The Costs Of Luxury Watch Servicing
5 min read
It’s only possible for very few products to be heirlooms. There’s a legitimate flex in longevity and the said is usually a merit of quality. But in regards to such products, the founding architecture of its coming-into-being can be a significant attribute. A luxury mechanical watch will likely never be a disposable product. It’ll easily outlast its owner.
That’s why there’s substance in the statement that you never own a Patek Philippe but only take care of it for the next generation. Here, the requisite of care is very important for functional sustainability and servicing comes in the foremost of its executables.
Just like an automobile, a watch needs servicing for performance maintenance.
While material and manufacturing innovations have elongated the spans between services, the need however can never be eliminated completely. It’s one of the inherent realities of watch collecting and an absolute imperative for the product to sustain without its functional parameters deviating vastly from the normal.
But the process is not without a few, let’s say, inconveniences.
Duality of watch servicing
In watch ownership, servicing sometimes can be a veiled financial reality. It actually is the topic where most people get a bit skittish with watches and it’s always because the usual service experience isn’t the most favorable to derive from owning a watch. In many cases, it tends to be an opaque process involving unbelievably high prices, months long waiting times with no updates, and with very little choice in terms of service or repair provider as most modern watches need you to opt for the service provided by the original manufacturer. There’s even greater restrict in that regard for watches requiring specialized tooling and having advanced components.
Now comes a favorable aside of the topic, a given of watchmaking innovation. While right now there’s no such thing as a maintenance-free mechanical watch, the use of modern synthetic oils and corundum (synthetic rubies) have significantly improved the longevity and reliability of watch movements. Same goes for silicon which is incredibly resistant to wear and requires minimal oiling. So, none should fall for the myth that your watch requires servicing every two to three years. With modern manufacturing tolerances and the above said advances, you should be looking at a service interval that’s somewhat in the range of ten years for a modern watch. For a highly complicated timepiece that logs a decent wrist time, it should be good for four to five years between service interventions.
A. Lange & Söhne, for example, recommends every 5 - 7 years of service intervals even for very complicated watches. Patek Philippe on their own website recommends every 8 to 10 years between services and here that even refers to watches as high-end and as expensive as the Grandmaster Chime. Even for such complex haute horologerie products, close to a decade between services is the standard. For a lot of Richemont brands including Cartier’s very accessibly priced pieces, there’s now an 8-year warranty. This goes the same for IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre. The said reflects the expectation that the service interval is going to be at least eight years if not more.
If we tilt the talk towards the higher 10-year warranty watches, a matching 10-year service interval seems self-evident. That’s what Oris assures for its watches powered by the Caliber 400 Series movement. If Oris can do this for a watch that costs ₹5,10,000, everyone else should.
Rolex too recommends to service your watch approximately every 10 years. And for Omega, they recommend having a complete service performed every 5 to 8 years depending on whether the timepiece is some sort of a chiming Speedmaster chronograph or a simple Seamaster 300.
So, nowhere is the obligation of sending a watch in for service every two years a recommended standard. With modern technology and lubricants, you should be good to go for more, regardless of what watch you own.
