Shocking servicing price (Breguet related)
Discussion
I have inherited from my dad of a beautifull 1950' s Breguet type XX chronograph as he was an air pilot, and at the timce, they were getting them for free (or almost)... 
I have had the watch for 15 years now and it had various 'accidents'... i was one day (in my youth) thrown into a swimming pool with the watch on (not waterproof obviously) among other things.
But i always managed to have it repaired by quality professionals for very reasonable money.
Recently, i pulled the crown which stayed in my hands and the watch is no longer working. But i am confident that it is a minor issue (it was in a much worse condition when i found it as a teenager at the bottom of a drawer at home).
Being in London, i looked up for specialists and ended up calling 'David Duggan' in burlington arcade.
They quoted me £580 to repair and a further £220 should i want the face cleaned up....
£800!!!!!
For God' s sake, i had this watch restaured in Paris by the most reputed classic watch specialist (Les Montres) and they did an incredible work (inside / outside) and charged me less than £200...
They claim that the breguet crown in £180 alone... ok for that, but when i asked for the breakdown of the costs, they mumbled that they had a forfait and could not give me details!!
I will take the watch away from them, and will search for someone 'reasonable' in London. Or elsewhere. And if i cannot find anyone, i will wait to go back to Paris and bring it back to those people who have done such nice job.
In the meantime, is there someone who had a similar experience?
Or someone who could indicate me a 'real life' specialist for similar type of watches who do not take the mickey in terms of pricing?
PS: even servicing a porsche at rip-off OPC' s is cheaper than servicing the watch???? :0
I have had the watch for 15 years now and it had various 'accidents'... i was one day (in my youth) thrown into a swimming pool with the watch on (not waterproof obviously) among other things.
But i always managed to have it repaired by quality professionals for very reasonable money.
Recently, i pulled the crown which stayed in my hands and the watch is no longer working. But i am confident that it is a minor issue (it was in a much worse condition when i found it as a teenager at the bottom of a drawer at home).
Being in London, i looked up for specialists and ended up calling 'David Duggan' in burlington arcade.
They quoted me £580 to repair and a further £220 should i want the face cleaned up....
£800!!!!!
For God' s sake, i had this watch restaured in Paris by the most reputed classic watch specialist (Les Montres) and they did an incredible work (inside / outside) and charged me less than £200...
They claim that the breguet crown in £180 alone... ok for that, but when i asked for the breakdown of the costs, they mumbled that they had a forfait and could not give me details!!
I will take the watch away from them, and will search for someone 'reasonable' in London. Or elsewhere. And if i cannot find anyone, i will wait to go back to Paris and bring it back to those people who have done such nice job.
In the meantime, is there someone who had a similar experience?
Or someone who could indicate me a 'real life' specialist for similar type of watches who do not take the mickey in terms of pricing?
PS: even servicing a porsche at rip-off OPC' s is cheaper than servicing the watch???? :0
Have you tried the Timezone Forum? Sign up for an account and post a message in Breguet Forum. http://forums.timezone.com/
HTH
HTH
Hi max, i posted something on the website you indicated. Let see if i can get a reply... thanks for the link!
I won' t try the Breguet shop as i tried them once and they were not very sharp. They seemed a bit slow, and surely, the breguet prices will be a killer.
I am looking for a small passionate outfit. I know it exists, it is just the matter of finding it!
Any further help will be much appreciated.
I won' t try the Breguet shop as i tried them once and they were not very sharp. They seemed a bit slow, and surely, the breguet prices will be a killer.
I am looking for a small passionate outfit. I know it exists, it is just the matter of finding it!
Any further help will be much appreciated.
Thanks all for the reply.
I had that watch very well restaured by a classic watch specialist a few years back in Paris. They did a tremendous job and it cost very little money.
I inquired with Breguet at the time, and only to have an estimate, it would have taken 4 to 6 weeks. Repair time could have been triple that time.
In terms of cost, it could have been as much as 10 times as much as what i paid (£200) at the time.
Just to give you an idea, the David Duggan guys quoted £600 pounds to service the watch + change the crown and £200 more to clean up the dial.
I took the watch back and took it to a nearby shop and the price was already down to £350.... I still think these guys in central London have too heavy fixed charge and are desperate to pass it to a punter like me.
If someone can send me the link of that chap in Kent, that would be much appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Eric.
I had that watch very well restaured by a classic watch specialist a few years back in Paris. They did a tremendous job and it cost very little money.
I inquired with Breguet at the time, and only to have an estimate, it would have taken 4 to 6 weeks. Repair time could have been triple that time.
In terms of cost, it could have been as much as 10 times as much as what i paid (£200) at the time.
Just to give you an idea, the David Duggan guys quoted £600 pounds to service the watch + change the crown and £200 more to clean up the dial.
I took the watch back and took it to a nearby shop and the price was already down to £350.... I still think these guys in central London have too heavy fixed charge and are desperate to pass it to a punter like me.
If someone can send me the link of that chap in Kent, that would be much appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Eric.
Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff