Interesting thread; I have a 1998 Colt SuperOcean that I thought I might get tidied up and start wearing again. Cost me £600 back in the day at Zurich airport during a sale.
My quote? Just over £1800.
Its coming back to me and can live out its life in a drawer instead. Shame.
Originally Posted by DB9yeti
Coming from a Rolex perspective,I am shocked by some of these costs. Service costs are part of the luxury watch deal, but there are costs and taking the p**s. Is there an independent that deals with Breitling? It looks like they aren't a brand that Genesis repairs.
Dave
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Realising I may get utterly burned by this statement in 8 weeks time, I don't think they're *that* bad.
I think there's a difference between Service Costs, and 'Put it back to factory fresh' costs. In my case, the £571 bezel replacement falls into that category - nothing wrong with it, but as an option I can get the piece as close to New Watch Day as possible :) (not for me BTW, far too costly!)
I remember having an email exchange with the Ryte Time chap last year I think, his issue was parts supply. But then, if you look solely at the Maintenance Service costs, Breitling aren't that bad - replacement parts however seem to be rather pricey!
Not to big up Rolex, but the £450 cost does include refinishing if required. Parts clearly are extra, but yikes that bezel cost. My inset, obviously just this and not the whole bezel was about £35 plus vat
Dave
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It's more than a service; basically they are saying it's necessary to replace everything except the case and dial! Crown, crystal, bezel, hands and bracelet. I want it serviced and water proofed and would like the slack removed from the bezel spring but I don't think they're offering what I want.
I am not spending over a grand on a watch worth half that. It runs fine, it's never worn anyway so this state of affairs will simply continue.
Not sure whether the movement's an ETA 2824 or 2892 in the OP's watch. However, I`m amazed at the mechanical parts they're wishing to replace. Unless the balance staff is broken or in very poor condition (unlikely) I fail to see why the watch needs a new balance! Even then I`d expect the balance to be no more than £75. The train wheel bridge is easily damaged on a 2892 but only by careless handling whilst working on the watch. The only parts that can wear are the jewels, and usually they last virtually forever. As for the auto-winding, again I'm struggling to see why this part has to be replaced.
Seems very odd to me. I question how differently the watch will run with or without replacement of these parts. There are parts I can understand them choosing to replace, but not the stuff they've listed!
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 16th February 2017 at 19:07.
Well my colt GMT came back last week, £857.46. It's now as new and fully recovered from the drop. The second hand remains square which I was a bit worried about after reading they changed them to the newer style. Cost breakdown;
Complete service £345.85
Exchange of crystal £83.08
Exchange of middlecase £239.46
Exchange of crown £32.16
Shipping £15
VAT £142.91
That looks phenomenal :)Well my colt GMT came back last week, £857.46. It's now as new and fully recovered from the drop. The second hand remains square which I was a bit worried about after reading they changed them to the newer style. Cost breakdown;
Complete service £345.85
Exchange of crystal £83.08
Exchange of middlecase £239.46
Exchange of crown £32.16
Shipping £15
VAT £142.91
Was the timeframe accurate? I've been quoted 8 weeks but I'm eager to get it back.
It took about 10 weeks, but I did send it in December so the Christmas break probably added the extra couple of weeks. I'm seriously impressed with the service. In a way I'm pleased I dropped it.
Looks good. If you like the watch and wear it that's the main thing.Well my colt GMT came back last week, £857.46. It's now as new and fully recovered from the drop. The second hand remains square which I was a bit worried about after reading they changed them to the newer style. Cost breakdown;
Complete service £345.85
Exchange of crystal £83.08
Exchange of middlecase £239.46
Exchange of crown £32.16
Shipping £15
VAT £142.91
What's a 'middle case'? Is that the part with the case sides and the lugs or is it something internal e.g. movement spacer ring?
I believe the bit that houses the movement so inside the case.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...e0cbbf85e6.jpg
The 'middle case' is the main case, minus the caseback, bezel etc, so yes, it is the sides and lugs and normally, as a service item, will be complete with the case tube fitted but a chronograph will not have the pusher tubes fitted.
Christ. Also read around that servicing an Oris can be around £600. An Oris!
It wasn't that long ago someone said an Oris service was quite inexpensive compared to Breitling and others.
A bit off topic, but does anyone know how Omega compare to Breitling in servicing costs?
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You can find Omega's charges on their website. In my experience, Swatch UK in Southampton who do the UK servicing, are more pragmatic in approach than Breitling appear to have been on this thread; for instance they will attempt to sympathetically refurbish case and bracelet parts rather than automatically replace.
On one of my watches they commented upon scratches to the sapphire crystal (which I'd not noticed) but they didn't recommend replacing it. I had a steel bezel replaced at a cost of £125 but it was at my request as a previous owner had messed it up and badly polished it.
That's good then, I'm buying a new SMPc next week from my AD :)
Providing I like the Watch in the flesh, but I think I will.
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A recent service on an SMPC (that I saw for sale elsewhere) appears to be:
£260 + £52 VAT for a simple service (no parts)
£90 + £18 VAT for case and bracelet refurb.
Yep. My 2254 is in currently and will be over £400 for full service and case/bracelet refurb.
Did it never cross your mind to send it elsewhere? That's a lot of money to service one of these!
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 23rd February 2017 at 09:42.
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