Watch Repair Shop
If you own a quality watch, whether having bought it yourself or received it as a gift, you’ll want to take good care when having it repaired for any reason. The watches we own often have huge financial, sentimental, technological and artistic value. The amount of design, craftsmanship and technological innovation that goes into the production of great watch is astonishing, which is why you should only use the services of repair companies with the requisite expertise.
Choices
Whether your watch is a vintage or a recent model, you will typically face a range of options when having it repaired. While there are many repair organisations who operate online, many of us understandably prefer to use the services of a shop, where we can communicate with the people responsible for the service in person.
Specialists
There are many watch repair shops up and down the country, and a quick search on the Internet should bring up those that are local to you. In many cases, a watch repair shop will specialise in a particular sector of the watch repair business, whether it’s certain types of watch, e.g. mechanical as opposed to quartz, or indeed certain brands.
Brand
The first issue to consider if you’re looking to use the services of a watch repair shop, is whether they have the expertise required to attend to your particular timepiece. For this reason, ask the shop what their experience is with your watch’s brand, and find out how well placed they are to deal with it specifically. Many of the major watch brands have authorised service centres where the watch makers have been certified by them as having the skills and knowledge to service and repair their watches, so it’s worth checking this out.
Parts
Depending on what the situation is with your own particular watch, it’s also worth checking what a shop will do if there are parts needing replaced. In many cases they will have access to the official parts manufactured for the brand in question if they are still in production. If the parts required are no longer being manufactured, find out what the shop proposes to do. In some cases they will have the expertise in house to actually manufacture the parts for you, but if the watch is extremely valuable, for example an older model, you will want to think very carefully about having this done.
Credentials
As well as finding out about the credentials of a watch repair shop, which you may be able to do online, see if you can find out about other people’s experience of using them if possible. Some of the watch repair shops have memberships of horological and timekeeping organisations, which is naturally a good sign regarding their knowledge of and respect for watch making technology.
A good shop will be able to give you information about their repair staff, which in many cases will be watch makers. Find out what sort of experience and skills they have before leaving your watch with them.
