Anyone know about Tag watch repair?

thermionic

Incidentally, Vostok make their own movements and they can knock out a watch with an automatic 31 jewel movement for around £40. OK it's maybe not so durable long term as an Omega as a Rolex, but you can buy 4-5 new Vostoks for the price of an Omega service.

thisisguitar

thermionic said:

Vostok Amphibians are great! I paid £36 for mine (good exchange rate at the time). I'd love a Speedmaster (grew up watching the Apollo missions) but I doubt I'll ever earn enough to be able to afford one.

Good advice on this thread. I have a TAG F1 that the battery died in about a year ago - is it likely to have leaked and destroyed the movement? TAG prices to replace a battery are ludicrous, which is why I neglected it when it stopped.

Tag watches, in my experience, tend to have the battery leak BEFORE they have completely run out! It's best to get a quartz Tag done within a certain timeframe, which I'm sure tag will recommend (possibly every 2-5 years, forgive my vagueness on this, it's been a while).

Normally the battery will leak and take out the contact at the negative terminal, then the whole movement is usually swapped out. It is considered beyond economical repair to actually fix the movement itself at this point.

thisisguitar

FX_Munkee said:

I do my own watch repairs, there's not really a lot to it TBH.
As long as the case, face, hands are OK the movements can usually be replaced no problem.
I "think" TAG's use std ETA movements which can be had for £20 upwards.
To disassemble is as straight forward as open case, remove stem/crown, remove movement including face and hands from case, remove hands and face from movement. Reassembly is the reverse.
Obviously there's a bit more to it (including very steady hands and a jewelers lupe) but it's fairly simple really.

Personally I like Seiko Automatics, real watches (all mechanical) for not much money

I really rate Seiko watches too, and Rotary are well made for the money. If you are the sort of person who likes to tinker it's not a difficult job doing basic watch maintenance.

holnrew

This is why the posh ones cost so much



Having lost a watch, I don't think I could spend that much on one.

FX_Munkee

holnrew said:

This is why the posh ones cost so much

No it's not. Posh ones cost what they do mainly because you're paying to maintain their astronomical marketing budget. Rolex's et al are not made by hand (well, not like in that video). They like everybody else use robots and mechatronics to assemble movements.
And as for Quartz movements, they're pretty much all the same technically and incredibly simple, so why some cost £5 and some £250 is almost entirely down to what name is on the case it's going into.
Seriously, their's so much BS in watches it makes some of the cork-sniffing on MyLesPaul forums sounds actually plausible.

joneve

Just discovered the website Chrono24. 

My life is officially over. 

joneve

FX_Munkee said:

holnrew said:

This is why the posh ones cost so much

No it's not. Posh ones cost what they do mainly because you're paying to maintain their astronomical marketing budget. Rolex's et al are not made by hand (well, not like in that video). They like everybody else use robots and mechatronics to assemble movements.
And as for Quartz movements, they're pretty much all the same technically and incredibly simple, so why some cost £5 and some £250 is almost entirely down to what name is on the case it's going into.
Seriously, their's so much BS in watches it makes some of the cork-sniffing on MyLesPaul forums sounds actually plausible.

Bit of a generalisation though, no? Not ALL luxury watches are machine made...But yes, there is a lot of BS in watches...BUT THEY ARE SO SHINY! 

FX_Munkee

OK I admit it it was a bit of a rant, and I concede somewhat a generalisation, but:-
Rolex - not hand made.
Omega - not hand made.
Lang & Heyne - hand made, but now we're at the silly end of the spectrum.

Rolex and Omega are as hand made as Seiko and Citizen. You are not paying all that extra cash for a better watch, you are paying for the name/badge.

BTW for those that like an "honest" watch, check out Christopher Ward. Good swiss movements housed in nice cases at reasonable prices and best of all a British Company.

joneve

FX_Munkee said:

OK I admit it it was a bit of a rant, and I concede somewhat a generalisation, but:-
Rolex - not hand made.
Omega - not hand made.
Lang & Heyne - hand made, but now we're at the silly end of the spectrum.

Rolex and Omega are as hand made as Seiko and Citizen. You are not paying all that extra cash for a better watch, you are paying for the name/badge.

