$500 to relume one hand?

[actionkwj]

I was quoted this from a well known shop in Los Angeles. Is that a normal price to relume one minute hand on my vintage Navitimer? Are there any reliable alternatives?




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[CTech]

That seems outrageous. Naming and shaming would be in order.

One of the best relumers is in the UK and his prices are significantly lower:

https://www.alchemistrelumer.co.uk/pricing-/-info

If you want to get a second opinion in the Los Angeles area you could ask Shant in Holly Street, Pasadena. He probably doesn't do reluming in house but he will know all the local specialists and should be able to tell you the approximate cost.

[winst]

For that price I would send it to Breitling for service and get them to put a complete set of service hands on.

[Dan S]

I think you could get standard color matched lume for much less. But if you want period correct lume that responds identically to UV, you have to pay the experts.

[tekno]

Let’s see the watch, if it’s an awesome piece then do it right.

The people who offer tritium relume don’t do it cheap.


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[SearChart]

Originally Posted by CTech

That seems outrageous. Naming and shaming would be in order.

One of the best relumers is in the UK and his prices are significantly lower:

https://www.alchemistrelumer.co.uk/pricing-/-info

If you want to get a second opinion in the Los Angeles area you could ask Shant in Holly Street, Pasadena. He probably doesn't do reluming in house but he will know all the local specialists and should be able to tell you the approximate cost.

I've seen that British workshop's work in person and I was impressed. The price that my friend paid was also very reasonable.

[actionkwj]

It's a top quality example with perfect lume as many of these have a weird greenish color to them. Honestly pictures don't do it justice.

All I really want is color matched and outside of that it's not important to me.

This is before and after the drop on the floor. Thankfully no damage to the case and runs fine, but that's likely old original lume that couldn't take the impact.

The quote was from LA Watchworks





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[hutch300]

With an open date window I'd personally want a service as well. LAWW is legit so I would ask why the price is so high. There must be a reason.

[Dom9]

If that includes a service because of potential lume in movement - not so bad!

[CTech]

There might be a lot more work quoted in the $500 estimate than just reluming one hand.

If the hand with the damaged lume is still on the watch and the broken pieces of lume are somewhere in the case or movement then the estimate might be to disassemble the watch, remove the hands, clean the movement, dial, crystal, case, case back, etc. of old lume particles, relume the minute hand to match the hour hand, reassemble the watch, test operation, regulate, etc.

If that is the case then $500 sounds more reasonable than when the OP first posted the question and inferred that all was required was to relume one hand.

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by CTech

There might be a lot more work quoted in the $500 estimate than just reluming one hand.

Hopefully. I don't see the missing lume in the photos, so it's presumably either spread all over the dial or has gone into the movement through the date window.

It needs a full movement service, dial treatment and re-luming. I'd expect to pay significantly more than $500 for this.

The old floor-drop is never cheap.

[007Sub]

Resetting the chrono hands properly can be a nightmare on certain vintage chronos. At times the posts need tightening and or broaching, not to mention special movement holders specific to the movement may be needed in order to support jewels/posts/bushings when depressing/refitting the hands. Moreover, when hands are painted such as these, removing the old lume can be even more of a delicate process while not affecting the painted side of the hand. All of this and we haven't even addressed the complexity of perfectly matching both the color and texture of the other hands... So indeed it sounds like a lot but for the amount of work involved, it's actually pretty fair. ... if you want it done correctly.

[actionkwj]

The $500 was ONLY for reluming the hand by itself. Ed noted that any service over and above that would be extra, so up to $2000.

The loose lume is at the bottom of the case in front of the dial. I made sure to place the watch flat on its back and not move it so no lume would get to the date window. This is the reason I wanted to find someone within 100 miles so I could deliver the watch personally without moving the watch all around with a FedEx delivery.


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[CTech]

Originally Posted by actionkwj

The $500 was ONLY for reluming the hand by itself. Ed noted that any service over and above that would be extra, so up to $2000.

In that case I stand by my first comment - it is outrageous.

One option is to get a local watchmaker to open the watch, remove the movement, clean out the old lume and remove both the hour and minute hand.

You can then send the hands to a specialist relumer while the movement is examined to make sure no debris has got into the critical parts. It would be easy to send the pair of hands to the UK to let James Hyman at The Alchemist relume either just the damaged hand or the pair depending on what he sees as the best way forward.

If you can't find anyone you trust in San Diego it is worth driving to see Shant in Pasadena as he will give you good advice about how to get the work done cost effectively.

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by CTech

In that case I stand by my first comment - it is outrageous.

I don't know if 500 bucks is outrageous for a specialist hand relume to match the other hands.

As you'll know from your work, it's not just the reluming itself. It's the watchmaker's time for all the emails, phone calls, personal interaction, follow-up, invoicing, logging, taxes, materials, sourcing, risk assumption, damage insurance, shipping, photographing, labor, opportunity cost, years of training/experience, and other stuff.

All told, it's a significant time investment in very highly skilled work.

Plus the OP's cost of the many hours spent shopping around just trying to save a few hundred bucks.

I wouldn't mind paying $500 for this repair if the watch were precious to me, as long as the guy comes highly recommended. Market forces.

[CTech]

Originally Posted by zapokee

I don't know if 500 bucks is outrageous for a specialist hand relume to match the other hands.

The Alchemist, the relumer most people would recommend, would charge about $75 to $100 to relume the pair of hour and minute hands, so a quote of $500 is outrageous in my view.

It could be that LAWW think that it will take multiple efforts to get a good color match and so that is why the quote is high.

The reality is that no one will be able to get a good color match and performance match under all conditions and so usually it is best to relume the pair of hands.

Once that is accepted as inevitable the job becomes simpler and, to an expert, cheaper.

Here again is the pricing for The Alchemist for comparison:

https://www.alchemistrelumer.co.uk/pricing-/-info

Also note SearChart's comment above in post #6.

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by CTech

The Alchemist, the relumer most people would recommend, would charge about $75 to $100 to relume the pair of hour and minute hands, so a quote of $500 is outrageous in my view.

It could be that LAWW think that it will take multiple efforts to get a good color match and so that is why the quote is high.

The reality is that no one will be able to get a good color match and performance match under all conditions and so usually it is best to relume the pair of hands.

Once that is accepted as inevitable the job becomes simpler and, to an expert, cheaper.

Here again is the pricing for The Alchemist for comparison:

https://www.alchemistrelumer.co.uk/pricing-/-info

Also note SearChart's comment above in post #6.

Good insight.

I still think this is significant undercharging for such superb specialist expertise. You can barely get a round of beers for 75 bucks these days.

[HunterST]

I really, really trust LAWW. This quote really sums it up for me. They are likely going to have to explain why it is $500, but this appears to be right on track...

Originally Posted by CTech

There might be a lot more work quoted in the $500 estimate than just reluming one hand.

If the hand with the damaged lume is still on the watch and the broken pieces of lume are somewhere in the case or movement then the estimate might be to disassemble the watch, remove the hands, clean the movement, dial, crystal, case, case back, etc. of old lume particles, relume the minute hand to match the hour hand, reassemble the watch, test operation, regulate, etc.

If that is the case then $500 sounds more reasonable than when the OP first posted the question and inferred that all was required was to relume one hand.