I was told 14 weeks turnaround a few days ago.
Anyone had any experience with Bremont servicing in recent months ? First time my MB2 has been serviced and I messed around sending it for months. Was quoted 12 weeks from initial diagnosis(that took 3-4 weeks longer)but was wondering how close to that they will get to that estimate…. Not in a great rush to get it back just genuinely curious how much longer I’ve got to wait.
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I was told 14 weeks turnaround a few days ago.
Certainly moving to the right then … my quote was approved early Jan and I’m hoping for Easter
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Invoice landed over the weekend so should be back with me next week hopefully. All in all watch landed with them on the 8th Dec .. so 17-18 weeks not sure how this compares to other brands and this isn’t a complaint about Bremont at all I’m just genuinely curious
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Omega is currently taking around 6 months to turn around a service. Early September to mid March for me dropping off and then collecting.
Bremont have been advertising for a watchmaker for a while, and I've no idea just how many watchmakers are out there and are being trained. Given watchmaking is listed as critically endangered by The Heritage Crafts Association and training new watchmakers seems challenging (on top of all the games the big players seem to be playing with parts access) it doesn't surprise me brands are struggling to keep up.
Combine that with ongoing supply chain headaches, it's no wonder things take forever.
As I recall you either work or used to work in engineering? If you do you'll know that Covid is far from over and that's what people in the UK still struggle to understand. A large proportion of products we use are either manufactured or use raw materials from the Far East and they are struggling with Covid, in a way that we were a year or two ago. I'm not saying that's anything to do with Bremonts service time but despite your anti Bremont stance, there could be a very good reason for the long service time. I've seen plenty of posts on this forum about massively long service times from other manufacturers to know that it's not unusual.
If I live in the uk and buy a watch that’s made in the uk I’d expect the service to take a lot less than the OP has experienced. Bremont aren’t cheap so they should look after their customers imho. I’m not bashing Bremont - but I am bashing that kind of time frame for a simple service. Ludicrous imho.
My watch is at Omega for work and they've quoted 26 weeks minimum. I was astounded but that's the way it appears to be now and they are the only ones who will work on it so I have little choice.
The watch industry must be the only one that isn't suffering. All of our associates (and ourselves) are seeing shortages of one kind of another, in many cases purely raw material ingredients.
As someone else has just posted, Omega are quoting 26 weeks so there's something affecting the watch industry?
You'll notice that everything I post is factual and usually calling out non factual posts. I do find your negativity towards my post quite curious, yet purely negative posts about Bremont you support. Says a lot.
One thing I do is support British engineering. Pity that others don't.
You have anyone in mind?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I don’t believe parts scarcity is the root cause of lengthy service delays, it’s far more likely to be lack of capacity due to lack of watchmakers.
The independent repair trade has been hit hard by the crazy decisions to restrict parts availability, so it’s hardly surprising that watch repairing isn’t seen as a lucrative career choice!
Prices for servicing continue to rise and the delays lengthen. Having virtually forced owners to deal with their own service centres the manufacturers can’t deliver, yet the restriction on parts supply was supposedly to benefit owners! It makes no sense, it should not be necessary to return a watch to the manufacturer or their service centre for work, yet that’s the situation that owners are being forced to accept.
As for Bremont, I admire some aspects of what they’ve created although I’ve yet to see a watch that I personally find appealing. The marketing and brand image thing leaves me cold, all the aeroplane story shit does nothing for me.
I was quoted 3 months for a warranty repair on an Omega via WOS boutique, got it back with 5 weeks
They did say that was due to it being a repair and not a routine service, as they are prioritising warranty claims
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It’s not the easiest game to get into though is it. Unless they pay well.
Based in Henley must also be a struggle for recruiting.
Last edited by Middo; 12th April 2023 at 17:20.
I got into it after taking early retirement at 52, it works for me as a hobby that makes a profit but I can’t imagined doing it as a career. I’ve no idea what a firm like Bremont would be prepared to pay someone, but their location doesn’t help, its an expensive area to relocate to and that will be a deal- breaker for some folks. Posting their service jobs out to someone might be a better option than trying to employ someone full- time.
if that is the case then why are service times being extended significantly? Unless watchmakers are leaving in their droves or the number of watches being sent for servicing is rapidly increasing, surely the service time will stay more or less the same?
in Bremonts case I could imagine (but don't know) that it might be because after major investment, the brand must be pushing sales harder and may be there are more watches to deal with? That wouldn't account for Omegas service times though, you'd expect a brand with their history and backing to be more prepared?
I totally agree with your point about where Bremont HQ is. It's a beautiful building in a beautiful area but also a very costly building in a very costly area. Most people in the south seem to think nothing of commuting but I was a bit surprised when they centred their engineering around Henley rather than Silverstone where it was originally partly based, purely from a logistical point of view.
I brought a Rolex into Goldsmiths 20th of Jan for service. They were quoting 13 weeks iirc. Not had return date confirmed, but hoping for the end of April.
By the sounds of it the struggle for skilled people is real
Doesn't surprise me if there is a shortage of watchmakers. I was curious about salaries and considering its a specialist job requiring extensive degree level study and training, the salaries seemed pretty low to me.
Happy to report watch land back safely .. can't fault the delivery arrived next day after i paid the invoice which was very low considering what they did and an extra 2 years warranty....subconsciously i think the orange case ring looks a little darker than previous but im putting that down to 'newness' plus a new case as well... overall happy despite the long delay .... thanks to all that contributed
How much is a Bremont service these days, roughly? I've got a Jaguar mk II that's about 5 years old. I don't wear it very often but it's stopped working completely.
I was lucky as my quote landed before their policy change so I got the case and bezel swapped for £375 along with the service … I was very fortunate
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