Watch Repair/Service Estimate

[thewarlock]

I have a Hamilton Ventura Elvis80.

Had it 4 years, it's honestly probably only been worn 20 or 30 times in those 4 years.

Couple of weeks ago I noticed it had stopped, so went onto the Hamilton website, and typed in my details to have them send me a pre-paid insured packet to post it to them to sort it.

Only when you receive this, do they tell you that after the work has been carried out, they'll charge you £18 to post it back to you, but it turns out that's a drop in the ocean.

I've received their estimate today, and:

"Due to the current condition of the movement a full service is required to restore to working order"

£135, plus the £18 P&P.

It is what it is, I don't really have much of a choice, but is it just me that thinks that's a bit ridiculous for a barely worn 4 year old watch, that probably wasn't even 10x that price new?

Or is that pretty standard?

[shambolic]

That’s cheap. Try a submariner. Or even an omega seamaster bought at £2.7k with a £400 service.
It’s all relative tbh.

[Cotty]

shambolic said:

That’s cheap. Try a submariner. Or even an omega seamaster bought at £2.7k with a £400 service.
It’s all relative tbh.

Yep my Tag Carerra was £350

[andy tims]

Current price for Rolex to service a Sub is what £700?

However 4 years is quite a short service interval. Have you had it from new? Have you worn the watch daily? Could moisture have got into the movement?

[the-norseman]

£135 is decent.

[Fitz666]

MY Speedmaster was over £500

[CoupeKid]

Sounds reasonable. Think how much your hourly rate is and then how long it'll take to disassemble, clean, reassemble and test a mechanical watch. Watchmakers need a reasonable salary. Then add in overheads and a markup.

By contrast my local jeweller's watchmaker quoted £216 to service my Schuhren and he wasn't able to do it because he couldn't get the movement out of the case. I've had to contact the original watchmaker via LinkedIn for advice. Long story...

[21st Century Man]

Think yourself lucky OP, as whilst infuriating, the numbers are at least small.

My Omega packed up whilst under warranty, but both me and the AD didn't realise that my model had a 4yr warranty and not the usual 3yr warranty, so I was told it was out of (3yr) warranty and the only option was a service at my expense, which I passed on. Some time later I discovered it was actually under (4yr) warranty at the time, but by then the warranty had expired. Was basically told tough tittie. I had it fixed/serviced by Omega at £840. It came back fixed, but with other new issues, including marks and dirt behind the glass, a really stiff pusher, noisy rotor and a misaligned pointer. On a purchase and service sample of one, I conclude that Omega are st and their AD's have limited product knowledge (regarding the warranty period) and didn't even check properly. Bitter? You bet I am. The most expensive and only premium watch I've ever bought and it's been beyond st.

[bazza.]

That sounds way to cheap as even on Hamiltons website its says a full service starts from £210

[Geertsen]

thewarlock said:

I have a Hamilton Ventura Elvis80.

Had it 4 years, it's honestly probably only been worn 20 or 30 times in those 4 years.

Couple of weeks ago I noticed it had stopped, so went onto the Hamilton website, and typed in my details to have them send me a pre-paid insured packet to post it to them to sort it.

Only when you receive this, do they tell you that after the work has been carried out, they'll charge you £18 to post it back to you, but it turns out that's a drop in the ocean.

I've received their estimate today, and:

"Due to the current condition of the movement a full service is required to restore to working order"

£135, plus the £18 P&P.

It is what it is, I don't really have much of a choice, but is it just me that thinks that's a bit ridiculous for a barely worn 4 year old watch, that probably wasn't even 10x that price new?

Or is that pretty standard?

Is it a mechanical watch? Or quartz? It would be surprising for a 4 year old mechanical watch to not run at all.

[105.4]

I’ve just had a few of mine serviced, all old mechanicals and automatics.

Copy of the invoice below to give you some idea. Personally I think that your quoted price of £135 sounds reasonable.

[105.4]

Fitz666 said:

MY Speedmaster was over £500

Same for my Pasha Chronograph, but it was 10 years old by that point and had never been serviced.

[bazza.]

At my place we would charge you £225 for are auto service
130 sounds to cheap, I'm guessing its just an auto module service this is the part which sends the
power fro the rotor, I did one today from a submariner

Edited by bazza. on Saturday 19th August 09:26

[Geertsen]

bazza. said:

At my place we would charge you £225 for are auto service
130 sounds to cheap, I'm guessing its just an auto module service this is the part which sends the
power fro the rotor, I did one today from a submarine

That sounds cheap too, I’d expect a service on a submarine to much higher, what with the nuclear reactor and everything!

[bazza.]

Geertsen said:

That sounds cheap too, I’d expect a service on a submarine to much higher, what with the nuclear reactor and everything!

Lol it was an older non nuclear model

[johnsmith222]

As those have said above, £135 is a great price to have a mechanical watch serviced by the manufacturer!

I can understand why someone who doesn't know much about watches might not expect these costs though.

I also admit I have some watches which need serviced but I can't justify paying to service them because I don't use them, but they also have sentimental value that I'd never part with them.

There's one watch I do wear (Orient Ray) which will likely cost me more than the watch is worth to get it serviced, and I fully plan on doing this when needed.