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Watch suppliers--great disparity


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I decided to find a knew winding pinion for my Vulcain.  I see some wear on the one I have.  I have the spec sheet on the Vulcain 120 and identified the part as #1246.  I searched around and found scotchwatch.com had one.  $45.  I really want it, so I bought it.  Meanwhile, I continued my search and found a part with a different part number (410) on Northern Watch & Clock Supplies in the UK.  It was just a couple of pounds, so I bought it.

Later I looked at the invoice from scotchwatch.com and see that the part I bought is 1246 (410), so I think the part has two numbers.  Well, we will see when they arrive.  On part cost 20x the other one. 

I am not complaining...as I am glad that someone takes the effort to maintain an inventory for budding watchmakers like myself.  I just think it is interesting.

Learning new things every day.

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44 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Cheap probably means made in China or India.  

Actually one should just wish more of these were available, and not let prejudice get in between to a successful repair at a reasonable price.

Anyway, for one India does not manufacture any watch part. Chine does, but in practice only very few are available for the mainstream ETA models but nothing else, including for vintage watches like the OP's.

It appears that this seller dis exploiting owners people willing to repair at a cost bigger than the material value of the watch. In the UK the regulations to online sales give a the buyer cooling off period where you can unconditionally return the item for a full refund, minus shipping expense possibly.

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2 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Scotchwatch might have their own number system to parts. These days it pays to shop around for the best price. Alway try to obtain genuine parts. Cheap probably means made in China or India. 

 

the problem with what I quoted here is that if you look at the original question the part probably hasn't been made in how many years?

 

9 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Vulcain 120 and identified the part as #1246.  I searched around and found scotchwatch.com had one.  $45.  I really want it, so I bought it.  Meanwhile, I continued my search and found a part with a different part number (410)

if you look at watch parts lists a lot of times they do follow a common numbering/naming scheme which leads to confusions for newbies for instance.like for instance part number 410 I'm attaching an image does appear to be a winding pinion. Amusingly for newbies they think when I'm looking at a tech sheet in the see a part number 410 is their part and they fail to grasp that there could be thousands of watches with that same part number. So it's interesting that your tech sheet has a different numbers so they must a gone with the different numbering scheme.

then we get the other problem what about the other numbering schemes and how many exactly are there? We know the best fit system which is what the links below are using. But I'm aware of don't know what they're called but there are other numbering schemes out there. Don't remember the material house but one of them that keeps buying up other material houses when they do that they put the newly acquired material house in a separate section of the warehouse and they do not integrate. That's because typically all the material houses are running with different systems and integrate them together be a confusing mess and a waste of time anyway.

If you are dealing with a part that was being sold at a rapid rate you going to make a fantastic return on your money you could integrate them all together. But if you're running a material house looking for obscure parts it's a waste of time to integrate. But it does require somebody to grasp all these different material systems because conceivably your part could be lurking it a lot some locations throughout the warehouse. And a lot of these companies especially on the obscure parts don't even list them on line. This means you need to cultivate relationships with material house or material houses that you could call and ask them and if they like you may be they will go look in their warehouse.

does look like your part interchanges with other watches that's good. Always having a part that goes in  more than one watch is good. Unfortunately I checked the parts out of stock at least from this material house.

 

http://cgi.julesborel.com/cgi-bin/matcgi2?ref=VUL_120

http://cgi.julesborel.com/cgi-bin/matcgi2?ref=X]ZD_E[

 

watch part 410.JPG

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1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

I assumed India manufactured watch parts because going back a few years they made watches.

They used to make the HMT as a licensed Citizen design. Not sure if still making them, but I haven't seen their parts for sure.

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

I know full well lathe components made in India are of a poor quality.     

I have various lathe accessories made in India by Soba or Zither, purchased from reputable UK resellers. Good quality at the right price, nothing to complain about. The simple point is that these are not manufactured in the Western world anymore. My latest  at the end of the below.

 

 

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When I was a little kid working for my Dad in the Summer.  When he needed a part, he would send me to downtown Houston to Prague and Kurtz to get it.  I would get on the bus, making several transfers, arrive downtown and walk the remaining distance and get on the elevator to the parts house.  Did this many many times.  They must have stocked everything.

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