ROLEX WATCH REPAIR, OMEGA WATCH REPAIR, BULOVA WATCH REPAIR, GRUEN WATCH REPAIR, & SEIKO WATCH REPAIR ARE A SPECIALTY!
FROM VINTAGE AMERICAN POCKET WATCHES TO THE FINEST SWISS WATCHES OF TODAY, LET ME HANDLE YOUR WATCH REPAIR!
PRICES AND INFORMATION IN EFFECT AUGUST 22, 2007
Please Note! I am currently only accepting Seiko Kinetic watches for repair. Please refer all other repairs to the following individuals who are more than qualified to handle your repair. Thank you for your understanding! Scott A. Ekleberry For general repairs and Rolex repairs please contact James Sadilek at as he has a Rolex parts account and can service your Rolex with genuine parts. For Omega, Rolex, other high-grade watches, and mechanical wrist watches, please contact Jon Horton at . Jon does NOT accept quartz watches for repair. For pocket watch repairs please contact Robert Porter at .
If your watch has the word "quartz" on the dial, or you have never wound it and it ran, it is probably a battery powered quartz watch.
If it has been over a year since you had a battery put in your watch, and you haven't gotten it wet, or done something really nasty to the watch, it probably has a dead battery.
Battery powered watches have less power in them than wind up watches, and they won't continue to run (and wear themselves out) with dirt in them as a mechanical watch would; they just stop. When your battery powered watch is new, you may get many years from a battery. As the watch ages and the oil gets gummy and the movement gets dirty, you'll get fewer and fewer years from each battery until a new battery won't make it run, then it will need to be cleaned. I can often "unblock" a stuck gear train with my "cyclonic" machine which spins the movement train at high speed using a magnetic field. If that doesn't work then the movement will have to be cleaned or replaced. Sometimes it's cheaper to replace the watch movement than it is to repair or clean and oil the movement. If movement replacement is not needed, the watch can often (but not always) be fixed for $25 or less which the estimate fee would cover (please see below). If your watch has a quartz movement there is a 99% chance it will be covered by the information on this page.
ESTIMATES
Estimates on quartz watches will be $40 to cover time to do a proper estimate and return shipping with $200 insurance. This estimate fee is for one (1) watch only, for each additional watch add $35 per watch. In the event you decide to have the work done, the estimate fee will be credited to your final bill.
If you would like extra insurance on your timepiece please add $1.00 per $100 of extra insurance and state so clearly in your note.
CAN YOU FIX MY WATCH?
In terms of repair to the inside (movement) of a quartz watch, the name on the outside means almost nothing as most (but not all) quartz watches use ETA, Miyota, ISA, Hattori, or Harley movements (plus a few other lesser brands). Most of these movements are readily available from material houses I do business with.
As far as the outside of the watch goes, maybe and maybe not. Many watch companies are using proprietary parts on their cases such as crystals and crowns. These same companies are often refusing to sell the parts to watchmakers in an attempt to force consumers to use THEIR service centers, often at great expense to the consumer. As an example I can't get Breitling crystals. Breitling demands that all watches be sent to them for COMPLETE overhaul (about $400) even if you only need a crystal or another simple part like a crown!.
My approach has been to try to find the part (such as a crystal) at a material house first. If this is not successful I then call the watch company's service center and try to get the part (yes I DO ask nicely!). If I don't succeed in getting the part from them I often have the customer call the service center and request to purchase the part (no one likes an unhappy customer!). If all else fails then perhaps a suitable substitute (in the case of a crystal or crown) can be found.
In any event I WILL have to see the watch to give you an estimate or a yes/no answer on weather or not I can get parts or repair it. NO estimates will be given unless I have the chance to examine the watch.
QUARTZ WATCH REPAIR RATES
Work on quartz watches is charged at the hourly rate of $40 and hour, minimum charge is $40.
