Reply With QuoteI'd be inclined to try Tudor/Owen on MWR or you could ask at the Smiths Facebook group (Rollino is on there along with a few familiar names).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261717824304503/
Recommendations please and has anybody used this chap.
https://www.rollinix-smiths-watches.com
TIA
I'd be inclined to try Tudor/Owen on MWR or you could ask at the Smiths Facebook group (Rollino is on there along with a few familiar names).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261717824304503/
Last edited by Mr Curta; 22nd November 2019 at 18:21.
What Matthew said, above.
If it’s a particularly rare or unusual one (military or automatic) then John Senior.
Got any pics?
You've seen the Astral in another thread and I've acquired a DeLuxe.
Last edited by K300; 24th November 2019 at 03:46.
You could try firing off an email to this chap. Never used him, but they've been around for a long time (had him bookmarked as a great resource for pics). Scroll down to bottom of page for prices...
https://www.smithswatches.com/collec...vicing-options
Last edited by Geralt; 24th November 2019 at 09:34.
Can't comment on quality of service, but Merrens tends to price things at the upper end of the scale.
Lovely watches. The Astral will have a cal 60466E and the De Luxe is probably a 27CS. Any competent watchmaker could service them.
Thanks guys, smithswatches.com are charging £250 for an 'overhaul'. I had an email from Andy at Rollinix and he is charging £40 for strictly a service so probably Rollinix might be the favourite and presumably he'd contact me back if anything else was required.
Has anybody used or is familiar with Andy/Rollinix, just want to be fairly certain I can send them off and get them again. ;-)
PM on its wayOriginally Posted by K300
Will be very interested to know how this goes! Recently purchased a W10 (finally), and might send that to a good servicing before putting it on :)
Surprised that anyone’s prepared to fully service a vintage watch for £40 in this day and age.......good luck to him!
Whether the watch is a vintage Omega or a Smiths, the time and overheads is exactly the same. To check and correct faults, strip the watch, clean and inspect the parts, then build it back up takes 3-4 hrs. Old watches almost always have problems somewhere, so it’s usually not straightforward.
I would clarify exactly what the guy does for £40.
£40 is what Steve Burrage used to charge for a dateless manual. Michael Swift is now £45, and was less not long ago. That recently retired chap in Wales who would repair all those excellent Soviet movements charged less. Sceptical surprise at people making modest demands isn't a great look, though admittedly a very common one these days.
I just had a Tudor 7904 serviced, new crystal, new gaskets and a balance complete (which I provided) fitted and fettled for a hundred quid. It was turned around in a month or so.
Nothing sceptical about my comments, I’m merely being realistic. Cleaning fluids now cost £45 per US gallon, overheads are a factor that can’t be discounted, oils, rodico, pegwood.......everything adds up.......but disregarding that, give me one good reason for doing a skilled job for peanuts? How much per hour do YOU work for?.....do you value my time at a lower rate than yours?
No-one’s ever accused me of charging too much, it’s usually the opposite, but I wouldn’t fully service a watch to the standard I work to for £40.........and I know for a fact that I don’t charge a commercial rate!
I understand where you are coming from but those are pretty strong words of insinuation though! Are you suggesting he won't do a proper service, have you got experience of the chap or know somebody that has had a bad experience that I should know about, as that is my question in the OP, I would rather know.but I wouldn’t fully service a watch to the standard I work to for £40.........and I know for a fact that I don’t charge a commercial rate
Duncan at Genesis doesn't charge what some others do but he has always given excellent service on my Watches.
If you check my post it states that Rollinix will do a service for £40 and that I expect to receive an email if it needs more once he's seen it, eyes are wide open.
I've sent them off to Andy at Rollinix, I also included an Ingersoll which has no crown but does run, he's going to see what he can do.
I'll report back on my experience.
Last edited by K300; 28th November 2019 at 00:12.
I have no experience of this guy, never heard of him until I read this post. In my opinion he is charging a very low price, even if he does the work on a hobby basis.
As a general rule, old watches usually have problems somewhere, often a straightforward service is anything but straightforward and the watch needs more time spending on it than anticipated. That has to be factored in too.
One thing's for sure, at this price he won't be short of work.
He wouldn’t have been my choice but I’ll be interested to see how this plays out
I did send an email to the chap you recommended but he never responded.He wouldn’t have been my choice but I’ll be interested to see how this plays out
:-(
I'm sure it will be fine.
Be sure to let us know, always good to add to the pool of knowledge.
The rundown:
Smiths Astral 9ct Gold:
Absolutely fine beyond needing the service.
Smiths Deluxe:
Threw up a few extra issues:
Firstly the setting spring had broken. Replaced so the crown now snaps back into place £15.
