A high-quality watch should be serviced at regular intervals. Otherwise, you risk malfunctions, damage and – especially with fine luxury watches – a significant loss of value. In practice, however, even passionate watch enthusiasts often underestimate this risk. This article explains why such a service is necessary and how it differs from a watch repair.
The Safety Inspection for Your Watch
Almost everyone in Germany knows that a car has to undergo the so-called general inspection and emissions test at TÜV or another testing organization every two years. Vehicle owners who fail to meet this obligation risk hefty fines and may also expose themselves and others to unnecessary danger. After all, safety defects that go undetected can lead to accidents. What is less well known, however, is that timepieces should also undergo a careful technical inspection on a regular basis.
This applies in particular to a fine mechanical luxury watch whose owner wants to keep it in good condition for as long as possible. The potential losses in value that servicing helps prevent are caused by deteriorating water resistance, increasing deviations in rate or the failure of complications.
Why Is Watch Servicing Necessary?
A mechanical timepiece is an extremely complex device that is expected to do its job continuously, over very long periods and with the utmost precision. Yet even though the technology inside the movement is designed for long, trouble-free operation, it is subject to constant wear, just like any other mechanical system.
Regular maintenance and care are therefore essential in order to detect and remedy any signs of wear at an early stage.
Things should never reach the point where serious damage occurs or the watch's precise functions can no longer be guaranteed. The most common problems that regular maintenance can eliminate – but that otherwise pose a long-term threat to the watch's function – are contamination and the depletion of lubricating oil, up to the point where it dries out completely.
When the latter happens, watchmakers say the movement is running dry. This must be avoided at all costs, because otherwise various parts inside the movement grind against each other. The jewel bearings are particularly at risk, as running dry can cause irreversible damage to them.
When Should a Watch Be Serviced?
Unlike with a car, the recommended service intervals for a watch are considerably longer. Generally speaking, experts recommend having a fine mechanical watch serviced roughly every five to seven years. In certain cases, such as dive watches, where water resistance plays a major role, more frequent servicing may be necessary – every three years, for example.
How Can You Tell Your Watch Needs a Check-Up?
If the watch starts running somewhat slow, or even stops despite having been fully wound, then action is urgently required: your masterpiece should be sent in for servicing immediately to avoid serious damage and an unnecessarily expensive watch repair. Ideally, however, your timepiece will still be running with its usual precision and without any issues at the time of servicing.
In that case, a few weeks sooner or later won't make any difference.
Where Should Your Watch Be Serviced?
In theory, any suitably qualified master watchmaker can carry out a watch service and, if necessary, a watch repair. Fine mechanical watches, however, should only be taken to an authorized dealer of the respective brand for maintenance and care. Although servicing there often costs a little more than at another watchmaker's workshop, you can rely on the watchmaker performing the service having particularly detailed expertise in the brand and its individual models.
Another important reason to entrust servicing and any necessary repairs only to an authorized dealer is the warranty. Warranty claims against the manufacturer may be voided if the watch is not handled properly or is overhauled or repaired in an "unauthorized" workshop.
One of the manufacturers that takes this issue particularly seriously is the luxury watch manufacture Rolex. As a rule, its watches are not serviced by individual authorized dealers but are, without exception, sent to the company's headquarters, where they are completely overhauled. This gives the manufacturer maximum control over the quality and care of the work performed while also preventing the spread of counterfeit parts, which may be cheaper to obtain but are of lower quality than genuine parts.
What Does a Watch Service Involve?
During a professional service, the watch is always completely disassembled into its individual components. Each part is first cleaned and then carefully inspected for signs of wear. If a particular part is too worn or even damaged, it is replaced.
The amount of work involved in a watch service varies and depends heavily on how many components the watch contains and which complications it features.
It stands to reason that servicing a simple two- or three-hand model with manual winding takes less time than overhauling a self-winding chronograph that may also feature an elaborate calendar function or other complications. When the watch is reassembled, all bearing points are freshly lubricated or oiled with various lubricants.
A professional service by a renowned luxury watch manufacturer usually also includes polishing out minor scratches on the case, the clasp and – where applicable – the metal bracelet. Finally, the watch undergoes testing and a final inspection. Particularly important here is fine regulation, which today is usually carried out with electronic measuring equipment.
For certified chronometers, such as many Omega Seamaster watches or the Breitling Navitimer, accuracy is then checked in several different positions, which takes several days.
Water Resistance – Subject to Special Testing
Water resistance is a hallmark of quality in many luxury watches and an absolute prerequisite for dive watches to function. For these watches, a water resistance test is therefore a standard part of every service. However, it may also become necessary in between – after a watch repair, for example.
During the test, the watch is subjected to the appropriate test pressure.
If the test reveals deficiencies in water resistance, gaskets that may have become unusable due to damage or material aging are replaced, and the tests are then repeated.
Especially for dive watches used regularly for professional or recreational diving, water resistance should be tested at regular, shorter intervals, independently of any service that may be due. If, however, you wear your dive watch mainly for fashion or aesthetic reasons and don't use it in the water, this isn't strictly necessary, of course.
How Much Does a Watch Service Cost?
The cost of a thorough service to the manufacturer's standards should not be underestimated. It can easily run to several hundred euros.
This is particularly true of mechanical luxury watches with numerous complications and a correspondingly large number of components. However, that should be no reason to forgo regular maintenance and care of your wristwatch. After all, if a watch repair eventually becomes necessary because servicing was neglected, the resulting costs will very likely be considerably higher.
What's more, a luxury watch that isn't regularly overhauled loses considerable value once it stops functioning properly and shows increasing signs of wear on the outside as well.