Cyclonic cleaning of quartz watches is $10. I have a very good Cyclonic cleaner (the best one you can buy). There is just a small charge for this service. If the watch stops, and it still has good pulse, this cleaning can often return the watch to usable status for some time, possibly even a few years. This charge is a lot cheaper than changing the movement and I recommend trying this before replacing the movement. A new battery and case gasket will also be required with this service.
Quartz movements replaced starting at $100. It is often better (and cheaper) to swap-out your faulty movement for a new one than to try and repair or clean the faulty movement unless the Cyclonic cleaning can return it to service.
OTHER ITEMS YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE DONE WHILE I SERVICE YOUR WATCH
Why not have your watch's crystal replaced while your watch is in for service?? A new crystal makes a big difference in how your watch will look, makes it a lot easier to see the time too! The prices I charge for crystals are very reasonable. If your wrist watch has a "mineral glass" crystal now it may be able to be fitted with a sapphire crystal which will give you a virtually scratch resistant crystal for a long time to come. Click the link below for crystal prices.
Why not have your watch's crown replaced while your watch is in for service??? If your crown is gold plated, chances are it is worn and the plating is coming off. As with the crystal replacement, crown replacement can make a big difference in how the watch looks.
Crowns replaced starting at $30
IMPORTANT POINTS, PLEASE READ!
Labor rate is $40 per hour.
WATER RESISTANCE OF WATCHES IS not GUARANTEED. There are all kinds of legal reasons for this, so your understanding is appreciated!
Due to quality and/or parts issues I no longer work on the following brands of watches: Crown, New York Standard, Columbia.
Please don't e-mail asking if I have parts for this watch or that watch, watchmakers are NOT material houses. We do keep some common parts, such as mainsprings and balance staffs for American pocket watches, and vintage wrist & pocket watch crystals. I also often try to pick up hard to find parts when they become available also, but we can't stock parts for every single watch, the overhead would kill us! When I need a part I usually order it from one of the material houses I do business with. In any event I WILL have to have the watch here so I can get pertinent information to order the parts.
I reserve the right to refuse service on any watch. I am sorry for this, but due to the recent amount of hacked and cobbled watches coming into my shop I have no choice.
I will not under any circumstances work on nor do I endorse any replica/fake watches!
Please do not e-mail asking me to sell parts. I repair watches for my living and need the parts I have to repair my customers watches.
Not responsible for accidents or damages or loss in the mail.
SHIPPING AND ESTIMATES
PLEASE read, agree to, and follow the procedure below exactly for sending your watch for estimate/repair. The steps below are for YOUR safety and that of your timepiece! I take in many watches for repair and without the proper information I have requested I can not track your watch or return it to you! SIMPLY HAVING THE INFORMATION ON YOUR CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IS NOT ENOUGH. I AM SOMETIMES NOT THE ONE THAT OPENS THE PARCELS OR CASHES THE CHECKS/MONEY ORDERS. PLEASE, PLEASE PROVIDE THE INFORMATION I ASK FOR BELOW! THANK YOU!!!
I hate to add this, but after years of asking, people still are sending their watches in envelopes, padded envelopes, and uninsured. That being said, ANY watch that is received in an envelope or uninsured WILL be refused at the post office and returned to the owner at their expense. I am sorry, but if I accept the package and there is damage I then become the responsible party. please ship you watch in a box and insure it. thank you!!!
1) BEFORE sending your watch you must first e-mail me for approval of your repair. NO watches except Seiko Kinetic will be accepted for repair without prior approval. Once your repair is approved by me you will be provided with my complete shipping address. THERE IS NO SHIPPING ADDRESS ON THIS PAGE AS ALL REPAIRS EXCEPT SEIKO KINETIC OVERHAULS AND BATTERY OVERHAULS MUST BE PRE-APPROVED BEFORE ACCEPTANCE.
