Patek Philippe

After 5 months of waiting, I picked up my 5130G from its over-due service. Amongst other items, they exchanged the hands because they were "scratched". The local service guy could not explain to me how/why that could happen. Does anyone of you have an ide... 

Glad you received the watch back in a timely fashion, could the scratches come from contact with each other?

...your hands are made out of gold, they're really prone to scratches during the assembly or disassembly processes due to the softness of its material. Hope this helps and wear your watch in a good health. Regards Jev

Yes the 5130 hands are made of gold but how can they be scratched when they are inside the watch? Or did something come loose and they then were misaligned, scratching each other as MichaelR suggested?

Patek mentionned that they ALWAYS change hands during ANY service due to the fact that hands are in GOLD and closely fixed on their stem. In case they are not changed (possibly owner request), they could not warranty the accuracy and any other issue. Do y... 

I bought it from a (good) pre-owned specialist. The cost of the hands was neglectible compared to the overall cost of the sevirce, it was more a general question. And I still dont understand why the fact that they are made from gold requires them to be ch... 

as the junction between the round center base of the hand (fixation) and the stem could be partially distroyed when they remove the hand from the dial.

To change them because they are scratched, yes. But HOW ON EARTH can they become scratched if they live in that sealed case?

The movement is totally disassembled to be put in an oil cleaning liquid. Then, parts are changed if needed and re-oiled and reassembled. Then hands are put back on.

Best wishes Alkiro

When I took it for service to Patek in Geneva, I got a report informing that the bridges were scratched, some screws were non-Patek and the hands were scratched. Patek wrote a very detailed report and sealed the watch. I took the watch back to the shop. A... 

I think I know which infamous shop you are talking about. They promised me an unused watch. Once I got there the watch was heavily used even though that it was 6 months old but they insisted it was not worn. I am certain every shop selling preowned watche... 

No problem if they open without leaving some marks but it seems that they can do a lot of damage. I wonder why they do not service the watches with Patek and add that plus waiting time to the price. Best, Kari

Which means I would have to pay the premium for a new watch but life is too short to be worried about these things IMO.

Naturally, something like Nautilus ref. 3700 can be found only 2nd hand but when I bought mine, I wanted to have watches which - Patek inspected - Complete packages with all papers & box It was difficult but still possible. Best, Kari

They systematically change the hands when servicing the movement as they have to remove it at one moment. When they do so, they are so thin that they are often bent when taken off and the hole can be also enlarged in a way if won't be tight enough when th... 

I have sent my 5159R and 5235G back to PP service center Geneva for overhaul service, and they also replaced the hands. As mentioned by Mark, you can't service a movement without taking out its hands. Though I understand for some vintage timepiece (e.g. r... 

So, some previous "expert" seems to have scratched them when servicing it. They gave me an estimate before doing the work, and I opted to have the hands changed. They cleaned the case, did a full movement overhaul and a new deep navy strap in gloss croc. ...