Posted: 5/7/2012 6:10:21 PM EDT
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Whats a good ball park price for an overhaul on a Breitling watch, full cleaning, oil, polish case, done by an authorized shop? |
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Quoted: Prolly $400-$500 if you send it back to Breitling. Maybe $250-$300 at a place like Tourneau. Depends on the complications too, which can add to the cost. Can you send it back to Breitling yourself? I was quoted about $390 from an auth shop, but not sure if they do in house or if the send to Breitling. Is it worth it to send to B-ling or should there be no difference if the shop does it? |
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Quoted: Find a local watchmaker. Most shops sell their cleanings (and ALWAYS overclean) and commission their salespeople on them. If you listen to those guys, you'll clean your watch every other year, and pay through the nose to do so. Guy I went to is an Auth. B-ling dealer. My watch does need a cleaning (and a new crystal as it cracked) as I've had it for about 5 years and got it used. Now I'm wondering if I should just send it to B-ling in CT myself or if the dealer does that anyway. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Find a local watchmaker. Most shops sell their cleanings (and ALWAYS overclean) and commission their salespeople on them. If you listen to those guys, you'll clean your watch every other year, and pay through the nose to do so. Guy I went to is an Auth. B-ling dealer. My watch does need a cleaning (and a new crystal as it cracked) as I've had it for about 5 years and got it used. Now I'm wondering if I should just send it to B-ling in CT myself or if the dealer does that anyway. You probably won't be able to send it to the repair department yourself. If you are, let us know. That would be great. (but you'll still pay more than you would for a local guy) |
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Spent $631 to have my Omega Speedmaster overhauled. It was wildly innacurate to the point of being unuseable.
The Swatch Group owns Omega and they did the work. FWIW ... I specifically OKed only what would get it running & accurate and I know they replaced the bezel and the crystal and did a LOT of polishing @ no charge. It came back looking like new and very accurate 
Stay safe |
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There's absolutely NO DOUBT that the factory repair center will do it 100% to factory specs.
Often times, locals send it out to who knows who, or take short cuts. I'm a retired master watchmaker, I KNOW what goes on. One other consideration: If a customer sends a watch in it gets done sooner than if a dealer sends it in. |
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Quoted: There's absolutely NO DOUBT that the factory repair center will do it 100% to factory specs. Often times, locals send it out to who knows who, or take short cuts. I'm a retired master watchmaker, I KNOW what goes on. One other consideration: If a customer sends a watch in it gets done sooner than if a dealer sends it in. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
There's absolutely NO DOUBT that the factory repair center will do it 100% to factory specs. Often times, locals send it out to who knows who, or take short cuts. I'm a retired master watchmaker, I KNOW what goes on. One other consideration: If a customer sends a watch in it gets done sooner than if a dealer sends it in. Look up the factory service center and call them. Ask your question there. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There's absolutely NO DOUBT that the factory repair center will do it 100% to factory specs. Often times, locals send it out to who knows who, or take short cuts. I'm a retired master watchmaker, I KNOW what goes on. One other consideration: If a customer sends a watch in it gets done sooner than if a dealer sends it in. Look up the factory service center and call them. Ask your question there. Called, they said my dealer was an authorized for sales but that B would not warranty the dealers service even thought their watchmaker may have taken B courses. So dealer came back with an estimate of $700 for overhaul and crystal. B USA in CT said they will give me an estimate if I mail them the watch. I am unsure which route to take now. Any suggestions from the hive? |
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There's absolutely NO DOUBT that the factory repair center will do it 100% to factory specs. Often times, locals send it out to who knows who, or take short cuts. I'm a retired master watchmaker, I KNOW what goes on. One other consideration: If a customer sends a watch in it gets done sooner than if a dealer sends it in. Look up the factory service center and call them. Ask your question there. Called, they said my dealer was an authorized for sales but that B would not warranty the dealers service even thought their watchmaker may have taken B courses. So dealer came back with an estimate of $700 for overhaul and crystal. B USA in CT said they will give me an estimate if I mail them the watch. I am unsure which route to take now. Any suggestions from the hive? I sent a couple Hamilton watches back to SWATCH a few years ago. The watch that came back looked new. But, the second one I sent them was stolen. SWATCH/Hamilton tried to tell me they never received it, but I pointed out that I had sent both watches in the same box, with a detailed packing slip, and I got back one one watch with a copy of my same packing list. SWATCH didn't want to admit they had a theif in their receivng department. After much back and forth, Hamilton/SWATCH replaced the missing watch with a new one. I wasn't happy, but I knew it was what they could do to make the situation right. Having said that, it was recommended, by some friends, that the next time I needed service to send it back to the factory in Switzerland, rather than to the service centers stateside. They say that you get better service, but you end up waiting a lot longer to get the watch back. If you google the question you will find answers or just lurk around some watch forums like watchuseek.com or timezone.com on how to send it back to the factory. I have obtained the COSC certificates for a couple of my watches from Omega in Switzerland and their customer service was great, far better than the stateside folks. I haven't had to send the watches back yet for any warranty work. I have also sent watches back to Seiko and had them come back looking new. More recently I have taken some vintage watches to Old Northeast Jewlers in St. Petersburg, FL (which is local for me) for cleanings and oiling and I have been very happy. Old Northeast Jewelers is the distributor for Ball watches in the US. Depending on how old your Breitling is and if Breitling is going to warranty the repairs/watch, I would consider sending it to them (I'd lean towards the factory in Switzerland too). If it's an older timepiece and the warranty doesn't mean a whole lot anymore, find a local watchsmith that comes reccomended on one of the watch forums mentioned above. |