BTW for those that like an "honest" watch, check out Christopher Ward. Good swiss movements housed in nice cases at reasonable prices and best of all a British Company.

Fair enough.

I've always loved the look of Omega watches, which is why my 30th birthday present will probably involve one...but now I've just discovered Chrono24, I've just found an absolutely gorgeous pre-owned Automatic Speedmaster Chrono (not a scratch on it, as far as I can tell) for less than £1300...I'd be more than happy to pay that, considering they retail at nearly £3000 (and beyond) these days. 

chillidoggy

 

Rolex are overpriced in my view. But as long as there are those like me who are fascinated or interested in watches, then people will buy them. I can’t help being drawn to jeweller’s windows when I see any watches, whatever they’re selling. With the top-end jobs, it’s a name and a design you’re buying, not necessarily a watch that keeps time any better than a £1 quartz job from the filling station. Although as it happens, my new Sub gains 1 second a day, which, for a mechanical device, is a staggering level of accuracy. But I guess that won’t match a quartz watch of any description.  Call it watch snobbery if you like, it’s probably true. Exclusivity? Not necessarily, because they’re quite common. But is that any different from buying a Gibson at some horrendous price, when there are ‘better’ guitars around for the money? Not really, in my view.

The one thing I can say is that you will generally get back what you paid for a Rolex, especially secondhand. I have no idea if that’s the same for other brands, however. I do have a hankering for one of the Omega Speedmasters, and I also quite like one or two in the Longines Master series. I am a bit of a window shopper though, cos I can’t really afford to indulge the hobby properly!

joneve

That about sums up my feelings as well.

Neil

My other hobby has always been  watch collecting and I see quite a few generalisations being thrown about. One Swiss movement is not the same as another.

Re Rolex, they use in house movements i.e entirely made by themselves with a free sprung balance and Breguet overcoil and are quite a bit different to a basic generic ETA used in cheaper (but still fairly expensive) watches. 

The Swiss watch houses that are completely in house are the expensive ones like JLC and Lange. Exclusivity costs, in a similar vein to boutique guitar brands. After all there are plenty of Strat shaped bodies with a bolt on maple neck but a huge disparity in prices.

The Japanese Seiko and Citizens are in house also but of course are giant conglomerates in comparison with Seiko selling more watches than the whole main Swiss industry so it is actually far cheaper to do it all themselves. Besides no other makers could probably supply 20 million movements a year.

It is a very interesting subject and those that expressed an interest in Speedmasters may find my crappy website of mild amusement.

http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

holnrew

Neil said:

My other hobby has always been  watch collecting and I see quite a few generalisations being thrown about. One Swiss movement is not the same as another.

Re Rolex, they use in house movements i.e entirely made by themselves with a free sprung balance and Breguet overcoil and are quite a bit different to a basic generic ETA used in cheaper (but still fairly expensive) watches. 

The Swiss watch houses that are completely in house are the expensive ones like JLC and Lange. Exclusivity costs, in a similar vein to boutique guitar brands. After all there are plenty of Strat shaped bodies with a bolt on maple neck but a huge disparity in prices.

The Japanese Seiko and Citizens are in house also but of course are giant conglomerates in comparison with Seiko selling more watches than the whole main Swiss industry so it is actually far cheaper to do it all themselves. Besides no other makers could probably supply 20 million movements a year.

It is a very interesting subject and those that expressed an interest in Speedmasters may find my crappy website of mild amusement.

http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

I'm not a watch person, but I found it very interesting. I always enjoy it when somebody who has a love for something and shares it.

joneve

Neil said:

My other hobby has always been  watch collecting and I see quite a few generalisations being thrown about. One Swiss movement is not the same as another.

Re Rolex, they use in house movements i.e entirely made by themselves with a free sprung balance and Breguet overcoil and are quite a bit different to a basic generic ETA used in cheaper (but still fairly expensive) watches. 

The Swiss watch houses that are completely in house are the expensive ones like JLC and Lange. Exclusivity costs, in a similar vein to boutique guitar brands. After all there are plenty of Strat shaped bodies with a bolt on maple neck but a huge disparity in prices.

The Japanese Seiko and Citizens are in house also but of course are giant conglomerates in comparison with Seiko selling more watches than the whole main Swiss industry so it is actually far cheaper to do it all themselves. Besides no other makers could probably supply 20 million movements a year.

