simple pocket or wrist watch, although I have heard of quotes ranging from $20 to $500.
For $25 or so, some watchmakers will run the entire movement through an automatic cleaning machine, and maybe throw some oil in key spots. This will often make a watch that was too dirty or is gummed up with old oil to at least "run". This lets dealers sell the watch at a much higher price because it is "running and recently serviced" rather than "not running".
For a "real" servicing, the watch needs to be completely taken a part. All parts need to be inspected for damage and wear. Any broken, worn or missing parts need to be fixed. The parts need to be cleaned, usually with an automatic cleaning machine, and then inspected to make sure the parts really got clean. The watch must be reassembled, and checked to make sure it is running well in all positions. If the watch isn't running well in all positions, the problems must be diagnosed, fixed, and possibly the watch will need to be re-cleaned and re-oiled. Finally, most watchmakers let the watch run for at least 24-48 hours to make sure everything is working right.
Some botchmakers also use "automatic cleaning and oiling solutions" which deposits an oily goo all over the watch and eats away the finish. A "real" cleaning requires hand oiling, in the right amounts and in the right spots. Too much oil can be worse than not enough.
There are some watchmakers who will charge more to people who contact them directly than they do when they work for a jeweler. This is especially common if they think you have only one watch that is a family heirloom and this is their only chance to get money from you. These watchmakers may well be willing to negotiate on their price. Others watchmakers charge everyone the same price and won't be flexible at all. They may even be slightly put off if you ask.
Complicated watches such as chronographs, repeaters, fusee, and such will cost more, as will brands that have hard to find or expensive parts such has the high end Swiss watches. Watches from Switzerland, England or other non-American watches made before around 1910 can be very hard to find parts for, often the parts have to be custom made by hand.
Remember, the price quoted as $50-$150 is for just a cleaning, you should expect that any other work your watch requires will cost more accordingly. Old watches were put away in a drawer for a reason, often because they were broken or unreliable.
Most watchmakers won't try to make a watch run more accurately than when they were originally manufactured, so when I say "check the timing in each position", on an unadjusted 7 jewel movement, they probably will just make sure that it is keeping time within 10-60 seconds/day. A high grade railroad watch, on the other hand, will probably be made to run to within 10 seconds/day in every position, with the goal of having some positions cancel the errors of the others. Railroad watches were designed to keep time, while in rough use, to 30 seconds/week and most can be made that accurate even today.
The point here is that a quote of "$25" to repair a watch probably isn't a bargain, but $150 (or more) may be very reasonable for a given watch. On the other hand, the $150 quote might be no better than $25.
What does it mean if I was told I "over wound" my watch?
You really can't "over wind" a watch, at least not without taking out a pair of pliers and really cranking on the winding crown well past the point of it being hard to turn. If you have been told that your watch is "over wound", it means one of two things:
The person who told you that the watch is over wound doesn't know what they are talking and isn't honest enough to admit it.
The person who told you that the watch is over wound either doesn't want to try and fix it, or can't fix it and isn't honest enough to admit it. They are also willing to make it sound like it is your fault by saying that "you over wound it."
Either way, you can take it as a sign that you should never try to have a watch repaired by them and that you should always go somewhere else.
Watchmakers who blame problems on a watch being over wound are like car mechanics who blame problems on gas tanks being over filled. Most people would laugh if they were told their car's flat tire was caused by over filling their gas tank, but they accept a broken roller jewel as being caused by over winding. There are many reasons why a watch won't run, just like there are many reasons why a car won't run. Neither a car with an empty gas tank nor a watch that is wound down will run. If cars didn't have fuel gauges, I suppose that most people would at least try filling the gas tank first, just like most people try winding the watch first. Being the last person to fill the gas tank doesn't mean you broke the car, nor does being the last person to wind the watch.
What does it mean if I was told that you can't get parts?
Unlike being told you over wound your watch, being told that "you can't get parts for your watch anymore" may be the truth. However, if your watch is of good quality, made within the last 150 years and reasonably common, parts are usually still around if you look hard enough for them. Most of the time, when a watchmaker says "you can't get parts", they really mean "I'm either not interested in working on your watch, or I don't know how to work on your watch."
Even if parts can't be found, a good watchmaker can often make those parts. If the part is simple to make, say, a winding stem, or if another part can be easily modified, this may not be too expensive and most watchmakers should be able to fix the watch. Difficult parts such as a new escape wheel, can still be made by expert watchmakers, but this can be very expensive.
Don't accept the first claim that "you can't get parts", go find a better watchmaker.
What does it mean if I was told that my watch can't be fixed?
Like being told you can't get parts for a what, sometimes people are told an old watch can't be fixed when the watchmaker really means "I'm either not interested in working on your watch, or I don't know how to work on your watch." Unless your watch is badly rusted, a good watchmaker can usually fix it. See the above section on "you can´t get parts".
Can I repair my own watch?
Short answer: NO! Don't even try!
Longer answer:
Yes, of course you can learn to repair your own watch. You can also learn to fly your own plane and overhaul your own car engine. It will take a certain level of mechanical skill, the right education, a lot of practice, and a bunch of money for the right tools.
It is tempting to think that all a watch needs is a little oil, but most of the time, the real problem is the dirt. You can oil many watches with a single drop of oil, and if you use too much oil, the watch won't work. Oiling a watch without cleaning it just doesn't work. To remove the dirt, you must disassemble and clean the watch.
Once a watch has been taken apart the parts are easily broken (even a bend of 1/100 of an inch can be irreparable). You won't be able to moved the parts without breaking or losing things. So, never take apart a watch unless you are certain you can put it back together. Taking a watch apart without breaking anything isn't too hard, although there are many small parts that are easily lost and springs that will literally jump out of the watch and disappear. Getting the watch cleaned and put back together without breaking things, however, is much harder. Just checking to see if the watch is working correctly once it is back together requires either a lot of time (days) or expensive equipment. If the watch isn't running well, and it likely won't be, diagnosing problems and repairing a watch can be very frustrating and requires a great deal of skill and knowledge.
Unless you have a dozen watches per year to fix and don't count your time as money, it is very unlikely that you will save money over having a watchmaker fix your watch. If you enjoy working on tiny machines and consider watch repair to be an extension of watch collecting, you might consider taking it up as a hobby.
from http://elginwatches.org/help/watch_repair.html
First Post
Hello everybody! My name is Rui, and i´m from Portugal. Today, i created my blog. It´s all about one of my passions: watches. I intend to use it to post all kind of info about watches (new releases, technical info, collections, repair, links, and lots more). For it to work, i need your sugestions and comments.
Thank you!
Thank you!
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