Need help with Unitas 6325 amplitude problem

[VWatchie]

11 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

A bit disappointed about having to redo but also looking forward to playing Mr. Holmes. 

I know the feeling. You put your heart and soul into the service/repair only to be met by a feeling of failure. My strategy then is to put the watch away and not think about it "for a while" (for as long as it takes). Sooner than you think you have gathered the energy, will, and enthusiasm to take it on and apart again.

Servicing and repairing are time-consuming and complex, much more so than your average person could imagine. I sometimes marvel at the pros (those who do a good and conscientious job) who can make a living on this for perhaps a mere $500 per watch.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, VWatchie said:

I know the feeling. You put your heart and soul into the service/repair only to be met by a feeling of failure. My strategy then is to put the watch away and not think about it "for a while" (for as long as it takes). Sooner than you think you have gathered the energy, will, and enthusiasm to take it on and apart again.

Servicing and repairing are time-consuming and complex, much more so than your average person could imagine. I sometimes marvel at the pros (those who do a good and conscientious job) who can make a living on this for perhaps a mere $500 per watch.

I've seen watch repairers advertise on ebay for servicing on good watches such as Omega. Around £130 which seems cheap to me also bearing in mind this wont inc. a repair. I would have to make an assumption that a pro would do a basic service in 4 hours but that is a complete guess tbf. Maybe nickelsilver will elaborate on that. I wouldn't expect this to be 4 hours hands on either, waiting for machine cleaning would free up time to jump on something else. I do this at work everyday in my field of work jumping from one job to another so that I'm constantly working through a full project. So as a guess 2 watches a day thats looking at well over a grand a week. Obviously running expenses can take a good half of that depending on premises etc. All conjecture obviously,  as with everyone we wouldn't do what we do if we couldn't make a living from it. I do wish i had done something like this when i was younger though, beats grafting my nuts into the ground

[VWatchie]

18 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

've seen watch repairers advertise on ebay for servicing on good watches such as Omega. Around £130 which seems cheap to me also bearing in mind this wont inc. a repair.

I would seriously suspect that to be a scam. It would be interesting to measure and investigate an Omega, send it in for the £130 service,  and then measure and investigate when returned. Naturally, if the shop is located in India or Ukraine, where the cost of living is quite different from ours, that could explain a lot.

I've heard people on this forum claim a complete service can be accomplished in under 2 hours. I didn't get into that discussion. It's just not serious. I sometimes need an hour or two to just get watch out of the case 

The only way to make a decent profit for about $500 a watch, would be to have first-class equipment, have done the same watch and movement over and over, perhaps even hundreds of times, know all the pitfalls and basically be able to overhaul it without even thinking. I guess that's why it actually works.

Anyway, when I hear people whine about the cost of a proper service, all think is they have no idea about what it actually means.

19 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

So as a guess 2 watches a day thats looking at well over a grand a week

it would not mean a life of abundance (especially not in Sweden) as half of it would disappear in taxes, which is then misappropriated to everything but me and my family.

[Neverenoughwatches]

3 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

I would seriously suspect that to be a scam. It would be interesting to measure and investigate an Omega, send it in for the £130 service,  and then measure and investigate when returned. Naturally, if the shop is located in India or Ukraine, where the cost of living is quite different from ours, that could explain a lot.

I've heard people on this forum claim a complete service can be accomplished in under 2 hours. I didn't get into that discussion. It's just not serious. I sometimes need an hour or two to just get watch out of the case 

The only way to make a decent profit for about $500 a watch, would be to have first-class equipment, have done the same watch and movement over and over, perhaps even hundreds of times, know all the pitfalls and basically be able to overhaul it without even thinking. I guess that's why it actually works.

Anyway, when I hear people whine about the cost of a proper service, all think is they have no idea about what it actually means.