It is a very interesting subject and those that expressed an interest in Speedmasters may find my crappy website of mild amusement.

http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

Wow! Incredible collection. Stupidly decided to try on a Speedmaster Racing with co-axial chronometer tonight. It's the only sub 40mm case the collection cones in and thus doesn't look stupid on my wrist. I now want one. A lot.

FX_Munkee

Neil said:

My other hobby has always been  watch collecting and I see quite a few generalisations being thrown about. One Swiss movement is not the same as another.

Re Rolex, they use in house movements i.e entirely made by themselves with a free sprung balance and Breguet overcoil and are quite a bit different to a basic generic ETA used in cheaper (but still fairly expensive) watches. 

The Swiss watch houses that are completely in house are the expensive ones like JLC and Lange. Exclusivity costs, in a similar vein to boutique guitar brands. After all there are plenty of Strat shaped bodies with a bolt on maple neck but a huge disparity in prices.

The Japanese Seiko and Citizens are in house also but of course are giant conglomerates in comparison with Seiko selling more watches than the whole main Swiss industry so it is actually far cheaper to do it all themselves. Besides no other makers could probably supply 20 million movements a year.

It is a very interesting subject and those that expressed an interest in Speedmasters may find my crappy website of mild amusement.

http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

OK, I'll concede I have over generalised quite a bit. When I read it back it even looks like I might be trolling
Just as long as people are aware of the incredible (IMHO) diminishing return levels when you're looking at expensive watches and that they're not lovingly hand crafted cog by cog by swiss elves with tiny files.

Oh and obviously if you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible, buy a £5 quartz from the petrol station

Neil

FX_Munkee said:

OK, I'll concede I have over generalised quite a bit. When I read it back it even looks like I might be trolling
Just as long as people are aware of the incredible (IMHO) diminishing return levels when you're looking at expensive watches and that they're not lovingly hand crafted cog by cog by swiss elves with tiny files. [/quote]

Oh and obviously if you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible, buy a £5 quartz from the petrol station

Your comment about diminishing returns is equally valid with guitars, in fact with all luxury goods compared to their more common brethren. The fact remains if you buy a new Rolex sports watch you can wear it for five years and then sell it for your money back. Buying second hand over the same period will see you in profit.

BTW If you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible you will want far something better than a petrol station quartz. 

It will be a thermo compensated movement like a Bretling or Seiko 9F but they are not cheap, the 9F only being found in the Grand Seiko line which cost thousands. 

Haute horology can be expensive (I only buy second hand) but fascinating.

joneve

Neil said:

FX_Munkee said:

OK, I'll concede I have over generalised quite a bit. When I read it back it even looks like I might be trolling
Just as long as people are aware of the incredible (IMHO) diminishing return levels when you're looking at expensive watches and that they're not lovingly hand crafted cog by cog by swiss elves with tiny files. [/quote]

Oh and obviously if you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible, buy a £5 quartz from the petrol station

Your comment about diminishing returns is equally valid with guitars, in fact with all luxury goods compared to their more common brethren. The fact remains if you buy a new Rolex sports watch you can wear it for five years and then sell it for your money back. Buying second hand over the same period will see you in profit.

BTW If you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible you will want far something better than a petrol station quartz. 

It will be a thermo compensated movement like a Bretling or Seiko 9F but they are not cheap, the 9F only being found in the Grand Seiko line which cost thousands. 

Haute horology can be expensive (I only buy second hand) but fascinating.

The most important question, which I am going to pose to you; if I buy a Speedmaster (or Seamaster AT - can I get away with wearing it as a dress watch? 

chillidoggy

Yes.

Neil

Either definitely.

Enjoy the hunt. 

vasselmeyer

Neil said:

BTW If you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible you will want far something better than a petrol station quartz. 

It will be a thermo compensated movement like a Bretling or Seiko 9F but they are not cheap, the 9F only being found in the Grand Seiko line which cost thousands. 

A few Christmases ago my wife bought me Seiko Kinetic Coutura which is the most accurate watch I have ever had. I varies by no more than a second over a month and (I'm really hoping) it was no more than about £150. How accurate do we really need?