Brand | Official/Recommended Service Interval |
|---|---|
A. Lange & Söhne | Every 5 - 7 years |
Alpina | Every 3 - 4 years |
Arnold & Son | Every 4 - 5 years |
Ball Watch | Every 3 - 5 years |
Baume & Mercier | Every 3 - 5 years (5 - 7 for Baumatic models) |
Bell & Ross | Every 4 - 6 years |
Blancpain | Every 5 years |
Breguet | Every 5 - 8 years |
Breitling | Maintenance every 2 years, full service every 4 - 6 years |
Bulgari | Basic service every 2 - 3 years, overhaul every 4 - 5 years |
Carl F. Bucherer | Every 4 - 5 years |
Cartier | Every 5 - 6 years |
Certina | Every 3 - 4 years |
Chopard | Every 3 - 5 years |
Corum | Every 3 - 5 years |
Frederique Constant | Every 4 years |
F.P. Journe | Every 4 years |
Girard-Perregaux | Every 3 - 5 years |
Glashütte Original | Every 3 - 5 years |
Grand Seiko | Every 3 - 4 years |
Hublot | Every 3 - 5 years |
IWC Schaffhausen | Maintenance every 2 years, complete service every 5 years |
Jaeger-LeCoultre | Every 5 - 7 years |
Longines | Every 6 - 8 years |
Maurice Lacroix | Every 4 - 5 years |
Montblanc | Maintenance every 3 years, complete service every 5 years |
Nomos Glashütte | Every 3 - 5 years |
Omega | Every 5 - 8 years |
Oris | Every 3 - 5 years (Cal.400: 10 - 12 years) |
Officine Panerai | Every 4 - 5 years |
Patek Philippe | Every 8 - 10 years |
Piaget | Every 5 - 8 years |
Rado | Every 5 - 7 years |
Raymond Weil | Every 3 - 5 years |
Richard Mille | Every 3 years |
Rolex | Every 10 years |
Seiko | Every 3 years |
TAG Heuer | Every 5 - 6 years |
Tissot | Every 4 - 5 years |
Tudor | Every 10 years |
Ulysse Nardin | Every 5 years (complete) |
Vacheron Constantin | Every 5 - 10 years |
Zenith | Every 4 - 5 years |
Servicing is no longer a hidden cost
While the current watch service pricing isn’t a completely transparent process, more than a handful of brands list official service prices and make the same available to the public. This includes brands from all pricing genres. Many such manufacturers list very accurate service pricing figures but usually only for watches that only require cleaning, oiling, and adjustment.
Here, the prices usually don’t factor in any damage or needs for part replacement. But it seems that many brands are comfortable with making their service and sometimes even restoration prices transparent.
While the above won’t take away the heft of cost, it’ll definitely vanish the element of surprise when it comes to service pricing.
Below is a detailed list of service costs of some brands.
Brand | Official Price List For Complete Service Of The Movement |
|---|---|
A. Lange & Söhne | Saxonia Thin, Saxonia Without Date, 1815, Grand 1815, 1815 Moon Phase, 1815 Side Step, 1815 Up/Down, 1815 “200th Anniversary F. A. Lange”, Richard Lange: ₹1,21,760 Lange 1, Lange 1A, Grand Lange 1, Grand Lange 1 “Lumen”, Little 1, Little Lange 1, Saxonia Automatic, Grand Saxonia Automatic, Saxonia with Date, Little Saxonia, Langematik, Langematik Anniversary, 1815 Calendar Week, 1815 Moon Phase “Homage to F. A. Lange”, 1815 Automatic, Arkade, Grand Arkade, Cabaret, Cabaret Moon Phase: ₹1,32,830 Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase, Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase “Lumen”, Grand Lange 1 “Luna Mundi”, Little Lange 1 Moon Phase, Lange 1 Daymatic, Lange 1 Time Zone, Saxonia Automatic Outsize Date, Saxonia Moon Phase, Saxonia Dual Time, Grand Langematik, Langematik Outsize Date, 1815 “Homage To F. A. Lange”, 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”, 1815 Thin Honeygold “Homage to F. A. Lange”, Lange 1 Moon Phase, Richard Lange “Referenzuhr”, Odysseus: ₹1,55,000 Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar, Saxonia Annual Calendar, Datograph, Datograph Up/Down, Datograph Up/Down “Lumen”, Langematik Perpetual, 1815 Annual Calendar, 1815 Chronograph, Richard Lange Jumping Seconds: ₹2,43,500 Lange 1 Tourbillon, Zeitwerk (All Models), Datograph Perpetual, Lange 31, Double Split, Triple Split, 1815 Tourbillon, 1815 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst, 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold “Homage to F. A. Lange”, Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour Le Mérite”, Richard Lange, Richard Lange Tourbillon “Pour Le Mérite”, Cabaret Tourbillon, Tourbillon “Pour Le Mérite”: ₹4,65,000 |
