Servicing Cost

[Nigelh]

as i am new to this i wondered what a typical service would cost? any advice is appreciated

[Alastair]

Really depends on What you are having serviced, and Who is doing it, whether parts needed etc....

A simple manual-wind gents watch, prob as low as £25 by a good enthusiast or amateur or as high as £900 or more for some exotic Rolex done by themselves!

[clockboy]

9 hours ago, Nigelh said:

as i am new to this i wondered what a typical service would cost? any advice is appreciated

There are to many variables to give a answer. Parts have become an issue with many Swiss watches so the simplest repair can become pricey. For a keen price find a competent independent watchmaker or a competent amateur/enthusiast. For Rolex/Omega etc be very carful who does the repair as mistakes/slips can be very expensive indeed.

[Nigelh]

i think for those starting into the profession a pricing guide of what to charge would be a good idea

[clockboy]

In truth after the outlay of tools it is a long while before any profit can be made repairing/servicing watches. The problem all watch repairers now face is now most use their mobiles to see the time. So in my opinion asking for more than £35 for a basic watch service is unrealistic. To make a living from watch repair you really do need to be truly competent with high end clocks and watches such as Rolex & Omega,s etc. Then you can comfortably charge £150 upwards for a watch service. However it is a very big step to take without a lot off experience and the correct equipment. It is so easy to cause damage to a watch. It only takes one slip and you as a repairer are in trouble with a £5k watch that a customer has entrusted in you to fix!!!!! 

 

[Nigelh]

are there specialised courses for Rolex,Cartier, etc ?

[clockboy]

I am not aware of any.


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[oldhippy]

Back in my days one of the first things I did after serving my full apprenticeship was to write too many of the watch companies and ask for a price list of their full watch service. I took in to consideration low and top grade watches. It was very easy to work out prices, one thing I ditched was part repairs, never worth the time, it would be a full service or the customer could find another watchmaker. A watch glass would be replaced at the owner’s risk, if anything went wrong it would be a full service. I never ever looked for work but I found the clock side more interesting and concentrated on that, I still did watch making but I cut it down.   

[Ishima]

Pricing is indeed difficult, many independant professionals grossly undercharge for their services from my perspective, and they often go out of business at least partially as a result. You have to take in consideration all variables, how much money you'd like to make a day, how much you can do in a day, and what you're likely on averege to spend on parts. what risks there are to you for even taking on the job and working on that watch if anything goes wrong, etc.

I will say this, It's hours of work and although not too comon, sometimes simple parts, especially on more vintage movements can set you back £20.


 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Ishima

[Tiktok]

5 hours ago, Nigelh said:

are there specialised courses for Rolex,Cartier, etc ?

Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Breitling all do courses, you need to do coar$e for each brand before they will supply you parts.

Depending on your level of ability and presuming your Quality of work is to their standard they can accredit you to different levels.

Rolex have an accreditation to be able to

1) dial exchanges and battery and reseals.

2) The above and service all watch's apart from sports models.

3) The above, including sports models apart from complicated models like the Daytona and Yahtmaster 2.

There is also a Daytona coar$e you can go on once all the above accreditations are achieved.

 

Cartier have an accreditation but is very limited, it basically shows you how to Refurb a case and do movement exchanges, once accredited you can only get seals and case parts and then send the movement in for exchange, they are in the process of introducing a coar$e in Switzerland for people that have the current movement exchange accreditation which I think will mean they can actually get movement parts once it's done.

 

Omega do a one week accreditation coar$e which means you can get all parts including parts for the co axial watch's. This automatically gives you access to Rado, Longines and Tissot parts but only if you purchase the brand specific tools for each brand.

 

Breitling also do an accreditation but again depends on your ability, Some people can only do Battery and Reseals, some people can only access Quartz and basic automatic parts and the full accreditation means you can do chronographs, nobody can get parts the the emergency watch.

 

 

All of these accreditations are subject to a workshop inspection that meets certain criteria for each brand. A lot of the main big equipment can be used for multiple brands like polishing machines, timing machines(apart for co axial), cleaning machine, ultrasonic, dryer, ect, but all brands insist on lots of specialist case tools, movement holders and hand tools, not to mention oils, polishing compounds, etc, which are all very expensive and are mostly only available from them. Your workshop must be up to their spec and if you don't buy the tools  they won't supply you parts even if you have past the course.

[Nigelh]

Thanks Tiktok i can see why very few enter Horology and are put off 

[transporter]

For me I'm staying as a hobbyist, I would love to get a BHI accreditation for watch servicing (up to say day date complications) I would proceed at a late date to more complicated movements. But for me it's the cost of the even the basic courses, it just starts becoming too costly, which is a shame for the industry as I know there must be lots of people in the same boat as me, all very passionate and basically self taught and pretty damn competent, but cost is phrohibiting us actually proceeding into the industry and keeping it alive. My local smith who has two other smiths working with him has a 6 month waiting list for work to cross his benches!!!!!! The works out there but I'm afraid I'll have to stick to my hobby room and tinkering only. Sad but the industry is shooting itself in its foot by out pricing some very talented people. Just my two penneth worth.

[Ligne]

On 27/03/2017 at 7:58 PM, Tiktok said:

Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Breitling all do courses, you need to do coar$e for each brand before they will supply you parts.

Depending on your level of ability and presuming your Quality of work is to their standard they can accredit you to different levels.

Rolex have an accreditation to be able to

1) dial exchanges and battery and reseals.

2) The above and service all watch's apart from sports models.

3) The above, including sports models apart from complicated models like the Daytona and Yahtmaster 2.

There is also a Daytona coar$e you can go on once all the above accreditations are achieved.

 

Cartier have an accreditation but is very limited, it basically shows you how to Refurb a case and do movement exchanges, once accredited you can only get seals and case parts and then send the movement in for exchange, they are in the process of introducing a coar$e in Switzerland for people that have the current movement exchange accreditation which I think will mean they can actually get movement parts once it's done.

 

Omega do a one week accreditation coar$e which means you can get all parts including parts for the co axial watch's. This automatically gives you access to Rado, Longines and Tissot parts but only if you purchase the brand specific tools for each brand.

 

Breitling also do an accreditation but again depends on your ability, Some people can only do Battery and Reseals, some people can only access Quartz and basic automatic parts and the full accreditation means you can do chronographs, nobody can get parts the the emergency watch.

 

 

All of these accreditations are subject to a workshop inspection that meets certain criteria for each brand. A lot of the main big equipment can be used for multiple brands like polishing machines, timing machines(apart for co axial), cleaning machine, ultrasonic, dryer, ect, but all brands insist on lots of specialist case tools, movement holders and hand tools, not to mention oils, polishing compounds, etc, which are all very expensive and are mostly only available from them. Your workshop must be up to their spec and if you don't buy the tools  they won't supply you parts even if you have past the course.

Interesting post, it can be hard to find concrete info on the various accreditation routes. Where can further info on this be found, including workshop criteria if possible?