How often should you get your watch serviced

How often should you get your watch serviced?

 
 

For some reason this has become a hotly contested issue in recent years. There are more opinions on this than you can poke a stick at. I’m going to try cut through it all and present you with all the facts and my opinions on servicing.

Industry recommendations on servicing mechanical watches vary from 3 years to 10 years. Below I have listed some brands and their service interval time.

  • Rolex recommend every 10 years (approx)

  • Omega recommend every 5 to 8 years

  • Tag Heuer recommend every 5 to 6 years

  • Cartier recomend every 6 years

  • IWC recommend every 5 years

  • Patek recommend every 3 to 5 years

  • Breitling recommend every 4 to 6 years

At this point some of you might be thinking “what’s the problem?”, others will be thinking “that’s ridiculous!”. For almost every company listed above, you’ll be spending around $1000 for the service. Servicing a Rolex will cost a little more, and Patek more again. (starts around $2000)

Service interval recommendations have always been around 5 to 10 years traditionally. Where some of the confusion comes in is that in decades past, watches would continue to go past the service interval period. It was not uncommon for people to have their watch and state it had never been serviced as a point of pride.

The times have changed though! The car industry was one of the first to make servicing a profitable exercise. The amount of money made selling cars has shrunk over the years but service intervals have become shorter and shorter and the cost of servicing has increased.

In the early 2000s, watch companies began to restrict supply by pulling accounts off independent repairers. This has led to less competition world wide and higher service prices. Couple this with a shortage of watchmakers, and you are in trouble. There is no doubt servicing prices have gone up as a result of a lack of competition. What is up for debate is the quality of the oils, the material composition, hardness and the oil techniques (grease vs oil and epilame)



 
 

When Should You Get Your Watch Serviced?

This is a better question. but once again there is no right answer. Boringly I recommend around 5 to 10 years. If you’re looking for more of an answer I would say this to you……

If you notice issues with:

  • time keeping e.g. gaining or losing time,

  • power reserve,

  • water resistance,

  • grinding or any unpleasant noises…

Then I would say it’s probably time to get your watch serviced! Food for thought!

Reach out to us if you would like a quote or for us to check out your watch.

Oliver Broos Revitt