Repairs vs Craftsmanship

[Murph]

Beelions, and Beelions of years ago, well actually in 1983, I had just gotten out of Fort Benning's school for wayward boys, and was stationed in Germany. I took my very first paycheck after I got there, and went to the Post exchange and got a Rolex (mostly because my Dad got one in 1965 when we were in Germany which he took to Vietnam with him, and it survived there, and he still wears it), for the massive cost of $600. I still have that watch and wear it daily.   I wore it all during my time at the Sheriff's Office and it kept working.   It has sucked as a time keeper despite two trips to the "authorized Rolex" repair centers. Then I needed to get it cleaned, adjusted, and basically repaired since it had a lot of miles on it. The Rolex dealer wanted $1,400 to just LOOK at the watch. Any repairs would be billed accordingly after the initial look, which they told me were estimated in excess of $2,000.  

So I went to the place where I had my wife's wedding ring repaired, a little local place called Phillip Simon jewelry. Mr. Simon is very old, I suspect mid 80's at least. He did an utterly amazing job on my wife's ring which was my grandmother's wedding band made sometime in the early part of the 20th century, being an Art Deco type band. It had gotten badly damaged and was actually bent. He fixed it better than it was when she received it all those 35 plus years ago. And I could not believe the price he charged! I expected at least double if not triple what he charged!

I asked if he could look at my watch which lost 5 minutes every week or so, and just kept terrible time despite allegedly being repaired by certified Rolex specialists. He told me that he had been a Rolex repairman years ago. So I gave him this watch which truthfully has been beat up pretty well, and needed work. He kept it two weeks, and when I got it back, it looked like new. He charged me less than 1/3 of what the Rolex dealer wanted to just look at the watch. The watch has kept utterly perfect time ever since.

So there is an absolute distinction between a Craftsman, and just a repairman. Craftsmanship like his is a dying art, much more the pity. In San Antonio, I will never go to anyone else for jewelry or watch repairs. The man is amazing, and very humble.

[sunday]

41 minutes ago, Murph said:

Beelions, and Beelions of years ago, well actually in 1983, I had just gotten out of Fort Benning's school for wayward boys, and was stationed in Germany. I took my very first paycheck after I got there, and went to the Post exchange and got a Rolex (mostly because my Dad got one in 1965 when we were in Germany which he took to Vietnam with him, and it survived there, and he still wears it), for the massive cost of $600. I still have that watch and wear it daily.   I wore it all during my time at the Sheriff's Office and it kept working.   It has sucked as a time keeper despite two trips to the "authorized Rolex" repair centers. Then I needed to get it cleaned, adjusted, and basically repaired since it had a lot of miles on it. The Rolex dealer wanted $1,400 to just LOOK at the watch. Any repairs would be billed accordingly after the initial look, which they told me were estimated in excess of $2,000.  

So I went to the place where I had my wife's wedding ring repaired, a little local place called Phillip Simon jewelry. Mr. Simon is very old, I suspect mid 80's at least. He did an utterly amazing job on my wife's ring which was my grandmother's wedding band made sometime in the early part of the 20th century, being an Art Deco type band. It had gotten badly damaged and was actually bent. He fixed it better than it was when she received it all those 35 plus years ago. And I could not believe the price he charged! I expected at least double if not triple what he charged!

I asked if he could look at my watch which lost 5 minutes every week or so, and just kept terrible time despite allegedly being repaired by certified Rolex specialists. He told me that he had been a Rolex repairman years ago. So I gave him this watch which truthfully has been beat up pretty well, and needed work. He kept it two weeks, and when I got it back, it looked like new. He charged me less than 1/3 of what the Rolex dealer wanted to just look at the watch. The watch has kept utterly perfect time ever since.

So there is an absolute distinction between a Craftsman, and just a repairman. Craftsmanship like his is a dying art, much more the pity. In San Antonio, I will never go to anyone else for jewelry or watch repairs. The man is amazing, and very humble.

If I may make a suggestion, keep the papers that came with the watch when you bought it, if you have them. Could be a nice, and valuable, thing to leave to your kids.

[Murph]

Long lost in several moves.  

[sunday]

Pity. Well, still a heirloom.

[Ivanhoe]

The men who work behind the counter of jewelry stores are sometimes bonafide watchmakers. The tragedy of that trade is that wristwatches are the true love of watchmakers, sales/service/repair is just a money-losing hobby. It is women's jewelry that keeps the lights on, as watches never go out of style (and men stick with what they've got) but women's jewelry does go out of style.

One time I needed a new battery in my Omega and took it to the higher-end jewelry shop in my town that sold some decent watch brands (Breitling etc.). The sales gal brought it to the elf in the back, who came boiling out to talk to me about watches. My Omega is a rare one, 2000 vintage Seamaster Multifunction. First one he had ever seen in person. An hour later I finally got on with my day.

At the 20-year mark I did send my Omega in for the factory* fluff-and-buff. About $400, mainly for the new bracelet. If you've not handled an Omega, $400 for just the bracelet sounds steep. If you have, you'll understand.

* Didn't go to Switzerland, they have a factory repair center in LA now.

