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watchmakeral · 15 January 2010, 04:14 AM

This is a post that I also posted on another thread on the avg cost of a service. First I must say that from what I read Ms. Vanessa knows her craft and does a quality job. Here it is.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alan, I am a watchmaker, and this is my first post on the forum. This thread caught my attention enough for me to want to give it my input as well. I work with Michael (Horologier) at watchrestoration.com. We work under Ernest Tope CMW21. Mr. Tope is one of a handful of watchmakers with the CMW21 (21st Century Certified Master Watchmaker) certification and one of the most highly skilled watchmakers I have ever met. Michael and I are lucky to have the privilege of working with him.
To answer the original posting (remember the original posting), the average price of a Rolex service on a modern Rolex is roughly about $350 give or take a hundred bucks. This is for the average jewelry store and not Rolex or a Rolex dealership and assumes that the watch does not need any parts other than gaskets and a mainspring. I believe Rolex is about $700 and they replace the crown and tube as part of the service. I know of watchmakers who will service a Rolex for as little as $75 but I would never recommend them. I know what it takes to do the job properly. Of course, there are a number of issues that affect the price.
Does the watchmaker use genuine Rolex parts or generic ones? Genuine parts cost more and are restricted. Rolex tries very hard to ensure that they make their parts available only to competent watchmakers. Rolex has sent letters to their parts accounts stating that as of the end of the year only AWCI certified watchmakers with the necessary equipment will be eligible for a Rolex parts account.
This brings us to the next issue. Is the watchmaker competent? Like any other profession, not all watchmakers are equal. If the watchmaker is AWCI certified that certification implies a certain skill level. There are many competent watchmakers who are not certified but there are many more uncertified watchmakers who are mediocre or worse. We spend a lot of our time correcting previous slipshod work. Some attorneys charge $100 an hour and some charge $1000 an hour. If you are negotiating a hundred million dollar transaction which one would you chose?
Many times a watchmaker can get away with shoddy work and the customer may never know. He may leave dings and scratches all over the movement and most customers never see the movement at all let alone inside the movement when it is dismantled. The watch works fine but the dings and scratches have devalued it and the owner never knows until the next person to work on it tells them so.
Another issue is what the criteria is used for replacing a marginal part. As an example, I have seen many watches with corrosion inside due to moisture. Often I see a corroded oscillating weight that will function properly but looks just awful. Depending on the customer’s expectations I either brush the corrosion off or I replace the part. Would you be willing to pay the extra cost to replace it? Watch manufacturers will not give you a choice; they will replace the part and charge accordingly. We here will also replace the part because we want to produce work we can be proud of. When someone else looks at our work we want it to be seen as first rate.
Accuracy is a big factor. Accuracy can be a matter of diminishing returns. Theoretically, the longer I work on timing a watch, the more accurate I can make it. It costs a lot more to get a race car to go from a ten second machine to a 9.5 second machine than it does to take it from 12 seconds to 11 seconds. Some watches have better capabilities than others but the theory still holds. Once a watch has been cleaned and oiled and any mechanical issues have been resolved, the watch is adjusted and tested. Sometimes the watch is adjusted and tested many times before it is released. This often accounts for the long amount of time needed to service the watch. We like to test the watch for at least a week of good timekeeping before we release it. Often we will put the watch in timing and after a few days of unsatisfactory timekeeping make an adjustment and start the timing process again. We will often repeat this process several times before we are satisfied. What level of accuracy do you expect from the $150 job vs. the $600 job?
Overhead is another factor. State of the art equipment has become very expensive and manufacturers are insisting on some very expensive equipment before they will open a parts account. A major store in a major mall pays a very high rent and manufacturers need to pay for their large facilities and for the executive salaries and bonuses. Fortunately we don’t have that situation; the money you spend on your watch goes only to the time we spend on it.
Watchmaking is a difficult profession. It takes a long time to become adept at this profession and like any other profession we deserve to make a decent living. In addition good watchmakers are few in number and the law of supply and demand applies. I don’t know of any watchmakers that are getting rich servicing watches. If anyone knows of one I would love to know their formula for success. Considering the time, effort and cost of being a good watchmaker, we are one of the most underpaid and underappreciated professions I know of.
On estimates there are 2 ways to do it. We can charge for the estimate and stick to the price, or we can give a free estimate and call later when we come across a problem and alter the price accordingly. Many times I have taken my car into a repair shop and was quoted a price only to receive a phone call later telling me that the repairman found a problem he had not accounted for and that the price of the repair would be considerably more. The same goes for contractors repairing homes and other buildings. Cost overruns are common even with new construction.
Since we mostly work on older watches we come across hidden problems often, usually from the folks that worked on it before us. Experience has taught us that completely disassembling the watch and charging for the estimate is the only way to go.
We are on this forum because we love our watches. If you love your watch, why would you be more concerned with the price of the repair than the quality of the repair? The bitterness of a poor repair is remembered long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten.
Long Live The Mechanical Watch!