Also the hairspring was beyond salvaging £25.
Ingersoll serviced perfectly plus a new crown £5.
Cleaned and polished the case plus two original spring bars FOC.
All crystals polished to original condition.
Total is £170 inc. special delivery return postage.
Watches currently on test for consistency and timings and I should have them back by Weds/Thurs.
I'll post pics when I get them back, but so far so good, I have to say that Andy has been a pleasure to deal with so far.
Thanks! Good to know.
Those setting springs are always breaking, the new ones are much better
I was quoted £250 to service my recently bought Smiths W10 by In-Time watches & repairs.. Didn't go for it as the watch actually runs really well as it is now:/
The watches came back today by special delivery.
On the whole very pleased, came well packaged, there is a bit of fluff on the face of the Astral, you have to look with a loupe and very good light to see it, he supplied new spring bars apart from the Ingersoll which he supplied originals all FOC.
I’ve just had my Smiths De Luxe back from Andy/Rollinix. It’s a 9ct Gold BR presentation model that I’m sure people are familiar with.
I needed a new setting spring and a new crystal. All looks spot on, working nicely and exactly what I hoped for. Dealt with very quickly and straightforwardly, packed well and sent back RMSD. Andy sent back the replaced parts as well.
For a relatively cheap watch that I use occasionally but really like, I think it was exactly the practical service I needed at a very affordable price. If I wanted a top end service of one of my (few) expensive watches, with timegrapher outputs, warranties etc. I expect I’d choose someone else but also expect to pay appropriately.
I haven’t checked the timing yet, not expecting a miracle anyway.
I’m very happy with the service I received from Rollinix.
Last edited by alfat33; 12th December 2019 at 18:09.
I've been testing my watches over the past couple of weeks, the 2 Smiths run for between 20(DeLuxe) and 26.5(Astral) hours on a full wind.
Ingersoll runs for 34.5 hours.
Is this normal for the Smiths of this vintage.
I think I'd expect more. It's a good question though. I think most hand winders last for about 30 hours so you've still got some torque and leeway if you wind at the 24hr mark
BTW did you know there's a Smiths forum here https://www.mwrforum.net/forums/foru...Vintage-Smiths
and facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/261717824304503/
Hi Rev, I've registered on the MWR but have no access to posting or even looking at my profile page. I presume it's awaiting activation but I think it's been a few weeks now.
Can’t comment on the Smiths, but most hand - winders I’ve come across will run for around 40 hrs, anything under 30 sounds wrong to me.
First question I’ll ask is whether the watches are being fully wound?......sounds obvious but some folks don’t wind them fully for fear if breaking something, when a watch is fully wound it should be obvious.
Second question is whether the correct mainspring is fitted. Sometimes the correct length can’t be obtained so a shorter one has to go in. It’s also possible the mainsprings weren’t replaced, what’s fitted works OK in terms if amplitude, but is shorter than it should be.
My De Luxe has been running for just over 24 hours now on a full wind, if that helps. I’ll post the full time once it stops.
I wind them until they can't be wound anymore, basically until the crown stops moving regardless of pressure. Not sure about the mainsprings.
It is possible that for £40 you get a limited service, like a car if it's a budget service, they may not change the spark plugs just the oil and filter. Which means it's still going to run lumpy.
I had assumed that he would let me know at the outset after examining the watches that he would quote for anything that needs doing to bring them into full operation but it seems that is not the case, maybe he only gave them a superficial check over.
Last edited by K300; 23rd December 2019 at 14:58.
@k300, I’m up to 29+ hours now and still running.
Edit: It stopped after just over 32 hours.
I can’t speak for or against the servicing scope and quality except for my own, single, experience. I’m sure my mainspring wasn’t changed, but I didn’t ask for or expect it to be. I didn’t have any running problems before apart from the setting spring, which I mentioned at the outset and was changed for the cost of the spring. Andy did say he had run my watch for 24hrs to make sure all was OK before returning it.
For a watch that I wore regularly or one that wasn’t running well I’d have wanted the mainspring changed. Then again, for such a watch I might well have sent it to someone else who did such things routinely and charged appropriately. On the other hand, I’d want a newly serviced watch to run well.
Maybe email him and get his thoughts? He seems an approachable guy.
Last edited by alfat33; 24th December 2019 at 10:34.
How on earth does the rollinix chap make a living doing services for £40?! That’s insane money! Not really sure how it’s possible knowing how much time it takes to strip, inspect, clean, rebuild etc. Let alone the cost of the oils/greases/gaskets used.
