Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put quart

[Circe]

ARGH ARGH ARGH.

I've known this guy for 20 years, my dad's known him for longer: I know he's generally very good. That's why I brought him my two vintage platinum watches to clean and tighten ... the french-cut Hamilton ran great, but I hadn't had it cleaned since I bought it, and after a year, I figured it was time, and the Glycine was new to me, about 100 years old, and running ten minutes behind. He told me it was no big, it'd take two weeks ....

... and now, six weeks later, after I hound him, he finally says, oh, yeah, I couldn't get the part I needed. So I ask him to just put it back the way it was, and he says he can't ... now it doesn't run at all.

He wants to put in a quartz movement. He says he'll give me the original movement back ... I assume I can look for someone to fix it at my leisure, then, and have it put back? But I know bubkiss about watches ... help?

 

[vintagelover229]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

I'm so sorry to hear this!

I know that Jonathan at GOG has a really amazing guy he works with-might reach out to them?

I had terrible luck with my watch-paid 250.00 for it to be cleaned/serviced and got it and it didn't run. Got a refund on that-paid another 250.00 to someone else-it ran for less than 2 months (1 yr warranty but I wasn't in the same country) and so that wasn't an option. Sent it to JBEG and had to pay ANOTHER 250.00 for them to get it all running by their guy-and now I assume its running again bc they are now selling it.

Had I not had so many issues (I didn't wear it often either) I would have been more keen on keeping the beauty-but after over half the cost of the watch in serving it in less than 1 year of ownership I had enough. So bye bye my beauty went. Sad day too since i spent 4 years searching for the perfect vintage watch. Oh well-my twin bypass ring has kept me company and it doesn't need any servicing!

That being said he should have been honest with you right away. Esp. considering how long you've known him!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

I am sorry to hear that, Circe. I guess the upside is that quartz is better than a watch that will never run again. I'd probably just save the original movement and wear it with the quartz.

 

[Circe]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

I'm so sorry to hear this!

I know that Jonathan at GOG has a really amazing guy he works with-might reach out to them?

I had terrible luck with my watch-paid 250.00 for it to be cleaned/serviced and got it and it didn't run. Got a refund on that-paid another 250.00 to someone else-it ran for less than 2 months (1 yr warranty but I wasn't in the same country) and so that wasn't an option. Sent it to JBEG and had to pay ANOTHER 250.00 for them to get it all running by their guy-and now I assume its running again bc they are now selling it.

Had I not had so many issues (I didn't wear it often either) I would have been more keen on keeping the beauty-but after over half the cost of the watch in serving it in less than 1 year of ownership I had enough. So bye bye my beauty went. Sad day too since i spent 4 years searching for the perfect vintage watch. Oh well-my twin bypass ring has kept me company and it doesn't need any servicing!

That being said he should have been honest with you right away. Esp. considering how long you've known him!

Thanks, VL - for the sympathy, and for the suggestion! The watch you've got with JBEG is amazingly beautiful ... it was one of the ones that got me looking for my own and started me down the rabbit hole! But I can see how $500 frustrating dollars in service fees can interfere with one's pleasure. I've owned old watches all my life (most of them serviced by this guy!) and this is the first time something like this has happened to me, so I'm just flabbergasted. I can see how it gets harder as the watch gets older - like yours, I think, mine is circe 1900, and the mechanism is tiny compared to modern ones, but, still. I wish he'd just told me he couldn't do it.

I'm supposed to go and pick it up on Wednesday, and tentatively gave him permission to put in the quartz movement, on the assumption I can put the mechanical movement back once I find somebody else to fix it. I am, however, deeply curious as to whether he's going to charge me for breaking my watch.

 

[Circe]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

I am sorry to hear that, Circe. I guess the upside is that quartz is better than a watch that will never run again. I'd probably just save the original movement and wear it with the quartz.

Thanks, DS - that does seem like the sensible thing to do, and I've taken your advice. I appreciate it! I just always feel bad when a vintage thing comes into my possession and I'm the one to break it. Like, it survived for over a century until - dum-dum-dum! - it crossed paths with CIRCE.

 

[JulieN]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

Oh, NO, such bad luck you've had! Is there not a mechanical movement that will fit?

 

[perry]

Re: Watch guy broke vintage Glycine movement, wants to put q

Unless he told you up front that he did not know if he could fix it - and could not guarantee results; then I believe that it is up to the repairman who further damaged your watch to at least identify someone who can in fact fix it properly, and forward it to them with no charges to you - and his deepest apologies.

The better service people know when they are in over their head. I remember my mother contacting the local piano tuner/repair person to look at our family piano: The local guy took one look at the piano and stated that while he could tune it he would not attempt any repairs and that we should contact a specific person in Madison as he was one of two people in the state of Wisconsin who was really qualified to repair that level of quality piano (the other was in Milwaukee). I have since experienced other people who did the same. The Madison repairman came out - and then spent about a week crafting the repair pieces (from scratch). It was not cheap, but, repairing the few keys that did not work brought new life to that piano. Having them work the same and flawlessly - priceless.

But of course I too have a watch that was butcher repaired by a local jeweler just by using after-market generic parts instead of ordering the "expensive" OEM parts (which were available) - or sending the watch to the OEM's repair station in the US.

Hope that helps,

Perry