Water Resistance
- I do not recommend getting any mechanical watch
wet. My guarantee does not cover water damage of any sort
(including fog in the crystal). Many of the internal parts of
a watch are made from steel (not stainless), and are therefore prone
to rust. A small amount of water that gets inside the case can
easily destroy a watch, with repair costs easily exceeding $1000.
It is just not worth the risk. I suggest you use an
inexpensive quartz watch for swimming. Also, understand that
many vintage watches (pre 1960 or so) had no seals at all, and
aren't even splashproof.
Here is a
photo of a Rolex GMT that got wet. If you look carefully, you
can see that the case tube got stuck in the crown (it should stay in
the case). This is where water entered the case. This
repair is over $2000.
click on the photo
to enlarge |
 |
click on the photo
to enlarge |
Shipping Recommendations
- I recommend that you use Registered US Mail when sending your watch
in for repair. You should pack the watch in a box, and use paper tape
to seal the seams. The post office will stamp the seams to show that
the box has not been tampered with during shipping. On the Registered
Mail form, there is a box to check to insure the package, and it can
be insured for up to $25,000. Registered Mail is handled separately
from the rest of the mail, and is therefore more secure than plain
'Insured' Mail (in fact, everyone who handles a Registered package
has to sign for it throughout its transit). Insured Mail uses a blue sticker/form, while Registered
uses a red sticker. Insured Mail is adequate for packages valued at
less than $500. There is a price break (at about $500) where
Registered Mail is actually cheaper than Insured. Additional insurance
for Registered packages is relatively inexpensive, so I generally
over-insure packages. Generally, a package shipped Registered
US Mail and insured for a few thousand dollars will cost about $18 to
ship including insurance costs.
Also, keep in
mind that shipping to a PO Box is safer than shipping to a physical
address. Registered packages are kept in a safe inside of a
locked cage which is inside the post office. If you ship to a
physical address (using US Mail, UPS or FedEX), the package is
basically on a tour of the area inside of an unlocked
truck. Shipping via Registered US Mail is very secure.
Please include
a note with your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.
Also, be specific as to what you want done. The more specific
you are about the problems, the better I can meet your needs.
I refer to your notes during the repair to make sure that I address
all of your concerns, so if it is not in your notes it might not get
done.
Historical
& Value Information - I welcome any questions specifically regarding the
repair of a watch, such as: can I fix this brand?,
can I fix this problem?, approximately how much will it cost?, what
kind of performance can I expect?, etc. However, I get numerous inquiries
from people looking only for general information on their particular
watches, such as: what can you tell me about this watch?, when was
it made?, how much is it worth?, etc. Unfortunately, I do not have
time to answer these types of questions. For historical information,
I suggest you obtain the book, the Complete Guide to Watches, by Cooksey
Shugart, Tom Engle & Richard Gilbert. It has a lot of historical
information, pictures, and a price guide. This book can be bought
at a local bookstore, borrowed from the library, or purchased at an on-line bookstore.
Plastic vs.
Sapphire Crystals - Watches that originally came with plastic
crystals cannot be converted to use a modern sapphire crystal. Plastic
crystals are domed higher than sapphire crystals, and therefore provide
much more hand clearance. If you tried to fit a sapphire crystal,
the hands would bind on the crystal and the watch would stop. Mineral/sapphire
crystals didn't become popular until the 70's or 80's, so most round
vintage watches originally came with plastic crystals. Some of the
very early watches used glass crystals, especially in the fancy (non-round)
shapes.
There is no way
to properly fit a sapphire crystal onto a Rolex which originally came
with a plastic crystal, as the cases are designed specifically to
accept a plastic crystal. Any attempts to do so will result in a poor
fit and an unsealed watch.
Watch Winders
- There seem to be a lot of different opinions on the use of watch
winders. My opinion is as follows. The main issue with watch winders,
in my opinion, is wear and tear on the movements (especially in the
autowind section). I think you're better off not running your watches
if you're not going to wear them (although I think it's probably a
good idea to run them at least once every two weeks or so.) If you're
going to use a watch winder, it makes sense to run it for the minimum
amount of time to wind your watches, so as to minimize wear on the
movement. I don't recommend putting most vintage watches on a winder,
as finding replacement parts for a worn vintage watch can be difficult
and costly. Some movements, like the vintage Rolex bubbleback,
have early autowind mechanisms which are prone to wear. This is much
less of an issue with modern pieces. In short, I think watch
winders are probably OK for most modern watches, but probably aren't a
good idea for vintage pieces.
Watch Parts
- I do not sell watch parts outright. Of course, I will take care
of finding all necessary parts when I service your watch. If you have
a piece that someone else could not find parts for, you are welcome
to send the entire watch to me for servicing and I will take responsibility
for finding the correct parts and repairing the watch.