2) Wrap your watch in BUBBLE WRAP and place it in a BOX (the US Post Office gives away Priority Mail boxes for free (request the small video box). DO NOT SHIP TO ME IN A PADDED ENVELOPE (yes some people HAVE done this!)! ANY WATCH RECEIVED IN A PADDED ENVELOPE WILL BE REFUSED AT THE POST OFFICE AND RETURNED TO ITS OWNER AT THEIR COST. Shipping in a padded envelope is just inviting your watch to be destroyed!!!
Fill the box completely with packing material so your watch doesn't become damaged in shipment! I have had people using 1 small piece of bubble wrap in a large box. The result is the watch comes out of the bubble wrap and bangs around for thousands of miles in transit. PLEASE, use an adequate amount of packing material to fill the box, it will be cheaper than buying a new watch!!
PLEASE do not use "styrofoam peanuts" to pack the watch! The result will be that the watch will settle to the bottom and be unprotected for most of the trip to my Post Office!
Taping is OK, just don't "tape it to death"! I had one watch come in that was lucky to survive the unwrapping process because the owner used half a roll of package tape over the bubble wrap and on the watch! PLEASE, do not put tape on the watch itself!
DO NOT SHIP WATCHES TO ME IN A PADDED ENVELOPE (yes some people HAVE done this)! ANY WATCH RECEIVED IN A PADDED ENVELOPE WILL BE REFUSED AT THE POST OFFICE AND RETURNED TO ITS OWNER AT THEIR COST! Shipping in a padded envelope is just inviting your watch to be damaged or destroyed!!!
Make a note of the serial number and case number of your watch before you send it and write it on the index card you enclosed with the watch. If something does happen this will make sure your proper watch is returned to you safely. The serial # is a 6-digit number on the lower case back.
3) Enclose a card (index cards are great for this, they fit right in my repair envelopes) with your name, address and telephone number including area code AND e-mail address (I like to give estimates by e-mail, produces a written record for both of us). Please write on the card what you would like done to your watch.
DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! I MUST HAVE THE INFORMATION TO ENSURE YOUR WATCH IS RETURNED TO YOU!
4) Include a check in the proper amount to cover the estimate fee (see Estimates above).
NO work will be done without the estimate fee. I DO NOT do work on "approval"!
5) Ship your timepiece by USPS Priority Mail.
Insure your parcel for at least $100.
Put Delivery Confirmation on the parcel (that way YOU can check to make sure I received it on-line). The e-mail situation is getting overwhelming and I will no longer e-mail when watches are received, sorry.
Mark the package "FRAGILE".
DO NOT SHIP BY UPS OR FED-EX, THEY CANNOT DELIVER TO MY PO BOX ADDRESS.
IMPORTANT NOTES
I DO NOT do work on "approval", no watch will be returned until the bill is settled or the watch can be sent C.O.D.
You may check the progress of your repair at any time AFTER I have responded with your initial evaluation (it does no good to ask me about the repair status of a watch I haven't even had the chance to look at) by e-mailing me.
If you do contact me about your repair, PLEASE be specific, I can have other watches in the shop and can't remember ever one.
Please take the following as a guideline for repair times
Evaluations: 1-2 months. If you haven't heard from me after 2 1/2 months then please e-mail me.
Pocket watch repairs completed: 4-12 months. This will depend on my schedule and parts availability. In the case of some older watches it may take MONTHS to find the parts, not weeks.
PLEASE, allow me time to do the work, I can't estimate/fix every watch that comes in within 4-5 days, it is just not possible, especially during the "busy season".
PAYMENT METHODS
Personal check
Cashiers check
Money order
I do not take any credit card payments. Sorry!
Please make all checks or money orders payable to Scott A. Ekleberry
If you still feel you have any unanswered questions after reading through my website, please feel free to e-mail questions. Thank you!!!
AFFILIATIONS
LIFE MEMBER AWCI
MEMBER OF THE "CHRONOMETER CLUB" AWCI AFFILIATE CHAPTER
This site is protected by the copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. Violations of copyright laws and international treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
This page and all content copyright 2001-2007 by It's About Time! Watch Repair