Horological Meandering

While I'm of the school that thinks anyone who is a serious watchmaker has to be eccentric, have a dilemma and would like some advice on the best way to handle this. I found a great local watchmaker that Dr. No and I have been going to for a while now. He... 

I think (and have been told by watchmakers) that watchmakers slow down as they age. Sometimes it's more than slowing down: the quality as well as the quantity of their work may suffer. Sometimes they seem to quit paying attention, which is not unreasonabl... 

to have a watch serviced. But I am fortunate to have found a very good watch guy nearby who has worked on most of my watches, which are mostly chronographs. He is very busy all the time. One day last year, I went to have him service my Omega Speedo, and t... 

he can. Everything,eve your patience,has a limit. Put your foot down,after all he is not a brain surgeon.You ve been kind,generous and respectful..watchmaker or butcher,sometimes some people take advantage of that...... Mo

... But want to at least end the relationship in a positive way if he is unable to give me the respect I have shown him. Hate to burn bridges if I don\'t have to.

from my not so wast experience is i) mechanical watches gained much much interest among general population in last 5 years (from where I come from) so my watchmaker is flooded with repairs and services hence more time to do something for us old customers ... 

Right there with you. The bigger problem with this guy is that he also teaches and lectures. He is also in his late 50s or so... Not an old coot by any stretch.

Since there is a demand ramp up and he and his small team are very good the turnaround time is increasing dramatically, even for small jobs. Another point to consider is the fact that we are friends and he knows that I always trade patience for quality. A... 

" Tomorrow ". This word, in watchmaking lingo, means " next week ". Cheers, Nilo

...and if I don\'t get something definitive, I may cut my losses and pull everything, but I do know he at least had one on mine fully apart. Hate to take it back in that shape.

having just waited nine months for a cleaning and a new crystal for a simple 17 jewel movement. When I dropped off the watch, the store owner/repairer told me six weeks. Because the shop is 2-1/2 hours driving from my home, I could not bug him constantly,... 

But in addition you say that when you see the repair guy you always spend at least an hour talking to him about watches and clocks. Is the penny starting to drop? The guy is telling you that he is starting to catch up, implication being that he is behind,... 

...and my watches are never there, always "at his house". We usually only talk while he performs work on a watch, but he does tend to be chatty, and any lengthy discussion will always be from his end.

As I have a full shop of tools and parts, and trained for a few years, I do most of my own work and a few jobs for others. I can say with considerable embarrassment that I have had a couple customer watches for a year, and one clock. I don't intentionally... 

Probably going to be my plan of attack, as diplomatically as I can muster.

I thought I was suffering alone but I see that service delays are common....unless we are all using the same watchmaker!

Halfway ...  

Thanks Doc, So it's either 35 min or 12 h 35 min to disassemble the Bulova. ;-) Looking forward to the cleaning, lubrication and reassembly photos. But I guess that sourcing damaged parts and/or manufacturing replacements is a real bottleneck when it come... 

..is really replacing a jewel. The watch was in fine shape, save a cleaning, aside from that. He broke one putting it in but ordered a couple backups. The only task he said he had to do was to do slight milling for an easier fit.

clean Load the baskets Clean Dry Reassemble Clean the balance wheel Oiling cap jewels Assemble and oil balance And the real reason watchmakers take so long eeny, meany, miny, moe..... ...  

"who can do no wrong" do this either as a matter of course or more than once in awhile. The only one in my humble experience who has never done this to me (though he was at the mercy of some critical component supply problems, but he did what any good bus... 

My best friend had a platinum travel time which went back to Patek for a five year service, nothing wrong with the watch, and it took 6 months to return and a massive bill!

Remember, we're not talking about obscure parts, but just refitting a jewel.

. . . to venture that a good portion of the cause for seemingly interminable delays can be laid to the time and effort involved in searching for parts. To make a long story short, it's taken over a year to get a handle on the technical issue with my IWC c... 

...and I know you would rather avoid making waves with any of your situations, but I'm not waiting for a part from Germany, just the time for him to put in a jewel (that he already has). He doesn't return emails, and almost never has returned a phone call... 

From the information you've given me I would be a little concerned, especially as the watches are 'at home'... Where I live there are suprisingly lots of people offering watch repairs. Having used a couple of the most highly recommended ones I will certai... 

If he sees 5 or 6 people pop in for a simple adjustment and they all spend an hour chatting like you do that effectively writes off most of his working day. He could of course be overwhelmed with work. I think you need to ask him, in your normal polite ma... 

Whatever this guys excuse, As you're the cash paying customer, and are treating him nicely, respectfully and fairly, he needs to realize he does owe you good service in return for your patronage. If he keeps ill-treating you, there's no option but to move...