What decides the cost of a watch service

The cost of a watch service is decided mostly by the watch itself: how complicated its movement is, what condition that movement is in, which parts it needs and whether they can be had, and what the case, crystal and bracelet need besides. That is why two services of what looks like the same watch can cost quite different amounts. It is also why any figure given before the watch has been examined can only be provisional. The reliable figure is a written estimate made after an assessment.

The movement

Every function a watch performs is made of parts, and in a full service each of those parts is removed, cleaned, inspected, lubricated where needed and put back. A manual-wind watch that shows only the time is the simplest case. An automatic adds a winding mechanism. A date or a day adds calendar works. A chronograph adds a great many parts and its own adjustment, and moonphase, GMT and other complications add more again. The more a movement holds, the longer the work takes, so the movement sets the starting point before its condition is even known.

A quartz watch usually asks for less. Its routine work is a battery, with the gaskets checked and, if it is meant to resist water, a pressure test. When an inexpensive quartz movement fails, replacing it can make more sense than repairing it.

Its condition

Condition is the part no one can price from a photograph. A movement whose oils have simply aged needs cleaning, lubrication and adjustment. One that has run for years on failed oils may have worn pivots and jewels that must be replaced. This is the practical case for servicing on time, set out in when a watch needs an overhaul. Water damage costs more still, because rusted steel parts usually have to be replaced rather than cleaned. Earlier repairs count too. Wrong screws, glue, bent parts or a mainspring of the wrong strength all have to be put right before the service itself can be done properly.

Some of this shows only once the movement is apart. A careful estimate says what it assumes. If dismantling reveals more that must be done, the work should stop until the owner has agreed to a revised estimate, and that is a fair thing to ask of any watchmaker.

The parts it needs

Some parts are renewed at most services, gaskets among them, and a mainspring that has lost its strength is replaced. Others are replaced only when worn or broken. What they cost depends on what they are and where they come from. Some manufacturers supply parts only to their own service network or to watchmakers they approve. Where that is the case, an estimate may propose equivalent parts instead. They should always be disclosed before they are fitted, since they can affect a watch’s value. For older calibres, parts may be long out of production and have to be found, sometimes in another movement of the same calibre, or made. That takes time as well as money.

Work beyond the movement

A service often brings other work to light, and each item should be its own line on the estimate. Once a water-resistant watch has been opened, its gaskets need checking or renewing, and the case a pressure test. A worn crown or tube, a chipped crystal or a tired clasp may be worth attending to while the watch is in hand.

Cosmetic work is a choice rather than a need. Polishing removes metal and cannot be undone, and on a collectible watch it can lower value, so it deserves a decision of its own. For a vintage watch, the aim of the work also shapes its cost: a return to original specification is a different undertaking from a sympathetic restoration that keeps the watch’s patina.

A repair or a full service

A single fault can often be put right on its own: a battery, a crystal, a crown, a clasp. The calculation changes when the fault lies inside a movement that is due for service anyway. Take a broken mainspring in a movement that is overdue. Fitting a new spring and leaving old oil everywhere else does the watch little good. It is then sensible to ask for both figures, the repair alone and the full service, and compare them. The same applies to timekeeping. Regulating a tired movement does not hold for long, for reasons explained in why a mechanical watch runs fast.

Reading an estimate

An estimate is easier to compare, and to approve with confidence, when it states:

• the work proposed, named plainly: a full service, a partial one or a specific repair
• the parts to be replaced, and whether they are the manufacturer’s own or equivalents
• whether new gaskets and a pressure test are included
• any cosmetic work, listed separately so that it can be declined
• a completion date, and how long the estimate holds
• the warranty, and what it covers

Two estimates that differ widely often describe different work, and setting them side by side, line by line, usually shows where. At Viattori, assessment and the written estimate are free, an estimate is valid for 30 days, and nothing begins until it is approved. The work carries a six-month limited warranty on workmanship and installed parts, and Viattori’s repair service explains how a watch is taken in.

When a repair costs more than the watch

Now and then a service or repair costs as much as the watch would fetch, or more. That does not settle the matter. Many watches are kept for who wore them rather than for what they would sell for, and a watch that is looked after can run for another generation. The decision belongs to the owner alone. An assessment is the way to make it with the facts in hand, before any money is spent.

Questions

How much does a watch service cost?

It depends on the watch: how complicated the movement is, its condition, the parts it needs and any case, crystal or bracelet work. A reliable figure comes only from an assessment and a written estimate; at Viattori both are free, and an estimate holds for 30 days.

Why do two estimates for the same watch differ?

Usually because they describe different work. One may include full dismantling, new gaskets and a pressure test while the other does not, or one may use the manufacturer’s parts and the other equivalents. Comparing the two line by line shows where the difference lies.

Can the final bill be higher than the estimate?

It should not be without your agreement. Some faults show only once the movement is apart; a careful watchmaker then stops, explains what was found and asks before going further. At Viattori, the work stops and the client is asked first.

Why does a chronograph cost more to service?

A chronograph has many more parts than a watch that shows only the time, and each one must be dismantled, cleaned, inspected, lubricated, reassembled and adjusted. The same applies, to varying degrees, to calendars, moonphases and GMT functions.

Is it worth servicing a watch that is worth little?

That depends on what the watch means to its owner as well as what it would sell for. A service can cost as much as a watch is worth, or more; the decision belongs to the owner, ideally made after an assessment has shown what the watch needs.