Reply With QuoteBack at a time when I only had a quartz chrono, i let a noname but in Switzerland located watch shop replace battery... well they messed it up. You guys are brave sending expensive watches just like that to repair shops :-)
Haha, come on his horological tool kit comprised of some glue and a dinner knife, it was never going to be lesson with George Daniels, what a muppet.Originally Posted by TimeOut
Back at a time when I only had a quartz chrono, i let a noname but in Switzerland located watch shop replace battery... well they messed it up. You guys are brave sending expensive watches just like that to repair shops :-)
Perhaps this is a fake Seamaster and this guy is doing it to wind us lot up!
He actually says "the danger is, you don't want to damage the watch" just having attacked it a couple of times with a butter knife.
I'd love to see his bracelet re-sizing video.
Last edited by Mr Tetley; 7th September 2016 at 14:35.
That is truly disturbing. Poor watch
I shouldn't laugh but that video is unbelievable.
He has no control over the watch or the knife.
And he thinks he's brilliant !!
Oh man....!!
Butter knife, clumsy as hell, never mind damaging the watch the blade comes very close a couple of times of going into his thumb!
Then the 'original' £12 bezel from eBay needs to be superglued in?
Apart from the number of scratches he must have put into the case and bracelet, he obviously doesn't realise that superglue is not waterproof, so what use is it as an adhesive on a Seamaster!!
Watching that video made me feel ill... I can't believe it.
Its like watching a Reg Prescott video on YouTube..but without the laughs in the background
I lasted less than thirty seconds and then had to stop the video.
It's against the Geneva Convention!
Crikey almighty! Did anyone else jump each and every time that knife slipped...?
It's OK though, a bit of superglue solves everything...as long as you put enough on, apparently...........!
I know it's horrifying, but it makes me laff every-time. It's the slightly panicked "you don't want to damage your watch" when he slips with the knife.
Sorry to resurrect this but some folk here will be pleased and relieved to hear that Chealwatch are retiring...just stumbled across this one on e.bay;
(question is, is this a before or after?)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OMEGA-CHRO...gAAOSwKtlWrlt0
"These parts are being sold by Chealwatch as we are soon due to retire and will be selling all of our stock and tools over the next couple of years"
If anybody needs any hammers......
I wouldn't buy so much as a battery off them after my experience.
What a frightening tale, especially as I live near Peasmarsh and might have fallen into his grasp. We all start as innocents. As Rye is in East Sussex (just) I will mention another Sussex watchmaker, 'Time Restoration' in Hove. They did a good job on my IWC and seem pretty serious people. I'd happily use them again.
Mr Heal,him I will give a miss.
Probably worn all those out.
Well done to Cheal Butcher for being awarded his gold watch for long service.
That still makes me chuckle after all these years.
I'm just amazed that he didn't secure it in a steel vice or try opening it with a set of garden shears. I thought it was a joke video at first and waited for the punchline.
Hi, Everyone iam new to the forum but i had a bad experience with "The Butcher of Rye" i sent him a 1966 gold mappin watch left to me by my grandfather. He said he would restore the dial the watch worked ok and kept good time, after 8 weeks and many phone calls he said he had serviced the watch but could not restore dial so i asked him to return the watch, on unpacking the watch i noticed the sub seconds hand missing i got on the phone immediately to chris heal but he did not even care just neurotic chuntering, i told him i would contact trading standards he told me that was fine by him. Later i found out he had broken the sub seconds hand pinion i think i read he his now due to retire thankfully. I then sent the dial to David Bill to be restored it was returned within 10 days and looks fantastic.
Welcome. TO be fair, you could have sent your watch to David Blunkett and got better results than from The Butcher.
This is pretty much my experience with them. You were probably lucky they didn't go ahead with the dial work.
I notice that chealwatch's website has changed , my understanding was that they were no longer repairing watches and selling off their crumbs on ebay.
Lol
At least it looks like he won't be wrecking any more watches - fingers crossed.
It's just a matter of time...
I sent a vintage Seamaster to Chealwatch years ago after having them recommended.
The watch would stop intermittently when the hands crossed and I asked for a service as well. Got it back and after two days the issue reoccurred. After a couple of emails he agreed to have it back and repair it. It came back again exactly the same!
I spoke to him on the phone and he gave me lots of technical reasons why it could still be happening and he said he couldn't take it back again as he already was out of pocket by having it twice!
I eventually sent it somewhere else and explained the possible cause as explained by Chris Heal. They repaired it and sent it back, just mis-aligned hands, he couldn't see what the issue was, only charged me a tenner!
Needless to say I never used Chealwatch again.
OP's experience is not a one off I am afraid. My Seamaster came back with a smudge on the dial bits of dust after I sent it to him for a regular service. I called him and he said it must have happened in the post. I sent it back to him and this time it came back running 40 seconds fast within one afternoon.
I reported him to trading standards because he wouldn't refund me and I had to get it mended with Omega just in case he screwed up something major!
Classic...
