Swatch Group parts supply

[Variomatic]

This is a bit of a hot topic amongst repairers at the moment but it also has the potential to affect owners a little further down the line, so figured it's worth sharing here.

It's been announced that, as of Dec 2015, Swatch Group will no longer be supplying ANY parts for their watches outside their official repair network and "approved" independents.

Part of approval as an independent is that Swatch will dictate your pricing - hardly independent by any meaningful standard! That effectively means that "real" independents will be prevented from taking on any jobs that require parts.

Given the number of watches using ETA movements that's an awful lot of owners who'll have no choice but to swallow the makers' service prices, even as the watches age. If the makers decide that they don't want to support older models then they'll be heading for the scrap bin.

When the car industry tried similar tactics over servicing and warranties, the EU stepped in and found it illegal. In the case of Swatch they initially decided that (a) there's no "separate market" in independent repairs - if we don't exist we can't be affected (!!!) and (b) there's no community interest because the market isn't big enough to matter. That was successfully challenged but they've set an open-ended timescale to investigate so the restrictioons will probably slip through and become established fact before they make a decision.

One of the likely knock on effects of this is that the market for used watches will suffer badly. Many buyers of used watches have a tame indie who they're happy to use, and don't want to pay the extra for dealer servicing - would you buy a 6 year car if you knew that you <i>had</i> to swallow main stealer pricing on servicing? While the servicing issue may not directly affect many of the posters here, the inevitable knock on resale values as people choose not to buy will do.

Just something to keep in mind as you're thinking of pulling the trigger on that new watch in the certain knowledge that it'll be an easy sale a few years down the line....

[michael gould]

So the moral of the story is .........don't buy a watch with an ETA movement in..........I've been advocating that advise for years !

[andy_s]

Out of 20 or so watches I think I've managed to avoid ETA altogether.

[michael gould]

andy_s said:

Out of 20 or so watches I think I've managed to avoid ETA altogether.

I wish I could say the same

[Variomatic]

NeMiSiS said:

Patented parts will become readily available, similar to BluePrint parts for the automotive motor factors industry, probably cheaper and superior in quality, so relax.

I hope the SwatchGroup hierarchy get bitten on their ar5es and end up applying for work at Elizabeth Duke.

For some of the more popular parts movements that's probably the case. But it certainly won't cover the entire inventory of what might be needed. It also won't cover brand specific parts like crowns, crystals and so on.

Currently, if you lose the crown or crack the crystal on your Seamaster you have two choices. Send it to Omega - who will insist on servicing and present you with a several hundred pound bill 8 weeks later for the honour, or take it to an indie who'll order the part, fit it, and have the watch back with you within a week. Cost will probably be around 10 - 15% of the Omega service.

A good indie will obviously inspect the watch first to ensure it hasn't got filled with water / dust / glass chips but they won't usually insist on servicing "just in case".

Pattern crystals already exist because many people don't really care about the almost invisible Omega symbol on the genuines, but pattern crowns will never be branded becase of trademark rules and many people won't be happy with that. That's already the case with Rolex, where excellent quality pattern parts have been available for years. But even Rolex has eased up on the "no parts" policy over the past couple of years - their prices for original parts are obscene - I can now get original crowns at around £180 [ii]cost[/i] price - but at least I can get them!

I obviously have a vested interest in how this develops, and I hope you're right that Swatch Group brands will suffer in the long term because of it. I'd prefer that the EU actually did something for a change and stamped on it - like they did with car makers - before it happens, but that's seeming increasingly unlikely.

[GC8]

The whole debacle is a disgrace. How can the Swiss competition commission allow one manufacturer to abuse its position in this way?

Restricting repair parts shows that they are abusing their position. Swatch should be forced to sell ETA as this is nothing to do with capacity and everything to do with manipulation.

They also make most of the hairsprings used in the Swiss watch industry, so everyone will be fked when they pull that plug.

[Riff Raff]

Up until now, we've been focussing on Europe in this thread. What's the position in the US? Will I still be able to get branded Omega parts from someone like Otto Frei? I'd have thought that the'd take a much more robust stance over competition issues in The Land of The Free.

[Variomatic]

Riff Raff said:

Up until now, we've been focussing on Europe in this thread. What's the position in the US? Will I still be able to get branded Omega parts from someone like Otto Frei? I'd have thought that the'd take a much more robust stance over competition issues in The Land of The Free.

No you won't.

It's a global policy change and parts will only be supplied directly to their authorised repairers. All wholesale agreements worldwide will be stopped.

[SVS]

So what to owners of non-Swatch brand watches do, if their watch uses an ETA movement? If your IWC needs its ETA movement servicing, will you have to send it to a Swatch service centre, instead of an IWC AD?

[sad61t]

But Switzerland are not an EU member, so I'm not sure the EU could exert the same control as they did over the German/French automotive companies.

[Variomatic]

SVS said:

So what to owners of non-Swatch brand watches do, if their watch uses an ETA movement? If your IWC needs its ETA movement servicing, will you have to send it to a Swatch service centre, instead of an IWC AD?

Presumably they'll "authorise" other makers who use their movements, so ou'll be tied into that brand's service network.

sad61t said:

But Switzerland are not an EU member, so I'm not sure the EU could exert the same control as they did over the German/French automotive companies.

They're not an EU member, but they do participate in the EEA through bilateral agreements so are expected to play ball as if they were a memnber.

Besides that, as with car makers, the EU is perfectly entitled to set requirements regarding products sold within the EU. Most car makers aren't based in the EU but, faced with the option of opening up their warranty practices or not selling cars in Europe, they suddenly found that independent garages were capable of changing oil and filters after all.

[Variomatic]

Well, as expeced, the EU has now closed its investigation into this wih a finding that what the manufacturers plan is in no way anti-competetive

The effect to watch owners is that the following brands, at least, will be going ahead wih a complete block of spare parts from Dec 2015. So, if you own one of these, you'll be paying dealer repair prices or nothing some time after that once stocks run out.

• Omega (Restriction Announced for Dec. 2015)

• Tissot (Restriction Announced for Dec. 2015)

• Certina (Restriction Announced for Dec. 2015)

• Longines (Restriction Announced for Dec. 2015)

• Blancpain (No date announced, expect Dec. 2015)

• Calvin Klein - (Restriction Announced for Dec. 2015)

• Frederic Piguet (Termination announced for 2015)


Might be worth factoring into your future buying plans, guys, for your own maintenance costs and he likely knock-on to resale values. Many second or third owners really don't want to be tied to £400+ servicing.

Also remember that, once they control the only way to get spares / repairs, it's fair to expect dealer repair prices to rise!