Alpina | Mechanical watches: ₹34,000 Simple automatic watches: ₹34,000-40,500 Complicated automatic watches: ₹53,430 Manufacture movements: ₹53,430-70,460 Tourbillon: ₹1,45,000 Monolithic: ₹58,130 |
Audemars Piguet | Royal Oak Quartz: ₹70,460 Selfwinding: ₹1,11,566 Extra-thin: ₹1,52,670 Chronograph: ₹1,99,644 QP (chrono, QP, EOT): ₹2,58,364 Code 11.59 Selfwinding: ₹1,11,566 Chronograph: ₹1,99,644 Perpetual Calendar: ₹2,58,364 Others Quartz: ₹58,720 Hand-wound: ₹93,950 Selfwinding: ₹99,822 Extra-thin: ₹1,40,925 Chronograph: ₹1,87,900 QP (chrono, QP, EOT): ₹2,46,620 |
Bremont | Bremont Core (Calibre BB): ₹63,250 Bremont Complication (Calibre BC): ₹73,700 |
Baume & Mercier | Modern Watches (less than 20 years old): Basic ₹50,500, Small complication(s) ₹57,545, Chronograph ₹62,830, Chronograph with small complication(s) ₹70,460 Vintage Watches (more than 20 years old): Basic ₹92,775, Small complication(s) ₹1,05,100, Chronograph ₹1,16,850 |
Breitling | Mechanical Selfwinding watch / GMT: ₹27000 Chronograph: ₹41000 Chronograph Breitling caliber: ₹41000 Chronograph with complications: ₹43500 Quartz Analog: ₹23500 Analog / Analog-Digital Chronograph: ₹28000 UTC / CO-PILOT: ₹16500 Endurance Pro Endurance Pro: ₹24000 |
Cartier | Complete service: From ₹47,500 |
Certina | Mechanical Chronograph: ₹34,644 2-3 hands: ₹23,487 Quartz Chronograph: ₹22,313 2-3 hands: ₹14,092 |
Frederique Constant | Mechanical (hand‑wind): ₹34,000 Simple automatic: CHF ₹34,000-40,500 Complicated automatic watches: ₹53,430 Manufacture movements: ₹53,430-70,460 Tourbillon watches: ₹1,45,000 Monolithic watches: ₹58,130 |
Hamilton | Automatic / Manual winding 2 - 3 hands: ₹19,900 Automatic Chronographs: ₹29,750 Quartz 2 - 3 hands: ₹14,500 Quartz Chronographs, Multi Touch: ₹20,900 |
Hublot | Complete Service: ₹95,120 |
IWC Schaffhausen | Ingenieur Automatic 35: ₹64,000 All model service prices available on Service Price Calculator |
Jaeger-LeCoultre | Master Control Chronometre Date: ₹1,05,000 Reverso Tribute Chronograph: ₹1,70,000 Polaris Perpetual Calendar: ₹2,70,000 Duometre Quantieme Lunaire: ₹2,70,000 All model service prices available on Service Price Calculator |
Longines | Quartz 2 or 3 hands + calendar: ₹19,000 Chronograph: ₹26,700 Mechanical 2 or 3 hands + small complications: ₹28,000 Chronograph + great complications: ₹36,800 |
Maurice Lacroix | Quartz Without complication: ₹25,460 With complication: ₹35,423 Mechanical/Automatic Without complication: ₹44,280 With complication: ₹56,456 Manufacture Without complication: ₹66,419 With complication: ₹88,560 |
Mido | Mechanical 2-3 hands: ₹25,836 Chronograph: ₹38,754 Quartz 2-3 hands: ₹18,790 |
Nomos Glashütte | In-House Movements With Manual Winding DUW 4001/Alpha: ₹ 28,540 DUW 4101/Beta: ₹31,870 DUW 4301/Gamma: ₹39,000 DUW 4401/Delta: ₹43,285 DUW 4601: ₹31,870 In-House Movements With Automatic Winding DUW 5001/Epsilon: ₹43,285 DUW 5101/Zeta: ₹48,040 DUW 5201/Xi: ₹54,700 DUW 3001: ₹43,285 DUW 3202: ₹54,700 DUW 6101: ₹48,040 |
Omega | Non-Chronograph Quartz: ₹34,000 (non-precious material), ₹41,000 (precious material) Mechanical: ₹51,400 (non-precious material), ₹58,400 (precious material) Chronograph Quartz: ₹44,000 (non-precious material), ₹57,000 (precious material) Mechanical: ₹66,200 (non-precious material), ₹79,200 (precious material) |
