my seiko monster watch...

John":3g4q2ezw said:

Surely avoid anything on the High Street.

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I guess it depends, really - sometimes it's one of the conduits to getting stuff done by one of the actual manufacturers service providers.

In the past, I've had good, reasonably priced work done - and it was via a high street jewellers - albeit not one of the big chain ones, but more of a quality jewellers. Other times it's fairly easy, these days, to deal directly with some servicing companies - Seiko, for example, probably give out info for their service providers.

John":3g4q2ezw said:

I've used this guy in the past to service mechanical watches > http://www.rytetimewatchrepairs.co.uk/ . Reasonable price, happy enough with his work.

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Bookmarked, thanks - always good to get a recommendation. True mechanical servicing seems to be dying out, largely in favour of movement replacement, so it's always good to find people still doing that sort of thing.

Seiko 7S26 movements can be had here for $50 posted and any decent watchmaker should be able to swap it over in 20 minutes... I tinker with/modify Seiko's and had I spotted this thread earlier I would have offered to help. The offer still stands so shoot me a pm if you still need any assistance or get the urge to mod it

Neil":3q44amlg said:

John":3q44amlg said:

Surely avoid anything on the High Street.

Click to expand...

I guess it depends, really - sometimes it's one of the conduits to getting stuff done by one of the actual manufacturers service providers.

In the past, I've had good, reasonably priced work done - and it was via a high street jewellers - albeit not one of the big chain ones, but more of a quality jewellers. Other times it's fairly easy, these days, to deal directly with some servicing companies - Seiko, for example, probably give out info for their service providers.

John":3q44amlg said:

I've used this guy in the past to service mechanical watches > http://www.rytetimewatchrepairs.co.uk/ . Reasonable price, happy enough with his work.

Click to expand...

Bookmarked, thanks - always good to get a recommendation. True mechanical servicing seems to be dying out, largely in favour of movement replacement, so it's always good to find people still doing that sort of thing.

Click to expand...

The problem facing traditional High St watchmakers these days is that the big Swiss companies have identified the profits to be made by moving all official servicing and repair work in-house and removing parts supply to the High St shops. For example, if you need a new bezel for an Omega you have to go to one of the few accredited Omega service centres as the factory won't supply the parts to anyone else. A few years ago you could have sent an email to Switzerland, had the bezel in the post and then have a local guy fit it. Not any more... I recently heard about a watchmaker who spent over £20k on a case refinishing machine only to be told by one of the Swiss companies that it was not to be used on their watches. If he was presented with a watch which needed this type of work then he was required to send it to the factory. Failure to comply with this would mean him losing his official service centre status, his parts supply and probably his business...

This seems a good plce to ask a question. I've got one of these early 70s Seiko 7016 thats stopped working. Where's best to send it to get fixed and how many vital organs is it likely to cost?

Fudd":36wgio3k said:

Seiko 7S26 movements can be had here for $50 posted and any decent watchmaker should be able to swap it over in 20 minutes... I tinker with/modify Seiko's and had I spotted this thread earlier I would have offered to help. The offer still stands so shoot me a pm if you still need any assistance or get the urge to mod it

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That's partly the problem, though, these days.

Don't get me wrong - I get cost effectiveness and all that - in many cases, it's a deskilled scenario, just to not bother with what's wrong, and simply swap out the movement. And as you say, with a smattering of tools, patience, and a reasonable environment to do it in, it's not terribly challenging.

Problem is, it's such a waste in many instances - I've seen it with both kinetics and Seiko autos - many repair shops will just evaluate and swap out the movement - but you've only to see in ernie's example, that often that may well not actually be that cost-effective, depending on the skill and knowledge of the person looking at the movement.

Kerplunk":3jzvmxna said:

This seems a good plce to ask a question. I've got one of these early 70s Seiko 7016 thats stopped working. Where's best to send it to get fixed and how many vital organs is it likely to cost?

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I'd go with that link that the guv supplied - they do no obligation quotes, it would only cost you special delivery rates of postage to find out.

Those old Seiko chrono's are notoriously difficult to find parts for and being a chrono, more expensive to work on. I'd say this place would be your best bet - http://www.kkhservices.co.uk/4639.html or you could scour ebay for a donor watch with the same movement.

a curious update..
owing to the high costs of sorting said watch i elected to have it returned which they did.upon opening the packet i noticed the watch was ticking away happy as larry.since getting it back it hasnt put a foot wrong...i can only conclude 1 of two things...either whatever was wrong with has gone away due to royal mails delicate handling or some one some where sorted it on the quiet...hmmmm