Totally agree watchie, i think 2 hours to setvice for an enthusiast they would be drastically cutting corners. Possibly for a pro, like you say with all the best equipment on something basic that they know inside and out.  Maybe this person got lucky with a service, you know like a Rubik's cube (I used to do them as a kid, loved solving puzzles ) when everything falls into place, it doesnt mean they could do it that quickly everytime. We get faster for sure when we've been there before especially when its recently, auto pilot takes over with help from our memory.  i have this when fitting kitchens if i haven't done one for a while. Putting cabinets together, a less complicated scenario obviously but the same principle. My first cabinet might be 20 mins, second one 17 mins third one 15 mins by the time my last cabinet is assembled i could be down to under 10 mins easily and thats maybe on just 10 repetitive procedures. So fast service is possible but only in certain circumstances so its not really a true representation of what the average repairer experiences. 

[VWatchie]

Yes, well put, that's how it works! Practice makes perfect!

My 12-year-old son (thirteen in December) can solve Rubik's cube in about 12-13 seconds. Also, a week ago he defeated the highest ranked 12-year-old in Sweden in table tennis in an official competition in Stockholm. Gosh, it feels like yesterday (actually 2 years ago) when I could easily defeat him in table tennis. These days he defeats me with his left hand while laughing at my feeble attempts to return the ball and doesn't want to play me anymore. Anyway, I sometimes wonder who the real father is  I was never even able to solve Rrubik's cube 

[watchweasol]

Hi Guys  Just my penneth,  When servicing anything be it a watch or a car they all look the same but they all have subtle differences. So if you service one brand you become familiar with the product and as a result get quicker,  through put is higher. If you service all different makes you have to become familiar with the differences and as result are slower as you take into consideration the differences and  all the gotcha's you encounter. Hence the reason the independent watch repairer is a scarce commodity these days as all jobs are returned to central workshops. A typical example is Timpsons, They do simple jobs on site the complex issues are sent to a central workshop in Manchester I believe,  where they have a team of repair guys probably specialists in Seiko, Tissot, Russian watches etc . and they do nothing else but those brands most of the time and become proficient at their line.

When I worked on the Addo (Swedish) Accounting machines, the first total re build took 48 Hrs  and I got it down to 12hs by constantly working on the same range, two and three register machine s, All electromechanical with levers and springs of which there were 10 or more different types for different jobs. The machine had close on 1,000 bits and they all had to work in unison quite complex. So by limiting the range you increase speed.       all the best

[dadistic]

I just checked the published prices of a repairer here in the States that I know is quite good. In fact, he is not taking in new work because his backlog is too big.

$220 base price to service an automatic with calendar.  I think $300 is not too uncommon, and I once paid something around that to have my Oris serviced (years ago, before I learned watch repairing).  If anyone is charging $500,  it would be for "luxury" watch service.   

I think there is an independant Wostep trained and CW21 certified watchmaker here in Duluth,  but I haven't met him yet, and don't know what kind of prices he is charging.  I'm actually quite curious, I wasn't expecting someone like that to be based here. 

Cheers

[nickelsilver]

I don't do work for the public, but my guy who feeds me work charges around 300 CHF for a regular watch, pretty much the same if it's manual, auto, calendar, and around 500-550 for a chronograph. I get about 70% of that- which is a fine deal for me, he definitely earns that 30%. I make out right at my hourly rate doing the work. He's kind of cheap for Switzerland, haha. Those prices don't count replaced parts or case refinishing etc. We (I) also will do basket cases, Roskopf movements, make literally anything from a pallet fork to vibrate a spring to whole bridges or whatever, so there's a solid client base and I'd say 70% is chronographs, 20% other decent watches often in 18K cases, and then the "please save my watch" or basket cases.

 

We also (and I do also along with another client) depannage professionelle* for other watchmakers who break a staff on a piece where none are available and things like that. I'd estimate that about 20% of my time is spent helping other watchmakers hahaha. Often for a beer or a bottle of wine. Sometimes whisky.

 

*Depannage is usually used in conjuntion with broken down cars and the AAA guy or whoever save you on the side of the road.

 

The Swiss Franc is pretty much at parity with the Euro and Dollar these days.