Sell your Vintage Watch Rather than Service It

Watches Of Westminster offer  a fast vintage watch purchasing service in London so sell your vintage watch rather than service it.

Most people have some appreciation of how a mechanical ie non Quartz ( more on them later ) watch works but many people are caught out by the costs of a proper service on a vintage watch. 

How much is a proper service ?

Typically a full service on a vintage watch can be up to £600 assuming the watch does not need new parts ( if they are available ). If your vintage watch needs a lot of work then the price can be much higher,

How does a mechanical watch work ?

A spring turns a load of gears which makes the hands go round . Simple enough but then doesn’t your car have gears and don’t you have to have that serviced every year ( or more if your doing big mileages ) and if your car runs out of oil and you ignore the big red light on the dashboard ( a modern cars electronics  will actually shut its engine down down ) the engine will effectively destroy itself.

Now there is no big red light on your watch and most people don,t seem to know that their watch needs servicing. The fact is all watches need servicing. If you have just bought a £12,000 Cartier you might well be the kind of person who will bear this in mind.

 

The fact is most watches don’t get serviced.

When new and put together a watch will be very clean inside and properly oiled. Ie the gears and pivot points will have just the right amount of the right oil ( there are different kinds/thicknesses for different parts of the watch depending on the speed they are turning and the load they are carrying ). The main spring will also be lubricated ( not automatics ) . Slowly but surely this oil gradually dries out / moves away from where it is needed / become contaminated ( most watches actually breath air in and out of the case ( unless it is hermetically sealed like a divers watch ) as it heats up / cools down and the air pressure changes.

 

How do you know if your watch needs a service ?

 

Most of the watches I have bought as non or bad runners have just needed a service. If your watch is running badly ( normally slowly ) or erratically it will probably just need a service.

If it has stopped and wont run it may just need a service – don’t forget during the service the watchmaker will be looking for any other potential faults.

 

If you have been using the watch for 4 to 5 years then it will need a service.

 

Remember you should not be servicing a watch to mend it you should be servicing it to keep it running properly and for a long time into the future. A well maintained good quality watch will outlast you !

 

You therefore need to get the watch serviced . The basic service would involve taking the whole watch apart , putting the parts in a watch cleaning machine ( basically a pot with a paddle to stir the cleaning solution around ) . All the parts are dried various other bits are cleaned and inspected. If you doing the full monte you will replace the mainspring. The watch is then put back together with the correct oil and any new seals needed.

Now the watch is all fresh and clean it will need to be regulated ie set to run at the right speed. Some people complain that their expensive watch was not running as well after a service than before ( they are complaining about a few seconds a day ! ) but a complex and fine watch movement does ned to settle down and bed in.

 

So what if you don’t get your nicely running watch serviced.

The watch will slowly lose its lubrication which means the delicate parts inside will begin to grind against each other and the watch will wear out , run badly and eventually not work. Servicing will not always get it back into top condition. If the watch is left unwound in a drawer then not so bad , the oil will dry out and the watch will not run so well but a good clean / service will get it back to new.

 

Did you know 

The original watch oil was a whale product , after this became a unavailable source animals hoofs were used ( probably calves ) and later the swiss came up with a range of synthetic oils which were expensive and tended to dry up too quickly maning reduced servicing limits ie 2 years.

Heres a very good article on watch oiling  abbeyclock.com/oil

Heres my best advice

If you are reading this article and have a decent mechanical watch that you were not sure about keeping or selling then you need to consider the cost of servicing the watch and if it is just going to live in a drawer then selling it as is may well be the best way forward.

And Quartz Watches ?

Quartz timed mechanical watches ( as opposed to digital ) are somewhat simpler but they do have gears and pivot points plus the hand setting stem all of which need lubrication.

Batteries can also start to leak ( even whilst able to power the watch ) so a regular service and battery change is still a good idea if you want to keep the watch ( there are some very nice expensive quartz watches around)

If you want to sell any vintage watch irrespective of condition  and want to know what you can sell it for please visit our watch valuation page

Free Watch Valuation

You can also Whatsapp us on 07768316371 and we will give you a fast response.

Simon Whitelock January 13th, 2016

Posted In: Second Hand Watches