How often do you service your watch/es?

Hubert · Jan 17, 2015

TAG Heuer suggest:

We recommend a maintenance service every 1 or 2 years or a failed water-resistance test. As a general rule, all TAG Heuer watches require an annual check of their water-resistance. This service is available at most of our Official Service Centres.

The opinions I've gotten are varied. Some owners only do it when there is a problem. Others do it every 5 or 6 years to ensure the water seals are intact.

How often do you service your watch/es?

And have you guys gotten good results after servicing your watch from reporting the mechanism runs "slower" or "faster" than expected?

Calibre11 · Jan 17, 2015

Hubert
TAG Heuer suggest:

The opinions I've gotten are varied. Some owners only do it when there is a problem. Others do it every 5 or 6 years to ensure the water seals are intact.

How often do you service your watch/es?

And have you guys gotten good results after servicing your watch from reporting the mechanism runs "slower" or "faster" than expected?

I'm very bad at this. My re-edition Heuer Monza that I bought in 2001 still hasn't had a service, which I know it should. It still keeps great time, but I don't take it in the water, so seals aren't that relevant for me. BUT, I agree that if you want it to work at its best, you should service regularly (~5 years sounds about right to me unless you regularly swim with the watch)

dsio · Jan 17, 2015

I think they must mean seal change every 1-2 years which is correct, I only have 2 water resistant watches and I have them pressure tested every 18 months and seal changed every 2-3.

This is my sister in law's Daytona as a result of not paying the small amount necessary to change the seals and have a WPT done:

Hubert · Jan 17, 2015

Thanks for the feedback guys. I don't swim with any of my "non-diver" watches. But I do want to ensure they won't suffer from water damage over a faucet.

Any experience from servicing watches to adjust the timing? Some of my watches seem to run "faster" than others.

Do any of you have any service "horror" stories?

Calibre11 · Jan 18, 2015

dsio
I think they must mean seal change every 1-2 years which is correct, I only have 2 water resistant watches and I have them pressure tested every 18 months and seal changed every 2-3.

This is my sister in law's Daytona as a result of not paying the small amount necessary to change the seals and have a WPT done:

Now I'm too scared to open my Monza!

EnricoDePaoli · Jan 18, 2015

My experience in life has shown me that most of the times I had something being fixed, it came back with a new problem that didn't exist before. Even with my endless search for excellence, many times when servicing a Mercedes or a TAG, a new blemish or headache has come along. So, I tend to only do the least necessary.

In case of my TAGs, I have been changing batteries myself and the mechanical ones have not seen service in a while. I have not been taking then in the water and I will service them when really necessary. Unless I learn something new along the way, or if I meet a real good watchmaker!

By the way, this is my first post here. Hello everyone! Congrats DC for the amazing site and forum.

Hubert · Jan 18, 2015

Thanks for the feedback Enrico, and welcome to the forum!

I share your sentiment. Which is why, I was querying people about their experience.

My first TAG Heuer F1 has been serviced several times to replace the battery, and a few times it has come back with a blemish or two.

My TAG Heuer mechanical chronographs have not 'needed' service yet, but some that I bought in the last two years, run a bit too fast.

TAG Heuer is now insisting on the quality of their current customer service, but I wanted to poll the forum about their stance on this.

Calibre11 · Jan 18, 2015

Welcome Enrico, and lovely to see you here!

The official advice is to have a "maintenance service" every 1-2 years (check seals for water resistance) and a major overhaul every 4-6 years. If you are not using your watch near water, then the 4-6 years is right and will avoid your watch looking like that lovely Daytona El Primero above.

Hubert · Jan 18, 2015

I think that is a sensible practice; thanks David.

dsio · Jan 19, 2015

D.C
Welcome Enrico, and lovely to see you here!

The official advice is to have a "maintenance service" every 1-2 years (check seals for water resistance) and a major overhaul every 4-6 years. If you are not using your watch near water, then the 4-6 years is right and will avoid your watch looking like that lovely Daytona El Primero above.

That Daytona is actually the modern 4130 one, its mid 2000s which made it even harder to get fixed as there's zero parts available for the in-house 4130 movement.

Calibre11 · Jan 19, 2015

Ah, you can tell I don't know Rolex well 😉

Mark_85 · Jan 19, 2015

Where do yo live Hubert? If it is anywhere near the tropics, where it is humid, I would definitely get your seals checked/replaced every two years. How fast are your watches running?

Hubert · Jan 19, 2015

I live States-side Mark by the Rockies, so quite dry with low humidity. The timing varies; I've synchronized them to measure the differences in the upcoming weeks. Let's see how the Calibre 11s compare against the Calibre 17s and the 1887s.

Mark_85 · Jan 20, 2015

I would be almost certain it would go Cal. 17, 1887, Cal. 11. Let me know how you go

Hubert · Feb 1, 2015

Time for an update.

After checking just now, the two 1887s, two Calibre 17s, and two Calibre 11s are running about the same, when each is compared to its same Calibre-counterpart.

However my third Calibre 11 (caw211a) is running about 3.5 minutes faster than the other two (caw211c & caw211d). I got this one in November, from an authorized dealer, who shipped it from abroad, since there were no more "new" to be found. Would you guys send it to TAG Heuer for service/adjustment?

According to TAG Heuer's website, this delta would is still be within their range tolerance, assuming of course, that I am reading this correctly and this model falls with the "Automatic" category, whereas the 'Chronometer' bracket is just for the chrono dials:
http://customer-service.tagheuer.com/en-us/question/what-is-an-automatic-movement-0

Why does my automatic watch not keep accurate time?

The accuracy of TAG Heuer watches depends on several factors, including the type of movement and conditions of use. The following list shows TAG Heuer average tolerance given by the Swiss movement suppliers (based on normal conditions, and full power reserve for automatics):

Quartz movement: between -1 and +11 seconds per month
Standard automatic: between -5 and +20 seconds per day
Chronometer: between -4 and +6 seconds per day

A TAG Heuer watchmaker can carry out a maintenance service to adjust the timing rate of an automatic movement if it is performing outside these tolerances.

Thoughts?

Mark_85 · Feb 2, 2015

Do you keep them on a watch winder? So 3.5 min (gaining) over 3 weeks? Sounds reasonable to me

Hubert · Feb 2, 2015

Yes, all of them are in winders. Thanks for the feedback Mark.

dtf · Feb 3, 2015

2009 Aquaracer Quartz Watch, bought this new in April '09, have surfed, swum, windsurfed and snowboarded with this watch, battery went flat last month, so I pulled the back off to see what state it was in:

Never been apart before, totally mint internally and no evidence of any water ingression.

Calibre11 · Feb 4, 2015

Hubert
Yes, all of them are in winders. Thanks for the feedback Mark.

Agree- I'd get it looked at when you go in for a service, but unless it bugs you, I don't think it's a huge problem

Hubert · Feb 4, 2015

Thanks David; that's what I am thinking too. Thanks for all the comments!