The Hidden Cost of Watch Repair: Labor, Materials, and Equipment Explained

In order to explain why watches can't afford this, I plan to give you a detailed analysis and breakdown of the three reasons why labor costs, material costs, and equipment costs. As a matter of fact, it is very clear from the answer of these eight words alone that labor cost naturally refers to the cost of maintenance personnel, and the cost here not only refers to the salary of maintenance personnel, but also includes the cost of how to become a maintenance personnel.

We call it: the cost of repairer training!

An example:

It takes 10 years to train a qualified watchmaker at Patek Philippe and at least 2 years to train a brand repairer. The longer the training period, the higher the cost of training!

In addition to Patek Philippe and other brands that have their own repairmen, some watch repair stores also have their repairmen undergo some training. A good and experienced master provides excellent service. Generally speaking, the skill level of a fast repair master is different from that of a slow repair master.

Therefore, this cost will also be part of the consumer's maintenance costs. The general price difference between fast repair, slow repair, and complete service is as follows: fast repair and cleaning, most commonly replacing the battery and doing a checking service for the watch seal.

When it comes to price, a replacement battery typically costs between $80-$150. The battery here is the material cost mentioned above. Cutting or replacing the strap will be done free of charge by some repair stores due to the relative simplicity of the manual installation service, which is not charged by the brand after-sales during the warranty period of the watch.

Slow repair services can be more expensive. For example, a waterproofing service for a watch. This involves replacing the waterproofing ring, a waterproofing test, a real water test and an air test. These require the use of a relatively expensive testing machine that roughly consumes about two hours of the maintenance guru's time.

Quartz watches cost around $200 to $600, and mechanical watches range from $1,000 to $2,000, including the cost of equipment and the master's labor. The complete service operation is fine and complicated operation. There are requirements for the experience of the repair masters, and both the group masters and the repair store masters will obtain the appropriate qualifications.

Among them, the repair masters of large groups will also be subdivided into categories repair technicians, polishing technicians, maintenance technicians, inspection technicians and so on. Each watch is tested in different parts of the test, and then there is a set of test standards, which is the reason why the repair price is different between brands.

So why is full service so expensive?

In fact, as you can see from the above price differences between fast repairs, slow repairs, and complete services, the cost of the equipment and materials involved is higher, in addition to the high demand for masters.

When a customer accidentally breaks a mirror, stopping in order to avoid pieces from the mirror falling into the movement usually provides the customer with a complete service.

In general, the price of the mirror usually accounts for about 10% of the price of the watch. If you drop 50,000 on a watch, the price of replacing the mirror is big around 5,000 dollars. Add in an oil wash and maintenance, and 8,000 is a no-brainer.

So the question is, even if mirrors cost a lot, why does it cost 3,000 to simply wash the oil?

The watch itself is a precision mechanical product. A little bit of dust on the dial and in the movement has a great effect on the watch. Therefore, the watch is oil washed by dismantling all the watch parts, then assembling them, then clicking on different watch oils, and finally assembling the whole thing.

In addition, the oil used for oil washing is not a simple lubricant, but a lubricant produced by Swiss Maubisse, which is recognized in the industry. Ordinary three-hand, single-calendar, fully automatic mechanical watches are maintained 5~6 types at a time, and the price of each lubricant is not cheap. The most commonly used 9010 model watch oil, a bottle of 2 ml, less than eye drops, a few hundred dollars.Therefore, labor cost + time cost + material cost, the price of this watch fully serviced is naturally high. So why can't the watch afford it? People are a high unit price of delicacy in addition to enjoy the decent style it brings you, but also to take care of it patiently oh, ~.