It's incredibly expensive to service a vintage pocket watch at Patek.
And I'm talking about just a regular service, with no obvious problems or damages to repair. Granted, everything is relative, but I was told that servicing a ref. 2499 would only cost marginally more. That makes the value-of-watch to price-of-service rati...
Yeeoowch!
And you have to pay $500 if you refuse the service! That's why my one and only Patek, which runs great, has so much "patina" Cazalea ...
My Goodness...
I am very close to buying a 1920s Patek art deco-styled pocket watch, but I am seriously going to mull over it further now that I know what future repair work will cost. Yikes. They are beautiful though.
Wow
Fwiw, I had my JLC Extreme Lab 2 serviced for 1/10th that price. It is an automatic, 2 timezone, digital jump minute chronograph, with power reserve, date, and push button crown with mode indicator for the crown works. It took about 15 weeks.
You Mean to Tell Me...
That if you don't accept their estimate and decline service, you still get charged $17,200 TWD or $580 USD??? Wow.
It looks like over 2/3 of the cost is making the new parts listed
by hand. Expensive, but that’s probably why vintage PP pocket watches are so inexpensive to purchase on the secondary market. I’d do it if the piece had some kind of personal connection, but would otherwise pass.
Good Point
About why PP pocket watches are relatively discounted on the secondary market. I think I'll save my money now and instead look for a modern PP wristwatch.
And what about the bull that it is insured for 50k?
That means that if they f**k up and lose it during service you are out of luck if you have not insured it to full value in any other way. Is that even possible?
Holy moly - that's why I would only buy an enamel pocket watch and turn it
around so I can just see the art - doesn't matter if it works. Good to know that one should not buy split seconds and/ or MR vintage pieces. I can only imagine the cost. Thanks for sharing, very good to know.
I have heard this before from a watchmaker ...
He works on very complicated watches from another brand and is one of the best. A dealer asked his if he would service a PP pocket watch of a VIP client and he did it a couple of times charging $200. Then one time he was too busy with other work and refus...
i assume from the quote that it includes a new gold case as it is-'march ancient!! worn out scratched and fragile'!!!
as there would be no point in doing all this work with the historic referb' with a worn out case. and the 80 weeks to complete would point to this.