Officine Panerai | Mechanical Hour-Minutes: ₹70,400 Hour-Minutes + GMT, Hour-Minutes + Chronograph: ₹92,270 Hour-Minutes + GMT + Alarm, Hour-Minutes + GMT + Chronograph, Hour-Minutes + GMT + Equation of Time, Hour-Minutes + Chronograph + Flyback, Hour-Minutes + Chronograph + Split time: ₹1,02,740 Tourbillon, Perpetual Calendar, Annual Calendar: ₹2,00,000 |
Patek Philippe | Quartz: ₹70,462 Mechanical, manually wound: ₹1,05,700 Mechanical, self-winding: ₹1,17,438 Complication I (annual calendar, travel time, moon phases, etc.): ₹1,76,157 Complication II (perpetual calendar, chronograph, Annual Calendar chronograph): ₹2,46,620 Complication III (chronograph with perpetual calendar, retrograde perpetual calendar): ₹3,17,083 |
Piaget | Quartz: ₹54,225 Mechanical: ₹78,010 Complications: ₹96,085 High Complications: ₹2,25,465 |
Rado | Quartz watches: ₹8,900 Quartz chronograph: ₹11,900 Quartz watches with multifunction: ₹13,200 Automatic watches: ₹10,900 Automatic chronographs: ₹17,600 Chronometer models and automatic watches with skeletonised movement: ₹15,700 |
Raymond Weil | Mechanical Watches: Starting from ₹36,400 Quartz Watches: Starting from ₹27,560 |
Richard Mille | RM 001 Tourbillon: ₹12,33,100 RM 11-03 Automatic Flyback Chronograph McLaren: ₹6,81,141 RM 27-05 Manual Winding Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal: ₹16,44,135 All model service prices available on Service Price Calculator |
Roger Dubuis | Quartz: ₹1,04,530 Simple: ₹1,56,200 Small complications: ₹2,60,710 Complication: ₹5,01,461 |
Seiko | Mechanical Regular 7S Series: ₹2,000 Mechanical Neo 4835 4836 4837 4857: ₹3,500 Mechanical 6R35: ₹7,000 Mechanical Multifunction 6R20, 6R21, 6R24, 6R27, 6R31, 6R38, 6R5j,6R55, 8R48: ₹9,000 |
TAG Heuer | Quartz Watches: ₹29,850 Quartz Chronographs: ₹35,800 Mechanical Watches: ₹44,750 Mechanical Chronographs: ₹55,700 Mechanical In-House & COSC: ₹69,750 |
Tissot | Mechanical 2–3 hands: ₹16,300 Chronograph: ₹24,000 Quartz 2–3 hands: ₹9,800 Chronograph: ₹15,400 Touch-screen watches All touch-screen models: ₹24,000 |
Vacheron Constantin | Quartz Movement: ₹69,288 Manual & Automatic Simple Movement: ₹95,120 Manual & Automatic Special Movement: ₹1,55,000 Complication Movement: ₹2,46,620 |
Zenith | Simple Mechanical: ₹58,720 Mechanical Complication: ₹70,462 Simple Chronograph: ₹76,334 Complicated Chronograph: ₹88,080 |
Servicing is an inevitability
Servicing, despite being one of the most common features of luxury watch ownership and an inevitability in the hobby, still tends to be a bit opaque in regards to the duration, communication, or surprise charges from unexpected parts replacement. Here, the price to pay is beyond money and even money if you believe that time is money.
A complete service or overhaul usually requires a watchmaker to disassemble the watch, inspect every component, evaluate its condition and then replace, repair, clean, oil, assemble, adjust and time the watch. This all takes time. And considering the fact that over the past couple of decades there has been an explosive interest in watches in general, manufacturers are building millions of watches more than their infrastructure allows to handle for servicing.
So, by achieving extended warranties for watches, manufacturing with better tolerances, opting for modern lubricants, and by extending intervals between services, manufacturers not only add value for the customer but also forestall service to as long as possible, simply because it’s difficult to handle.
That’s a sensible way to deal with the limitations of human hands which actually favors the owners.
Servicing being a common requisite, must be understood more, managed faster, communicated better and considered not as a hidden cost but as an actual financial inevitability of the hobby.
