Watch service southern Engalnd

[Beachbum]

Anyone know of a decent place to get a watch serviced in southern England. Its nothing complex, Marathon CSAR, so a 7750 movement. I know about Variomatic in Angelsy, but want someone close, so that I can drop off/pick up easier.

Any suggestions ?

[CardShark]

The guy that builds Lorne's Offshore Professional is in Ealing, that's an ETA 7750 watch.

https://marinechronometer.co.uk/index.php/developm...

[CATD8H]

CardShark said:

The guy that builds Lorne's Offshore Professional is in Ealing, that's an ETA 7750 watch.

https://marinechronometer.co.uk/index.php/developm...

+1 for Darious..Did one for me, good job.

[Beachbum]

Not far enough south
Was hoping for somewhere, Southamton, Basingstoke, Swindon area.

Any other suggestions ?

[tobinen]

If you can wait a few months then The Watch Bloke near Reading

[Beachbum]

tobinen said:

If you can wait a few months then The Watch Bloke near Reading

Unfortunately not. Watch has suddenly lost all its power reserve. Used to be close to 40hrs, now down to less than 5hrs. Desperately needs a service and a look at what is causing the loss of reserve

[mikeveal]

Try Cephas Mckeough in Anglesea Road, Shirley, Southampton.
His shop doesn't look like much, but he is good.

[nikaiyo2]

Carter Marsh in Winchester used to repair watches onsite, not 100% sure they do.

Robin James in Portsmouth, Rolex authorised service centre, but be warned one of the blokes there is very odd.

[hp7]

Deacons of Swindon have their own workshop. AD for Rolex, Tudor and others.

A good family owned business.

[Lorne]

CATD8H said:

CardShark said:

The guy that builds Lorne's Offshore Professional is in Ealing, that's an ETA 7750 watch.

https://marinechronometer.co.uk/index.php/developm...

+1 for Darious..Did one for me, good job.

+2 for Darius.... Learned his trade on ETA movements and is excellent at dismantling a 7750 and rebuilding it as the slightly improved 775M2 I use. He's on holiday for August though so won't be answering his phone until the end of the month. (Not sure he ever answers emails)

[JoeBolt]

nikaiyo2 said:

Robin James in Portsmouth, Rolex authorised service centre, but be warned one of the blokes there is very odd.

I've been in there to drop off a watch and know exactly who you mean, but I'm not sure what he does exactly. I remember one of the other employees telling him, in no uncertain terms, to 'shut the hell up' because nobody else could be heard.

When I went back to collect the unfixed watch, it was like the local social club in there. Shop full of 'customers' all talking and shouting over each other but seeming not doing any business. An environment hardly conducive to the intricate work of watch repair!

I didn't have a satisfactory experience with Robin James. I was told they'd never be able to find parts for my Poljot 3133 and it wasn't worth fixing. Another repairer had it running a few weeks later. It needed an adjustment to the chronograph depthing and some cleaning and lubrication. 5 years later it still keeps pretty good time.

[nikaiyo2]

JoeBolt said:

I've been in there to drop off a watch and know exactly who you mean, but I'm not sure what he does exactly. I remember one of the other employees telling him, in no uncertain terms, to 'shut the hell up' because nobody else could be heard.

When I went back to collect the unfixed watch, it was like the local social club in there. Shop full of 'customers' all talking and shouting over each other but seeming not doing any business. An environment hardly conducive to the intricate work of watch repair!

I didn't have a satisfactory experience with Robin James. I was told they'd never be able to find parts for my Poljot 3133 and it wasn't worth fixing. Another repairer had it running a few weeks later. It needed an adjustment to the chronograph depthing and some cleaning and lubrication. 5 years later it still keeps pretty good time.

Lol, when asking the price for a service, the “odd” guy demanded I told him what movement was in my Seamaster, not in a nice way. Literally “how can I give you a price if you do t know what movement is in it...” Another guy basically told him to shut up and go away.

I think the odd guy is... Robin James

[ecain63]

hp7 said:

Deacons of Swindon have their own workshop. AD for Rolex, Tudor and others.

A good family owned business.

One of my employees used to work at Deacons as a silversmith back in the day. They do indeed service high end watches but are quite heavy in the price department.

[JoeBolt]

nikaiyo2 said:

JoeBolt said:

I've been in there to drop off a watch and know exactly who you mean, but I'm not sure what he does exactly. I remember one of the other employees telling him, in no uncertain terms, to 'shut the hell up' because nobody else could be heard.

When I went back to collect the unfixed watch, it was like the local social club in there. Shop full of 'customers' all talking and shouting over each other but seeming not doing any business. An environment hardly conducive to the intricate work of watch repair!

I didn't have a satisfactory experience with Robin James. I was told they'd never be able to find parts for my Poljot 3133 and it wasn't worth fixing. Another repairer had it running a few weeks later. It needed an adjustment to the chronograph depthing and some cleaning and lubrication. 5 years later it still keeps pretty good time.

Lol, when asking the price for a service, the “odd” guy demanded I told him what movement was in my Seamaster, not in a nice way. Literally “how can I give you a price if you do t know what movement is in it...” Another guy basically told him to shut up and go away.

I think the odd guy is... Robin James

I assumed he is perhaps the son of Robin James (Robin Jr.) or another relative. I thinks he's 'employed' just so he can be kept in check, off the streets and out of trouble. I remember he was wearing a big shiny Rolex, chunky rings and bracelets. Hopefully they take it all off him before he leaves the premises. There are some dodgy people in Pompey!

[bonerp]

I dropped my Albatros into Iles in Swindon (by the tented market) as Deacons didn't want to touch it and they sent it to Omega in Bien who came up with a repair quote which was more than I paid for it!!! Then cost me £20 to get it back!!! Simple repair from what I understand so hoping Iles can sort it....will update further! He seems to know watches and well renowned

[Beachbum]

So as to give everyone the outcome on this
Tried a local watch repair shop in Bournemouth, seemed OK, staff were knowledgeable and would take a look at the required work and quote, prior to commencing the repair. They warned me they were busy and that the quote could be 3-4 weeks. 3.5 weeks later, quote came in at £700+ !!!

Sod that I thought, one I dont have that amount of money and 2 it seemed a tad steep for what I thought might be some fairly simple work. They quoted that it required parts replaced, etc.

Contacted Anglesey Watches, Joe was easy to talk to and once I explained the problem with the watch was happy for me to send it to him. He also forewarned me he was busy and it would be a couple of weeks before he could get to it.
2 weeks later, I called him up and yep all fixed. Minor issue with a small amount of dirt on one of the cogs. That will be £50 sir. Now bear in mind thats £50, including the cost of posting it back to me and the price in comparison to the earlier quote is close to 20 times more.

So for those thinking of getting a watch serviced/repaired, my suggestion is, avoid a watch repairer in Bournemouth, and use Anglesey Watches/Joe