I sent him a Tissot automatic watch which was broken before reading the reviews on here. I was concerned it might come back worse after seeing what others had said however it actually came back working good as new with replacement parts from the brand used for the job. No problems whatsoever. It was sent back to me only a few days after payment. No issue with scratches or damage as mentioned in the posts above. Pleased with the job as it was done at a very reasonable cost and came back working perfectly.
You were very lucky. Maybe it was an outsourced job.
It's just a matter of time...
That's what I also thought. The website is still there and current, which I find surprising as I'd assumed he'd have wrapped in by now.
F.T.F.A.
Welcome to the forum, Mr Heal
I sent him a Tissot automatic watch which was broken before reading the reviews on here. I was concerned it might come back worse after seeing what others had said however it actually came back working good as new with replacement parts from the brand used for the job. No problems whatsoever. It was sent back to me only a few days after payment. No issue with scratches or damage as mentioned in the posts above. Pleased with the job as it was done at a very reasonable cost and came back working perfectly.
I sent him a Tissot automatic watch which was broken before reading the reviews on here. I was concerned it might come back worse after seeing what others had said however it actually came back working good as new with replacement parts from the brand used for the job. No problems whatsoever. It was sent back to me only a few days after payment. No issue with scratches or damage as mentioned in the posts above. Pleased with the job as it was done at a very reasonable cost and came back working perfectly.
Based on what I'd heard I never sent a watch for repair to Chealwatch and I'm under no obligation to tell you I never received back a damaged watch.
"A man of little significance"
Do you reckon he's finally found that there is, indeed, a facility to reply to posts on forums?
Ha! Beat me to it!
Aren't they looking to introduce prosecution for fake news? I wonder if false reviews will also be subject to such legislation - some review sites would no doubt see a bit of change.
It's just a matter of time...
I sent my Oris BC3 to Chealwatch in January for a long overdue service/relume. It was BEFORE reading all the bad reviews on here so I was quite nervous about what would happen but the watch came back better than ever.
It was my first Automatic watch and had always run very slow, losing approx 30 seconds per day but now running at +3 seconds per day.
Full service including 2 glass seals and re-lume was £100.
Couldn't be happier especially as my last service 10 years ago at the Watch Repair centre in Newcastle was over £200.
Now I'm deliberating whether or not to send him my knackered Ginault!?
Get a decent watchmaker to check the work first. Just because a watch keeps time does not mean it has been serviced well. £100 is too low to service any automatic watch properly in my opinion, especially when you add in reluming and new seals.
The mainspring would not have been replaced for certain at that price too.
I must have sensed we were due an update on the good old Butcher of Rye...
The other day at work I ran him through Google for any recent horror stories after spotting someone selling a watch (Omega IIRC) on our organisation's equivalent of SC, the seller proudly exclaiming that it had been serviced by Chealwatch Ltd.
Good point, I really didn’t consider the mainspring to be honest. I’m just happy (or lucky) the watch is functioning better than it ever has. I bought it from Northern Goldsmiths in 2003 and it never kept good time until now.
I guess it depends who actually carried out the work, and what work was actually carried...
It's just a matter of time...
^ On receiving back my Aquaracer I got the distinct impression that no work had been carried out at all by him or any of his subcontractors.
+1........£100 does sound cheap for a professional repairer.
It’s good practice to replace a mainspring when a watch is serviced. Depending on the design of the barrel it’s sometimes necessary to replace that too in order to get the amplitude where it should be and to get the watch performing at it’s optimum.
It sounds totally counter- intuitive, but the overall timekeeping isn’t always a reflection on how well a watch is really running. Another point to consider is how well the watch will run in 4-5 years time, if it’s serviced properly it should still be fine.
I thought Chris Heal had retired? I’m sure I heard he was planning to pack in a couple of years back?
Paul
Just another tale of servicing from Chealwatch. My father's Omega went there about 5 years ago. I didn't hear much about it as my father is in Spain, but he said it needed a service. Anyway, I've given it to a more local watch repairer, who came via recommendation, and has informed me there is no endshake on the barrel. It's going to cost £250 to rectify and service.
I find it v. surprising that there’s no endshake on the barrel of a watch that was serviced 5 years ago! The usual problem to encounter is excessive end- shake as a result of wear over the years.
I suggest you ask the repairer for a detailed breakdown of what needs replacing on the watch. I always do this when I work on a watch, I make it clear where the owner’s money is going. Some parts are getting v. expensive thesedays and that pushes the service cost up, but if the watch doesn’t need parts replacing the cost should be significantly lower. If parts and labour cost is broken down all becomes clear.
In this case, providing the mainspring barrel is still servicable, the end- shake can be easily adjusted and this problem alone shouldn’t contribute much to the cost. However, if a replacement barrel is required that may be costly. If the problem is due to the bushing in the barrel bridge this also should be easy to correct.
Chealwatch’s reputation has been questioned many times and it’s no surprise to hear of problems, but this sounds a bit strange to me.
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 29th June 2018 at 10:25.
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