That wouldn’t even get you one hours labour for your local grease monkey working on a clapped out old car! No idea how a skilled watch repairer could work for many hours for that amount.
Quite intrigued by the pic of his tools too.
Agree with the above comments.
Last week I serviced a hand- wound 3 hand no-date watch with sub secs, about as basic as you can get (AS 1130). I reckon that took around 3-3.5hrs work. This was a 5 yr old watch built from a new old- stock movement that was running poorly, no problems or unexpected snags, just a straightforward stripdown, clean all the parts in the cleaning baths, rebuild and re-oil, with a slight truing up of the hairspring to get it running better. Factor in the cost of my time, cost of consumables etc, and I reckon £60 is about right. Add the cost of a mainspring at between £10 and £20, caseback seal if needed, and the cost goes up to £75-£85.
One thing to be clear about with watch servicing; there is no direct analogy with cars! A watch has to be fully stripped, all worn or damaged parts must be replaced, and unless the mainspring is known to be fairly new it should be replaced. All seals should be checked and replaced if the watch is waterproof.
I’m a great believer in transparency, parts cost and labour should be separate, but this isn’t common practice in the watch game for reasons I don’t understand.
I have a friend who is a reasonably well-known and well-respected watchmaker. (You can find his name on this forum.) He retired a couple of years ago and does stuff for me at cost plus probably the price of a bottle of wine or whatever. Certainly not commentarial rates as he doesn't need the money or want the work.
He has everything in terms of parts / spares, NOS stuff etc and nothing fazes him. He also has top quality tools and a fully-kitted out workshop.
So it's 40+ years of experience and skill and a nice chat with an extremely knowledgeable and approachable chap. (I think that's why he does it: keep his hand in and earn some pocket money and meet some people. A job turned hobby. I'll probably be the same at his age.)
Even at bargain basement just-covering-his-costs he still charges me £50.
And the work is top quality . . . .
Last edited by Rev-O; 23rd December 2019 at 21:49.
Yes and they "service" the watch using one dip and cleaning and oiling solution that is thankfully almost completely gone in the watch world (still very popular with clock people). When it finally dies out with the old guys still using it, then it will be the end of the £45 services, and the end of me opening watches and crying a little before I start work on them.
Just a couple more data points. I paid £72 for my service, which included 2 parts (itemised).
I don’t know if the movement was completely disassembled but at a minimum whatever was necessary to replace the setting spring.
Please list your experience of examining the work of Michael Swift and Steve Burrage, both of whom have enjoyed good reputations for long time amongst vintage watch enthusiasts. Or shut your slanderous mouth and delete your post.
I'll say one way Steve was different to most watchmakers: he wasn't an arrogant diva.
Actually Der Amf you sound like the arrogant one in all this. A question about servicing should not end up in a slanging match. I have had experience of low cost servicing from one the people mentioned and the quality was low too.
Bit harsh (but I’m assuming there’s some history here)
All I’ll say is something has to give. Think about what you do for a living and how far £40 will get your day. Even someone scanning shopping on a Tesco’s till gets £10.04 an hour (according to google)
I get there must be retired, skilled folk doing it for cheap (although no idea why you’d retire and work all day for a pittance). But a professional service using expensive cleaning fluids, machines, tools, lubricants etc for £40?
Something doesn’t add up.
Calm down diva. Bit rich :D
It is not possible to service a watch for £40 end of. By service a watch I mean disassembly, cleaning, mainspring, reassembly, oiling, timing, regulating, cleaning the case before recasing and testing again. This is the bare minimum needed to service a watch properly and prevent long term damage. If you want pictures of movements that have been cheaply serviced and the problems they have caused and the large bills created, then I am more than happy to put some up here.
- - - Updated - - -
No history at all.
What I find surprising is that people get work done on watches, or have them 'serviced', yet they don`t know exactly what was done afterwards! There has been a tendency for the repair trade to shroud things in mystique, back in the days before I worked on watches I took mine to a repairer who always did me a 'good deal', but I never got a full explanation of what exactly had been done. In later years I stripped some of these watches down and I realised how poor some of the work actually was.
When I return a watch I include full details of what's been done and what parts have ben fitted. I would encourage everyone to ask for this information, it avoids confusion. It also provides clarity when making comparisons.
In my case, I`ll be taking no work on for the foreseeable future owing to other commitments, I simply won`t have the time to be working on watches as I`ve been able to do recently. I`ll continue to do work for a trade contact (as agreed) and I`ll be working on a few of my own, but my time will be required elsewhere for most of the year.
That's true. I'm not sufficiently qualified to comment on the quality of his work but everything he has ever done for me has come back working and keeping good time.
I'd be surprised if it was Steve Burrage.
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