Jaeger-LeCoultre

Avoid "service centers" where you never get to speak to the watchmaker.  For instance I avoid Swatch Service center and Richemont Technical Center in Dallas, Texas and Rolex Dallas, Texas.  You also have to understand that these service centers are organized for operational efficiency.  It's not one person who disassembles your watch, cleans it, and reassembles it.  They have teams of people disassembling watches, teams of people cleaning them, and sometimes a watchmaker assembles one watch from beginning to end.  But if it's a generic ETA movement or a Rolex movement, then it's done on an assembly line process.  What's wrong here?  Well, if it's just one person from beginning to end, they take pride in their work.  If a plate is scratched, there are very few people to point fingers at.  But if it's gone through 20 hands, there's no way to track who is the one damaging the plates.  No accountability equals no checks nor balances, which results in sloppiness.  Dallas has a watchmaking school.  There are good graduates, there are bad graduates.  The good graduates assemble more complex watches and generally assemble one watch at a time.  The bad graduates do cheaper generic watches, and those generic movements are done on assembly lines. 

So, I don't own a Rolex, but members in the family do, we trust Giovanni P. at Rolex Service San Francisco. I wrote a review about them in 2010. I don't know if they're still an officially licensed Rolex service center (Rolex is starting to restrict the usage of their trademark and renegotiating service franchises).

Basically, if you can meet the actual person who's servicing the watch, they can hear from your mouth what you want done. Nothing is lost in translation. So when I say "Don't polish the watch, I really mean it." Then they won't do it. Take a photo of the watch before you give it to them, so they can't damage it and say it was already damaged.  And take a photo of your requests on the piece of paper like "don't polish" so they can't say you never said it.

I'm recently a tiny bit disappointed. I asked the tailor at my favorite department store to give me the hemmed material from my pants. They lost them. It was upsetting. Because I planned on washing one of them (they're 100% wool pants but machine washable) to see if the material shrinks. And I told this directly to the tailor himself... This is at Willkes Bashford for Kiton pants, they're usually perfect.  But not this time. 

What you do want to avoid is Rolex general service.  You tell them not to polish the watch and the fluted bezel comes back all polished down that it's almost no longer fluted.  They've simply got people working there who don't care. 

I like Panerai watches, I like the design.  But in USA, all servicing is done at Richemeont Technical Center Dallas, and the watchmakers there are just so bad.  Screwdriver scratches on the movement, tweezer scratches on the movement, things are just not done correctly.  And they don't get that many complaints because the average consumer is pretty unsophisticated and just assumes everything is "fine" and normal.  The problem is that consumers are increasingly unsophisticated (the French would call them "neavou riche" consumers) and consumers just don't understand luxury.  For the US Market, Mercedes-Benz's S Class S550 from 2007 to 2012 had vinyl door panels as standard instead of leather door panels.  Did anyone complain?  Probably not.  The 2009 BMW 7 series for many markets had this hard plastic in the rear seat area near the door that made a scratchy and hollow sound.  The point is that clients are not sophisticated enough to make a complaint. 

I have an IWC watch that sounds like something inside of it is loose.  It was recently serviced at the Richemont in Dallas, Texas.  I don't know if there's something wrong or if it's normal.  And I can't make a comparison unless I find another watch just like it to compare it with...  But...  Since I'm not able to meet the watchmaker in person, or a high ranking IWC Manager who works in the Aftersales Service department, I simply don't have a lot of confidence that my communication to the watchmaker will get to the watchmaker. 

A Montblanc Villeret is better than a normal Montblanc because even though it gets mailed to the Richemont Technical Center in Dallas, TX; they forward to the watch to Villeret in Switzerland (where they're very careful).  Whereas a normal Montblanc is going to be given to a lower-level watchmaker. 

Everyone will screw up eventually.  There are fans of the brand who claim "Singapore Airlines is the best airline in the world, they never screw up" or "Four Seasons Hotel is the best hotel in the world, you will never have a problem."  I just say, fly Singapore often enough or stay at Four Seasons often enough and you'll eventually encounter a screw up that could've been avoided.  My point is, I'm a fan of the brand, but I do acknowledge, your experience may vary. 

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