Old watches, running properly again

What happens on the bench

A service is a full strip. The movement comes apart, every part goes through three baths, the pivots and the jewels are checked under the scope, and it is oiled and put back together by hand. Mainsprings, crown seals, case gaskets and crystals are replaced, never cleaned and refitted. A worn barrel arbor, a bent pivot or a tired rotor bearing is replaced too, and you are told the part and the price before anything is ordered. Everything that leaves here is timed in five positions over four days. The service carries twelve months on the movement. Water resistance carries twelve months only where the case has been pressure-tested, and none at all on a cracked crystal or a worn crown thread. Turnaround is three to five weeks on an automatic. Longer if a part has to come from Switzerland, and we will say so before you leave it.