How We Repair Vintage Watches
Posted by Aime Co on
If you inherited a 100-year-old watch that once belonged to your great-grandfather, but accidentally spill water over this non-waterproof piece, you might call the original company and then give them the watch’s model number as your first instinct. However, this company can’t repair this specific type of watch anymore, or other times, not even around due to being out of business. You don’t want to get rid of this watch, as you feel it’s bad to do something like this to a family heirloom, especially one that’s so beautiful and pricey.
That’s where we come in. We usually have the parts to vintage watches that the manufacturer won’t sell or fix anymore. And if we don’t, we will have them shipped from a trusted third-party seller who specializes in vintage watch parts, but failing that, we may replace your watch parts with even better ones in our inventory. Here are some samples of what we’ve done to our customers’ vintage watches.
The Bulova
Before
After
On this Bulova, we did a dial refinish and replaced the crystal. We also did an ultrasonic cleaning.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre
Before
After
For this Jaeger-LeCoultre, we did a dial refinish, but also converted its discontinued quartz movement into a modern one. The latter procedure is another speciality of ours---to turn an outdated mechanical or quartz movement with one of the parts not being found into a modern quartz movement.
The Pocket Watch
Before
After
For this pocket watch, we did what most watch companies are unable to do---add new hands to a watch that was missing them in the first place. We replaced the original mechanical movement as well, and the crown and stem were replaced, too.
The Gucci
Before
After
We replated this watch with actual 14k gold; the original watch was starting to look very dull, so we made it shinier.
Some Reviews from Happy Customer
For most companies to do well, having a specialty is very helpful.
Jessie V., one of our local customers, says on Yelp:
“This place is great! My mom gave me her vintage watch...they fixed it! AND I checked in and got a free battery! So generous! They are such nice people and I can't wait to bring all my watches here! Thanks again total watch repair you guys rock! I highly recommend this place!”
Dick M., from Facebook:
“Some years ago I received, as a gift from my now deceased spouse a beautiful Seiko watch. I took it to a watch repair in town and was told that they could not repair the watch because Seiko had discontinued the movement. They wanted to know if I wanted them to get rid of the watch. I took the watch back and found TWR on the internet. When I contacted them they asked all the right questions and also told me that the movement had been discontinued but they could convert the movement to a modern quartz movement with a 1 year guarantee. I told them to proceed. I just received this cherished timepiece and it looks exactly like it did, but with a new movement. If you did not know that the movement had been replaced, you would never think that there was anything wrong with the watch. I am very grateful that the exterior looks and functions look exactly like they did originally. I am very grateful to the experts that worked on this timepiece because it means so much to me. Thank you to TWR.”
Thomas B., comments on our Better Business Bureau profile:
“They put a new mechanism into my old LUMINOX watch and it works perfectly. With the cleaning it looks brand new. I'm very excited to have my old friend back in working order. Thanks TWR!”
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- Tags: bulova, gucci, watch repair