 

 

 

[Ssnake]

Old cheapskate me went for a Seiko Satellite Wave Eco Drive. Has a built-in battery for seven years without sunlight - and forever as long as I saunder out into daylight once in a while. No clockwork where the lubrication solidifies over the years; each hand has its own step motor. The calendar has all the lap years until Feb 28, 2100, at which point it's going to be someone else's problem. The thing syncs time with GPS, anywhere within +/-65° latitude. All in all I think I'm set for no repairs or maintenance for this watch, ever.

I appreciate the craftsmanship that went into traditional chronometers, but I think there's something to be said about the technical merits of this solution from Japan. Yeah, it's "just electronics" - but there won't be battery swaps, and it will always be on time as long as there are GPS satellites in orbit. Even when there aren't, it won't be worse than any other quartz watch. I for one can also admire the engineering that went into this concept.

[Ivanhoe]

Yes, but when the robot uprising begins your Seiko will rat you out.

 

[Argus]

2 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Old cheapskate me went for a Seiko Satellite Wave Eco Drive. Has a built-in battery for seven years without sunlight <snip>

Yeah my Kinetic needs a new battery every 3 or 4 years, so much as I do like Seiko, I take their life claims with some salt these days. 

[Rick]

With the replacement of electronics vs mechanical I think we'll see the continuation of replace vs repair.

[Ssnake]

Generally, I'm all pro repair. I had my bicycle disassembled and re-coated; probably not an economical decision - but one I didn't regret either. But that Seiko watch here is as close to a lifetime without maintenance that I figured it was worth a gamble. Got it six or seven years ago. Had the wristband repaired once (dislodged pin), and if it lasts another 24 years which it should easily do, I'll have had my share of use out of it for about 50 bucks per year. And then it'll probably last for another 30, if not 50 - though I'm not sure if my grandson will want to wear it, given that it does nothing but show the time and date. But, who knows.

Internet-connected gadgets? Hell, no. I'm pretty sure that in a few years people will start to realize how bad of a deal internet-connected cars are. That's a straight trip to planned obsolescence, a model case of the Enshittification Handbook from the Darth Vader School of Economics.

[Stuart Galbraith]

On 5/20/2024 at 4:04 PM, Murph said:

Beelions, and Beelions of years ago, well actually in 1983, I had just gotten out of Fort Benning's school for wayward boys, and was stationed in Germany. I took my very first paycheck after I got there, and went to the Post exchange and got a Rolex (mostly because my Dad got one in 1965 when we were in Germany which he took to Vietnam with him, and it survived there, and he still wears it), for the massive cost of $600. I still have that watch and wear it daily.   I wore it all during my time at the Sheriff's Office and it kept working.   It has sucked as a time keeper despite two trips to the "authorized Rolex" repair centers. Then I needed to get it cleaned, adjusted, and basically repaired since it had a lot of miles on it. The Rolex dealer wanted $1,400 to just LOOK at the watch. Any repairs would be billed accordingly after the initial look, which they told me were estimated in excess of $2,000.  

So I went to the place where I had my wife's wedding ring repaired, a little local place called Phillip Simon jewelry. Mr. Simon is very old, I suspect mid 80's at least. He did an utterly amazing job on my wife's ring which was my grandmother's wedding band made sometime in the early part of the 20th century, being an Art Deco type band. It had gotten badly damaged and was actually bent. He fixed it better than it was when she received it all those 35 plus years ago. And I could not believe the price he charged! I expected at least double if not triple what he charged!

I asked if he could look at my watch which lost 5 minutes every week or so, and just kept terrible time despite allegedly being repaired by certified Rolex specialists. He told me that he had been a Rolex repairman years ago. So I gave him this watch which truthfully has been beat up pretty well, and needed work. He kept it two weeks, and when I got it back, it looked like new. He charged me less than 1/3 of what the Rolex dealer wanted to just look at the watch. The watch has kept utterly perfect time ever since.

So there is an absolute distinction between a Craftsman, and just a repairman. Craftsmanship like his is a dying art, much more the pity. In San Antonio, I will never go to anyone else for jewelry or watch repairs. The man is amazing, and very humble.

I heard that someone had accidentally got salt water in their Rolex, and Rolex refused to touch it with a bargepole. In desperation they set it into a war repair guy on youtube, and he fixed it. Said it wasnt actually evenrusty inside, except in a couple of trivial areas.

The guy on youtube was this one. A channel well worth watching, particularly if you like vintage watches.

 

Speaking for myself, a couple of years ago I splashed out for a 400 quid watch on Youtube, a modern Laco that emulate that which had been used by Luftwaffe Navigators in WW2. Came in a nice box. It was ok, but it never kept really very good time. Anyway, despite having an auto winder on it, it seemed to lack power, so one day I was winding it up, and the ruddy stem broke. It sat like that for 6  months, before I took it into a local jeweler. one wasnt interested, you could tell it was too much trouble for him. So I went into a jewelery chain, cost me 60 quid, because they had to order a new stem from the manufacturer (whom they had never heard of). Anyway, damndest thing. When it came back, im tempted to think they must have oiled it, because it only lost about 3 minutes in a month.