Frequently asked Questions

We service and restore high grade mechanical timepieces including chronographs, high-grade wristwatches, pocket watches, aircraft clocks and high-grade clocks. Our specialty and what we do most of are vintage Breitling chronographs. Please call or e-mail before sending your timepiece. 

Our estimates are provided on an individualized basis after a thorough examination of the watch. We recommend that you send the watch via US Post Registered Mail insured for the replacement cost (either the price of a comparable modern watch or the sale price of a comparable watch from a collectors publication or watch sales web site). We also receive deliveries from all other carriers. 

This is a very common question but it is a very separate item from the serviced we provide. Value is unrelated to the cost of parts and labor involved in its service. The answer can vary depending on condition of the watch, demand in the collectors’ market, etc. We are not certified appraisers and our involvement with the sale of new and preowned timepieces is limited. Further information on your watch may be found in any number of publications but should be considered separate from the parts and labor required for servicing your watch. For shipping purposes we recommend insuring for the comparable replacement from a current catalog. 

Our main concern with most movements is that when the synthetic oils dry up that watch will continue to run. When running without lubrication there is the probability of damage and wear to parts, resulting in the need for extensive (and more expensive) service. For older and out of production watches usually our recommendation is for complete disassembly, clean, oil and adjustment of the movement to start. Subsequent service is completely individualized and depends on usage, type of watch and the environment. Rarely will we do any partial case or movement work unless we were the last to do a complete service. All timepieces are worked on individually with the goal to bring the watch back to the best mechanical and aesthetic condition as possible.

For further information regarding the servicing of your watch, read this article by David Christianson as published in the American Watchmaker Institute’s January 1997 Horological Times.

The cost is proportional to the mechanical and aesthetic condition. For vintage timepieces and chronographs the cost is often comparable to the overhaul cost of a modern watch. It is not reasonable to expect an older, out of production chronograph to have a service cost less than a modern watch when there is usually more wear, past compromised work, and spare parts are long out of production. Typically the estimate will have a range to account for additional findings at disassembly. 

If the estimate we provide is declined, the standard administration and return shipping fee is $50. Occasionally, however, we do have labor involved in providing the estimate due to rust, damage, wear, or compromised past service. If so we will notify you of the anticipated labor fee in advance. 

We offer a one year warranty on labor as long as the timepiece is returned clean, not tampered with or abused. Our testing phase is very thorough and we do not expect to see your watch have any problem, there are occasions when an intermittent problem is not detected and we ask that you notify us of any problem right away. Replacement parts or labor for parts fabrication, case parts, dial, hands are not included. Water damage or rust is not concerned under warranty. 

We do not sell spare parts outright to anyone. Most of the vintage parts are long out of production and we reserve them for watch owners that are having their watches serviced or restored by us. Parts replaced are not returned.