Originally Posted by
walkerwek1958
Ensuring that dust or small fibres don’t get onto the dial is harder than people may think, it’s up to the repairer to avoid any detritus being present when the watch is cased up, this is done by blowing with air, using a small brush, or picking hairs/ fibres off using Rodico. Same applies to the inside of the case and underside of the glass. Checking very carefully after assembly is the only way to be sure the watch is clean. Sounds simple but it takes time, a commercial repairer who works on a few watches/ day will be working quickly and that increases the risk of mistakes.
in this case the repairer has probably bent the hand when brushing the dial, he should’ve carefully straightened it then the owner would never know it had happened. No-one makes mistakes deliberately but these things can happen and a repairer has to make things right. In this case the guy has offered to do so and he should be given chance. Compensation should be a last resort, that would be limited to the full value of the watch and if the repairer paid this he’d be within his rights to keep the watch because effectively he’s bought it.
Sometimes (rarely) a seconds hand can be damaged or marked during removal, there’s always a risk that a previous repairer has resorted to superglue to secure a loose hand and that presents a big problem for the next guy to work on it. I’ve been in this position a couple of times and it isn’t fun.
I can see both sides of this situation, the OP has every right to expect the dial to be clean and the seconds hand to not be damaged. The repairer should be given every chance to make good the problem and shouldn’t be subjected to negative publicity at this stage. Based on the information the OP’s already given I suspect the genie’s already out of the lamp and that’s wrong in my view.