Comments:
Will Patek polish a scratched rotor and movement bridge?
Hi All,
Recently bought my grail nautilus 5980 from a dealer who serviced the watch with his in-house technician. Only discovered after getting the watch back that to my horror the minute hand rotor has scratches and part of the movement bridge has tiny scratches probably from the tweezers and Maybe some of the screws were improperly handled
Has anyone here dealt with a similar situation and whether Patek is able to remedy the situation without the replacement of parts? I know hands will be replaced during the service.
Thank you.
Ouch
I think replacement parts would be necessary, and replacing the rotor should not be a problem.
Not sure if Patek would replace the bridge you noted.
The other bridge pictured, which also has scratches, has a serial number (I believe), so Patek may decline to replace that one.
Hope you got an amazing deal on the watch. These fixes won't be cheap and Patek will require a full service.
Who was the dealer? What a butcher!
John
you know...at first i thought you were exaggerating when I saw the first picture...
But with every following picture i realize that indeed the AD watchmaker massacred the finishing of the movement. Scary stuff, i'm really sorry this happened to you
sigh you are right..
the serial bridge also has scratches.. I'm wondering if Patek service centre is able to refinish the cote de geneve on the bridges / rotor
Got a good and a bad news
PP is very proud that they can repair any watch they ever built ,if parts not available they still have the machines and skills to manufacture the parts.So that s not a problem.
and the bad one(s)
It will takes time and $$$.
You may can talk with the dealer but either ask for full refund or some compensation. But pls do not allow him to get fixed it with his butcher again.
you may can acquire an estimate from an AD or online from PP AS.
and the bad one(s)
It will takes time and $$$.
You may can talk with the dealer but either ask for full refund or some compensation. But pls do not allow him to get fixed it with his butcher again.
you may can acquire an estimate from an AD or online from PP AS.
thanks for that..
i will probably go down to the service centre and try to get an estimate.. dealer is able to take it back.. but i am weighing the costs now.
If the dealer will take it back, then return it asap
Problem is, you don't know the condition of the rest of the movement, so you cannot know the costs to fix. Therefore you can never know whether you received a reasonable price from the dealer or not. Sure, you can roll the dice, but if the dealer treats visible movement parts that carelessly, then I'd have little confidence that non-visible parts were treated well, possibly leading to mechanical issues down the road.
Also, you will not be able to get a quick estimate from PP (will likely have to send the watch in for an meaningful estimate), so your only chance at returning the watch may be now.
5980 is a lovely watch
I d try to get fix it on dealer s costs,win win especially
for you😂
for you😂
Welcome here, and sorry to hear about this! I'd query Patek by explaining the situation in detail (including that a non-authorized watchmaker already serviced this watch).
If Patek decides to take over the job, then get a quote (and if necessary a lawyer) and inform your grey dealer that they will promptly reimburse all expenses. Hope you'll soon come to a fully satisfactory resolution to this incident...and that you can enjoy this beautiful Nautilus on your wrist! 
Cheers.
Cheers.
Sorry to see that.
Can you not get the dealer to cover AD repair or return the watch and search for a mint one?
Totally unacceptable. You need to speak with the dealer, and depending on his response, etc, then speak to Patek.
Assuming the watch was outside of the manufacturer’s warranty, then Patek will invoice for the replacing or refinishing of the parts damaged, which you will have to recover from the dealer.
I don’t think they will polish out the scratches on the bridges.
Usually bridges are made of brass and rhodium plated to have the white color. So basically if they remove the scratches the plating will also be removed. They will surely replace the scratched parts with new ones.
The person who worked on your watch is definitely a car technician and not a skilled watchmaker. Scratching the movement like this requires very bad handling. On top of that if you send it to Patek they will charge an arm and a leg for parts replacement including the solid gold rotor.
Best of luck and do let us know what you end up doing!
Laurent
I don’t know
Was the watchmaker/service certified by Patek and allowed to work on their watches? If not I can see this being thousands of dollars if sent into Patek
Was the service part of the purchase?
Why was the watch serviced if the dealer just sold it to you? Did you ask for the service after purchase? So many questions...
1- if the watch was purchased and had issues that needed service from the dealer...and this was the result then I suggest you document everything and hire a lawyer to recover the full purchase price and lawyer fees from the dealer, returning the watch of course!
2- if the watch was purchased and you wanted to submit for service yourself, the most the dealer can reimburse may be the service fees incurred from Patek service. You may also need to lawyer up if the dealer refuses to pay for service from Patek. This will be a long drawn out ordeal since you will not know the full extent of the damage until Patek assess the watch.
This is a lesson learned the hard way. If you are spending over $60k on a watch(not sure how much you paid), never skimp on sending it in to Patek for repairs!! Actually that goes for all Patek watches, I would never agree to have any Patek watches serviced by third party. First, you get the history of the watch with Patek knowing that if you ever part with it the new owner can always call Patek and inquire any service history of the watch. Second, provenance is very very important on Patek, which is why their watches are so expensive on the resale market. On the other hand, frankenwatches serviced with parts made by dealers will inevitably lower it’s value. Same goes for those diamond encrusted after market pieces...some actually sell for far less than untouched Patek watches.
1&2
I bought the watch, but it was having power reserve issues and also running fast. hence it was taken back by the dealer for servicing.. dealer's proposal is to take it back now. but we haven't discussed at what price of a refund.
i'm siding more towards a refund now..
i'm siding more towards a refund now..
Refund!!
I would get a refund and think of this as a lesson learned. Move on...no need to wait for more service issues on this. Even if this watch was fixed, the resale on it will never be the same again. It’s like having a car and getting into an accident, the car can be repaired but the resale valuation will show repairs were made and thus decrease it’s valuation. This does not look good especially with so many issues already that can be seen. It is the not visible scratches that will show up once Patek service opens the watch.
I would push for a 100% refund.....
This watch is going to cost you thousands and months to get back to normal - I'd push for a 100% refund and find a better example. Sorry this happened to you - no idea why butchers like this work on Pateks... Can you imagine the damage he's created to other pieces that have gone unnoticed.
I would strongly urge a return for a refund. Even if you go down the road of sending to Patek regardless who pays...
You will have months of waiting for the watch, stressing about the potential cost and not knowing what will be replaced and what won't. From what Makilla said, it sounds like you will still get your grail piece back with blemishes. This should be such a happy time for you getting your grail watch and its not. I would take the money and run and find another if that is an option. I am so sorry to hear this, when I saw the pictures my heart sank. I wish you all the luck and hope for an optimal outcome.
The technician needs to use brass tweezers
Because they are softer and won’t damage the steel parts. And/or tools with protected tips for the gold items such as the rotor.
After having made some marks on my own watch, I got a scolding from my mentor and sent off with a set of his brass tweezers and a command to get my own.
I’m sorry this happened- it doesn’t detract from the movement’s performance but certainly spoils the appeal of the watch. I’d return it and start over with another. Because you might always be wondering and looking to see if something was damaged that you have missed.
Cazalea
After having made some marks on my own watch, I got a scolding from my mentor and sent off with a set of his brass tweezers and a command to get my own.
I’m sorry this happened- it doesn’t detract from the movement’s performance but certainly spoils the appeal of the watch. I’d return it and start over with another. Because you might always be wondering and looking to see if something was damaged that you have missed.
Cazalea
You are thinking Revlon (as shown here)
Watchmaker tweezers are excellent for removing splinters but not so good for nose, ear and eyebrow hairs. You need the specialty ones shown below.
