Watch Service Worth It?

Dominic-Toretto

Dominic-Toretto

Dominic-Toretto

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One of my watches is due a service fairly soon, Omega have quoted £800. Now I am no watch expert, but does that seem reasonable for what is given? Or are they just marking up, over what any independent watch smith could do?

Here is a list of what they do for this price:
  • The strap or bracelet is detached from the watch and the case is disassembled.
  • The movement is taken apart and each component is thoroughly cleaned in an ultrasonic bath.
  • Each component of the movement is meticulously examined. Worn components are replaced with original OMEGA parts. For movements without a serial number, a technical upgrade to the latest movement version is performed, if applicable.
  • The movement is meticulously reassembled. The OMEGA certified watchmaker lubricates contact points using all his skills and the best lubricants. This guarantees an outstanding long-term performance of the movement.
  • The rate of the movement is adjusted and its operational parameters checked against OMEGA's strict quality standard.
  • The shine of the case and metal bracelet is skillfully restored while preserving the original shape of each component.
  • The case is reassembled and all gaskets ensuring the water resistance are replaced.
  • The functional and aesthetical parameters of the watch are checked against OMEGA's stringent quality standard.
Click to expand...
 
Quite a turn of topic going from mass produced carp to £800 service costs on a watch!

I would say this totally depends on how much the watch is worth and whether or not the service prolongs something that would cost more to fix when it breaks!

Edit: This is my frugal response as my watch was half price and cost me £50 and still works fine. Its had 2 batteries replaced by me and the cost was the battery plus a watch back removal tool for 3 quid plus postage from ebay!

I can imagine a watch costing 10k then an £800 service might be worth while, my watch... Not so much lol.

Edit 2: I would say a reputable watch service place would be able to do this service to the same level and cheaper. I can only liken it to cars where you take it to the stealers or you take it to a good local independent garage. The only difference is if the independent place can get genuine omega parts or not. Or if you're likely to sell the watch and being able to say it was repaired by omega and not Willy's Watches down the road helps to keep the value!
 
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It's a high end watch built for people with lots of money who will gladly pay overinflated prices to have a few hours work done to their timepiece, an independant will do it cheaper but it still wont be cheap. I saved quite a bit on my TAG by using an independant.
 
Which Omega is it? Is it a chronograph? If so, £800 is about right, if a little high - Breitling prices: https://www.breitling.com/multimedia/pdf/sav/sav-894.pdf

I paid about £1,100 for my Breitling a few years back when it would have been 10 years old, but that did include a new stainless steel strap which was about £350. It really did come back like new, but it took bloody ages as they sent it off to Switzerland...I have a chrongraph that was new in 2015 so I suppose it's due some sort of service.

For another reference, my mum has a rolex that dad got her 25+ years ago. She never serviced it until a few years back (over £1k) and it worked fine until then. Pretty much worn every day.

I'm not sure on the servicing if I'm honest...especially not as frequently as they say.
 
That is far too much for an Omega, I had a JLC extreme world chrono done (factory service) for a bit less and that's a much more complex watch

Give @lakitu a shout, he has done several watches for me including an Omega
 
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