In June 2014 I got my first automatic, a JLC Master Hometime (a very generous 30th birthday present to myself!), and was very pleased with myself ( Arrival Thread ). Since then I've worn it regularly and often for weeks at a time, before switching it out for a while. Even though I've worn it a lot, I can't say it has had any abuse, I've just worn it ... watches are there to be worn, right!?

Unfortunately, in August it simply stopped working. No gradual time loss, no issues or hints that anything was wrong, just went from working fine one day to not the next. The symptoms were that despite winding from the crown or from the rotor movement, it would tick for less than 10 seconds and stop. I did some reading online, but didn't find any hints on what might have been wrong.

So a couple of weeks ago, I called JLC and they said to take it into the boutique on Old Bond Street the next time I was in London, where they have someone qualified to take a look on-site between 9am and 5pm every day. They would take a look and let me know what was going on - no appointment necessary. I was happy enough with this, as I expected that someone that knows what they're doing and the particular movement would be able to give me a fair idea as to what might be wrong and what would need to be done to fix it.

Skip to today and I finally manage to get out of meetings on a London trip early enough to pop in. The lady that served me had no idea what was wrong (said she wasn't qualified to say) and in fact barely looked at it, other than to take a note of any marks on it. It's now on it's way back to JLC for an estimated 12 weeks at a cost of at least £720!

When buying it, I had read on here about servicing a JLC being a bit of a pain and I decided that was something I'd worry about in ~5 years. Can't believe that after only three years I'm forking out £720 on a 6k watch.

I still really like the watch, but I have to say this has tarnished my feelings for it. I think I'd regret getting rid of it when it comes back but at the same time I can't say I'm not thinking about it.

Also, a new strap (which it probably needs to be fair) would have been £290.