does maintenance cost influence the decision of brands of watches bought?

[triton]

i believe many watch lovers in this forum own many different brands of watches. you buy the watches because they appeal to you.

some buy and keep. some buy and wear and trade. so maintenance cost may not be factored in. to those who buy watches to keep, i got this question to you

has anyone of you ever thought of the maintenance cost?

for example, my dad's rolex bought like 30 years ago cost like 2k. i went in to RSC for a service quote. price is 1.5k full overhaul. dad thinks im crazy to spend so much on servicing the watch.

a rolex sub may cost you 7k today and servicing cost can be like couple of hundreds if sent to RSC. so quite reasonable.

a VC basic servicing cost is like 500 min. a lange will cost you 500 min also.

has maintenance cost ever be factored in when purchasing a watch of your choice? would like to hear your views.

[SDM]

want to wear branded watch must accept the maintenance cost. just like bmw, servicing also very expensive.
else wear a casio and drive a toyota

[116520]

Cost is of course a factor but to me, cost is just a minor factor... if you like a watch, you wouldn't mind spending money to service it or to fix it...

To me, how "easy" a watch can be serviced or repaired (availiability of parts) is more important... No need to say, Rolex is number one in this field. No matter how old or how expensive your Rolex is, you can always send it in to RSC or other watchmaker, they can "easily" service it or repair it in a short period of time... other watches might not have this privilege, take for an example, if you need to fix a PP, either you send it in to PPSC and wait for long time (at least one month) or you can try send it to some watchmaker to fix it but most likely they will tell you they don't have the parts needed.... This is not so bad, if you have bought a Gucci watch in the 80s and if you break anything, try sending it to Gucci, even you pay them $1M, the staff will just tell you, "sorry, we can't fix your watch...."

[exxondus]

me poor man. maintenance will def deter me from getting certain brands. e.g AP, PP, GO, etc.

[commoner]

when I 1st bought the 2nd hand 6694, I did not care about maintenance till I sent it for service for $1,000. Just bought an omega recently, expect another maintenance cost of $1,000 in hopefully 6-10 years time.

I buy for keeps. Do I really consider maintenance cost when going to buy an expensive watch. Yes, but not a major concern.

Hoping to own a PP, and will maintenance be a deterrent? NO

[pegasi]

I support the theory that it's like maintaining a car.

Car you pay for servicing every 6 months but watch long long one time.

For cars some of us sell it by the 5th year to avoid cost for overhaul, the same can be done for watch if you really want to avoid spending on servicing

Of course if you buy a watch to "keep for the next generation" then you must factor in the maintenance cost, simple as that. Note that the servicing cost is not only relative to the movement but also relative to the brand. For example servicing cost for some common ETA movements can vary quite significantly between a branded (say, cartier, PAM) and a so-so swiss brand. Hence for ETA moment I would recommend to send to the pre-owned dealer who also do servicing. It's like sending your toyota car to a normal car workshop instead of broneo motor, hehe.

At the end of the days, it is all about affortability and which option you feel good about.

[KuchingKu]

My late grandpa passed me a 16014 which he bought for $1500 in 1970s. I sent it for servicing which cost $1500. Worth it or not? Of course worth it cos it's value is not calculated by $

Just like those people who buy vintage cars.....servicing and parts very often cost more than the car itself. Their owners will all say worth it. The joy of making it run cannot be measured by $.

[pegasi]

I guess for watch inherited there is no doubt that one should treasure it.

The question here is referring to buying decision of a new watch

[breitling77]

Yes, such factor must be considered. Sometimes, we are often forgotten about the maintenance costs, which could be quite a scary figure. However, if you think it carefully that such maintenance fee is considered reasonable as the maintenance fee for a car is relative high if compared with the fees for a watch.

I do keep my watches. Thus it will be a big headache when I need to send my watches for maintenance...

[soulmama]

It might be expensive to service the watch, but i think it is worth it if there are sentimental values to the piece you owned. For example, a watch given to you by your parents on your graduation, wedding etc. Besides, you can always earn back the money you spend.

[GadgetGuy]

If our brains were functioning when buying watches, would never have purchased those beauties No logical reasons for spending that sort of $. Somehow the heart over writes the brain.

[Oceanklassik]

If our brains were functioning when buying watches, would never have purchased those beauties No logical reasons for spending that sort of $. Somehow the heart over writes the brain.

I'm lost for words..

[wolfeyes1974]

never taken that into consideration.....

to me, when the time comes to service the watch then feel the pain lor...hahaaha...i dunno how long i'll own that watch in the 1st place so i won't take maintenance cost into the equation..

[commoner]

never taken that into consideration.....

to me, when the time comes to service the watch then feel the pain lor...hahaaha...i dunno how long i'll own that watch in the 1st place so i won't take maintenance cost into the equation..

Looking the list of watches you own, if add the maintenance cost for all your watches, can get at least a Rolex LV liao...

[exxondus]

Looking the list of watches you own, if add the maintenance cost for all your watches, can get at least a Rolex LV liao...

actually, ish gmtiic or sub-c, not lv. AP, VC and PP add up can be easily above 6k liaoz in 3-5 years time. And not forgetting his other watches as well.