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Automatic Watch Quit Working - What Would You Do?

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Barrister & Solicitor

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I fully know this is not a watch forum. However, there are some mightily knowledgeable gentlemen about all kinds of subjects (e.g. fountain pens in the Trad Thrift Exchange).

Last year, I purchased a Girard Perregaux watch, model GP 90, through an Ebay auction where the seller was a jeweller in Italy. I paid about $750 for the watch. GP told me the watch was manufactured in 1991.

I didn't have it serviced. I suspect it never was serviced either as the watch's case looked pretty much brand new and there was a plastic film that looked almost new on the back of it.

It quit working yesterday. It had been running fast and was told servicing it would be about $500, so I let it go.

I suspect fixing it will be expensive. I know new GP watches are mightily (unafordably) expensive. What would you do? get it fixed or sell it on Ebay (with full disclosure of course)?
 
#3 ·
^Excellent advice.

If you don't know one, check your local cultural magazine for it's annual "best of" local vendors issue. Or you might try Yelp.

After you've exhausted that route, you might consider your local GP dealer, but that shop is likely to be more expensive.
 
#5 ·
If you like the watch and want to keep it, I recommend service from the GP authorized rep. Your post should be a sticky for everyone who is inclined to buy "vintage" automatic watches. The requirement for regular, usually costly, service seems seldom to appear in posts by those who recommend a version of "Dad's Old Omega." Ownership of any mechanical automatic is an expensive process, not a bargain event. One of my Rolexes just returned from being serviced, so I am feeling the burn.
 
#6 ·
godan said:
If you like the watch and want to keep it, I recommend service from the GP authorized rep. Your post should be a sticky for everyone who is inclined to buy "vintage" automatic watches. The requirement for regular, usually costly, service seems seldom to appear in posts by those who recommend a version of "Dad's Old Omega." Ownership of any mechanical automatic is an expensive process, not a bargain event. One of my Rolexes just returned from being serviced, so I am feeling the burn.
Click to expand...
I have a Rolex to send for service - after the holidays. I'm sure it will hurt.
 
#10 ·
I would absolutely have the watch serviced at an authorized dealer. The watch is a piece of art with moving parts that need regular maintenance. The value of the repaired GP will far exceed the price you paid and the cost of repair.

There are two schools of thought regarding regular maintenance for an automatic watch. One school feels "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The other school (which I subscribe to) understands that mechanical parts need maintenance. There are gears and lubrication. Without proper lubrication, these gears can and will wear out. Then you aren't simply incurring the cost of a maintenance service, but will also incur the cost if replacing parts.

Please use a watchmaker that has the skill and knowledge for this type of quality watch, or simply have an authorized dealer send it to GP for repairs. You won't be sorry, these are not disposable watches.
 
#11 ·
I guess there are two ways of doing this, both excellently described and advocated here. If I had purchased the watch new, then I'd spring for AD..there's a reason they're authorized, they have the knowledge and parts to fix your time piece correctly, and they're backed by the full faith of the manufacturer. That said, there are many non AD watch makers that possess skills that are equal to or better than the skills of the AD...AD isn't a panacea, it's just a way of assuring that certain basic requirements are met to better assure experience with the piece and the standards of the company. You spent $750 thru eBay to purchase a watch in a foreign country, which tells me your OK with accepting risk to save some money. Find a reputable watchmaker (not AD) and have the watch serviced there.
 
#13 ·
I would only go the AD / manufacturer route if the movement in question was an in-house design for which parts could not be easily obtained outside of that stream. To say they view repairs as a bountiful profit center would be a collosal understatement.

Given that the OP's watch dates back to 1991, it probably contains a generic ETA-based movement for which parts are widely available and in respect of which pretty much every watchmaker is very familiar. I would not drop $500 servicing an ETA movement.
 
#14 ·
If the manufacturer does repairs, I would send it to them. Otherwise, an authorized repair service may be the best choice.

Also, a fine watch should probably be serviced / cleaned periodically.

Good luck!
 
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#15 ·
IIRC, the GP90 used a modified ETA movement (2892, maybe?) that was embellished by GP. If you can find out specifics about which movement and what, specifically, went wrong (mechanical parts wear out and break all the time), you can order parts very cheaply from places like Otto Frei. A little internet research and watching some watch tinkering videos can save you a bundle if you're willing to get your hands dirty.

This weekend I had to move around some furniture and my beater Seiko 5 took a pounding on a few door frames and started running ridiculously fast. I put it to my ear and knew what the problem was. A loop of the hairspring had caught itself over the regulator. I gave it a few good whacks on the case, opposite the crown until it "sounded" right and it's been running fine since. Saved me $100 on a new watch. Not that you should mistreat your GP that way, but it might be something easily diagnosed if you open the caseback and take a peek.
 
#20 ·
MaxBuck said:
I continue to be bemused by people who prefer mechanical watch movements to quartz. It seems analogous, to me, of requiring that one's transport be drawn by horse.

Each to his own, obviously.
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Since the 1960's, I have stayed with Rolexes, and paid the occasional factory service charge, because they work, and an early Seiko quartz dive watch died off a remote coast in Australia, where service was a several hundred kilometers away. In the past few years, however, I have bought a few Casio G-Shock solar watches and Citizen Eco-Drives. Both models have performed without fail on hard summit climbs, during cold, back country ski trips and for routine ranch work. For most leisure wear either will do, and the G-Shocks have useful feature sets. There are a couple of Casio models subdued enough to wear in town. The last time I put on a Rolex Date-Just was for a business luncheon two months ago. Solar is the technology of the future. Battery quartz can join mechanical watches and horses...but I'll keep my Rolexes and horses for when nothing else will do.
 
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