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"The most resilient part of the industry is that you buy a Swiss watch because you want to say, 'I have a Swiss watch,'" said Paul Swinand" I love mechanical w

"The most resilient part of the industry is that you buy a Swiss watch because you want to say, 'I have a Swiss watch,'" said Paul Swinand" I love mechanical watches. I repair watches. I love all things related to horology. That said, if I bought a new Rolex, I really wouldn't own the watch the minute it went out of warranty. What? Yea, Rolex, and 99% of the other Swiss Watch Companies will not sell parts to their customers. They want you to send it back to the factory, at factory prices, when it needs a service, or breaks down. If anyone from The Swiss Watch Industry is listening, enough with the "quality assurance" bs. Your industry is in a very delicate point in history. If you don't clean up you act, the quartz crisis of the 70's will look like minor stumbling block. I never though I would say this, but lately, that Apple Watch is looking better. I just don't want to carry around an IPhone. So, stop abusing the anti-trust act, and be very friendly to anyone whom buys your overpriced hunks of metal. You're in no position to call any shots, or get cute. If I owned your stock; I would short it yesterday. (Sorry if I sound bitter. In the last 7 years, the Swiss watch companies pissed off a lot of Independant Watch Repairers, by not selling parts. The average dude with the $25,000 watch has no clue that he/she really doesn't own that watch. They are essentially leasing it. Having the right to repair(let the customer decide whom is going to repair) is so essential to the future of mechanical watches.)

jrockway 10y ago
Really? I thought everyone that owns a mechanical watch knows that they have to send it in for a $700 servicing every ~5 years.
- filthee 10y ago
  You don't have to send it to Switzerland or even to a local dealer. There are a lot of reputable, independent vendors that will service, for example, a Submariner, for a fraction of what Rolex would charge.
mrob 10y ago
Are those parts patented? If not then the independents should be producing their own clones. And if they are, mechanical watches are supposed to have a very long service life, so they can wait for the patents to expire. Unless the watch companies are doing something actually illegal I don't see how they are doing anything wrong. Why should they be forced to help their competitors?
homersapien 10y ago
It's not the least bit surprising that a company like Rolex would not sell parts directly to customers. I imagine that 99% of the time that would end disastrously, and they would have quite a lot of customers who haphazardly dismantle their watches and then are unable to properly clean, lube, reassemble, and test them. Once that happens, you know who the customer is going to blame. This is exactly why companies like Apple are happy to sell you an iPhone but are NOT going to sell you a single capacitor or wire, or even a complete circuit board. Do you think Apple is going to sell you individual parts for that Apple Watch? Continuing with your example, getting a Rolex serviced by skilled third party technicians, using genuine Rolex parts (because Rolex is happy to sell parts directly to qualified technicians), is not a problem. There are dozens of highly recommended shops in the US alone, e.g. https://www.bobswatches.com/more/watch-repair-service https://www.bobswatches.com/more/watch-repair-service.

jrockway 10y ago

Really? I thought everyone that owns a mechanical watch knows that they have to send it in for a $700 servicing every ~5 years.

filthee 10y ago
You don't have to send it to Switzerland or even to a local dealer. There are a lot of reputable, independent vendors that will service, for example, a Submariner, for a fraction of what Rolex would charge.

mrob 10y ago

Are those parts patented? If not then the independents should be producing their own clones. And if they are, mechanical watches are supposed to have a very long service life, so they can wait for the patents to expire. Unless the watch companies are doing something actually illegal I don't see how they are doing anything wrong. Why should they be forced to help their competitors?

homersapien 10y ago

It's not the least bit surprising that a company like Rolex would not sell parts directly to customers. I imagine that 99% of the time that would end disastrously, and they would have quite a lot of customers who haphazardly dismantle their watches and then are unable to properly clean, lube, reassemble, and test them. Once that happens, you know who the customer is going to blame. This is exactly why companies like Apple are happy to sell you an iPhone but are NOT going to sell you a single capacitor or wire, or even a complete circuit board. Do you think Apple is going to sell you individual parts for that Apple Watch? Continuing with your example, getting a Rolex serviced by skilled third party technicians, using genuine Rolex parts (because Rolex is happy to sell parts directly to qualified technicians), is not a problem. There are dozens of highly recommended shops in the US alone, e.g. https://www.bobswatches.com/more/watch-repair-service https://www.bobswatches.com/more/watch-repair-service.