15 January 2010, 04:14 AM	#80
watchmakeral "TRF" Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Real Name: Alan Location: Tampa, FL Watch: Submariner Posts: 1	This is a post that I also posted on another thread on the avg cost of a service. First I must say that from what I read Ms. Vanessa knows her craft and does a quality job. Here it is. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alan, I am a watchmaker, and this is my first post on the forum. This thread caught my attention enough for me to want to give it my input as well. I work with Michael (Horologier) at watchrestoration.com. We work under Ernest Tope CMW21. Mr. Tope is one of a handful of watchmakers with the CMW21 (21st Century Certified Master Watchmaker) certification and one of the most highly skilled watchmakers I have ever met. Michael and I are lucky to have the privilege of working with him. To answer the original posting (remember the original posting), the average price of a Rolex service on a modern Rolex is roughly about $350 give or take a hundred bucks. This is for the average jewelry store and not Rolex or a Rolex dealership and assumes that the watch does not need any parts other than gaskets and a mainspring. I believe Rolex is about $700 and they replace the crown and tube as part of the service. I know of watchmakers who will service a Rolex for as little as $75 but I would never recommend them. I know what it takes to do the job properly. Of course, there are a number of issues that affect the price. Does the watchmaker use genuine Rolex parts or generic ones? Genuine parts cost more and are restricted. Rolex tries very hard to ensure that they make their parts available only to competent watchmakers. Rolex has sent letters to their parts accounts stating that as of the end of the year only AWCI certified watchmakers with the necessary equipment will be eligible for a Rolex parts account. This brings us to the next issue. Is the watchmaker competent? Like any other profession, not all watchmakers are equal. If the watchmaker is AWCI certified that certification implies a certain skill level. There are many competent watchmakers who are not certified but there are many more uncertified watchmakers who are mediocre or worse. We spend a lot of our time correcting previous slipshod work. Some attorneys charge $100 an hour and some charge $1000 an hour. If you are negotiating a hundred million dollar transaction which one would you chose? Many times a watchmaker can get away with shoddy work and the customer may never know. He may leave dings and scratches all over the movement and most customers never see the movement at all let alone inside the movement when it is dismantled. The watch works fine but the dings and scratches have devalued it and the owner never knows until the next person to work on it tells them so. Another issue is what the criteria is used for replacing a marginal part. As an example, I have seen many watches with corrosion inside due to moisture. Often I see a corroded oscillating weight that will function properly but looks just awful. Depending on the customer’s expectations I either brush the corrosion off or I replace the part. Would you be willing to pay the extra cost to replace it? Watch manufacturers will not give you a choice; they will replace the part and charge accordingly. We here will also replace the part because we want to produce work we can be proud of. When someone else looks at our work we want it to be seen as first rate. Accuracy is a big factor. Accuracy can be a matter of diminishing returns. Theoretically, the longer I work on timing a watch, the more accurate I can make it. It costs a lot more to get a race car to go from a ten second machine to a 9.5 second machine than it does to take it from 12 seconds to 11 seconds. Some watches have better capabilities than others but the theory still holds. Once a watch has been cleaned and oiled and any mechanical issues have been resolved, the watch is adjusted and tested. Sometimes the watch is adjusted and tested many times before it is released. This often accounts for the long amount of time needed to service the watch. We like to test the watch for at least a week of good timekeeping before we release it. Often we will put the watch in timing and after a few days of unsatisfactory timekeeping make an adjustment and start the timing process again. We will often repeat this process several times before we are satisfied. What level of accuracy do you expect from the $150 job vs. the $600 job? Overhead is another factor. State of the art equipment has become very expensive and manufacturers are insisting on some very expensive equipment before they will open a parts account. A major store in a major mall pays a very high rent and manufacturers need to pay for their large facilities and for the executive salaries and bonuses. Fortunately we don’t have that situation; the money you spend on your watch goes only to the time we spend on it. Watchmaking is a difficult profession. It takes a long time to become adept at this profession and like any other profession we deserve to make a decent living. In addition good watchmakers are few in number and the law of supply and demand applies. I don’t know of any watchmakers that are getting rich servicing watches. If anyone knows of one I would love to know their formula for success. Considering the time, effort and cost of being a good watchmaker, we are one of the most underpaid and underappreciated professions I know of. On estimates there are 2 ways to do it. We can charge for the estimate and stick to the price, or we can give a free estimate and call later when we come across a problem and alter the price accordingly. Many times I have taken my car into a repair shop and was quoted a price only to receive a phone call later telling me that the repairman found a problem he had not accounted for and that the price of the repair would be considerably more. The same goes for contractors repairing homes and other buildings. Cost overruns are common even with new construction. Since we mostly work on older watches we come across hidden problems often, usually from the folks that worked on it before us. Experience has taught us that completely disassembling the watch and charging for the estimate is the only way to go. We are on this forum because we love our watches. If you love your watch, why would you be more concerned with the price of the repair than the quality of the repair? The bitterness of a poor repair is remembered long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten. Long Live The Mechanical Watch!