my opinion re: watchrepairs.ie

Blackpitts

Hi guys
since I see many questions about servicing a watch, I leave my feedback on Emily (www.watchrepairs.ie) after she has serviced a couple of my watches.

I found her website on this forum (she is also a member) and I decided to contact her 3 or 4 weeks ago as I had an Omega Seamaster 2254 and a Seiko Monster both keeping the time very bad, especially the Monster whose movement is well known for this kind of issue. We agreed to have a full service for the Omega (which was never opened before) and a quick look at the Seiko to see what the story was.
So I sent both watches to her via an post (to Laois) and I've got a confirmation of delivery from her a couple of days later.
The service of the Seamaster included:
* Complete disassembly, cleaning, re-assembly and re- oiling.
* Timing and adjustment of movement to manufacturing specifications
* Cleaning / refurbishing of case, and bracelet
* Water-resistant test
plus a special request from me:
the bezel had a dent so I've asked her to replace with a good one. She found one on ebay for 28 euro, so she has replaced the old with the new without ruining it!
the total bill at the end was:110 for the service + 28 for the bezel while the adjustment of the Seiko was for free! :eek:
I paid promptly and she sent the watches back to me immediately after, so this morning I find the parcel and I was glad to see my 2 divers ready to go for a "wrist test".
At the first glance the Seamaster looks shiny and the new bezel fits perfectly. Looking closer at it I see there is a little difference in the colour of the numbers, but I think we couldn't expect more from an aftermarket part which costs only 30 euro. I see that the old bezel is still there and it looks good so I might always put it back if i'm not happy with the new one, but I know it's just me being fussy
So far it is keeping the time perfectly, I will keep it on my wrist for another couple of days just to make sure that it works fine.
Then I'll move to my Seiko, but i doubt it could go worse than before

So my final opinion is that I couldn't get better value for the money! the service is a lot cheaper than any other watch repairers I know here in Ireland (Omega would charge 3 times more than what I've paid), plus she adjusted my Seiko for free!
I definitely reccommend Emily if you are thinking to service your Breitling, Movado, Omega etc.., she loves her job, she is great at it and you get great value for the money. :cool:

bogmanfan

Cheers for that. I'm sending my Breitling to her this week. Will let you all know how I get on.

Cyrus

good to hear

what was the quality of the case refinish like?

Blackpitts

Cyrus wrote: »

good to hear

what was the quality of the case refinish like?

seems to be pretty good, the case looks brighter than it was before, there weren't big scratches so it was an easy job, but definitley it looks better.

Cyrus

Mods

maybe an idea to set up a stickied thread for reviews, unlike the uk there isnt a dearth of independent watch repairers over here, would be great if peoples reviews of the different ones could be kept together

piaget

Thanks for the review, seems great work and very reasonable too. Speedy could be due a service soon and the timing on my Monster is way off (+20 secs).

Wibbs

bedlam wrote: »

A good idea, I've been putting off doing a FAQ so could probably combine the two.

No better man

Pity she doesnt do the vintage stuff...

flutered

Wibbs wrote: »

No better man

Pity she doesnt do the vintage stuff...

try kenelleys in limerick.

corpo3030

Thanks to the OP for posting this, it'll come in very handy to have my autos serviced.

bogmanfan

My own experiences:

Dropped Emily a line a few weeks back about my Breitling B2 which was running slow. She said she could take it immediately, so I dropped it in the post. She rang me a week later after she had opened it and inspected it to say it just required oiling and cleaning. No parts required. The cost would be €150 and it would take 3-4 weeks, including regulation.
Just over 4 weeks later she rang to say it was ready. I paid by bank draft, and she posted it back by registered mail. Watch is running great.

Overall I was extremely pleased with the service. The cost was a fraction of that charged by Weir's or Dawson Jewellers, and is more in line with UK prices. She was very communicative, and answered emails very promptly. If I ever need work done on any of my watches again, I will send them her way.

Cyrus

Hi john,

just a few qns, forgive me if any are stupid as i havent ever needed much work done on any of mine yet!

Why did it take so long if all the movement needed was an oiling and a clean, is it the regulation that takes time?

Also was a polish and tidy up incl in the 150?

bogmanfan

Cyrus wrote: »

Hi john,

just a few qns, forgive me if any are stupid as i havent ever needed much work done on any of mine yet!

Why did it take so long if all the movement needed was an oiling and a clean, is it the regulation that takes time?

Also was a polish and tidy up incl in the 150?

Hey Niall. She said the bulk of the time was for regulation. The watch was running around 40 seconds slow a day before I sent it down to her. According to the invoice, the watch was regulated in 4 positions: face up, face down, crown up and crown down. I assume that the watch is allowed to run for a few days in each position in order to determine the timekeeping.
The watch was cosmetically 100% before I sent it to her (it had been a safe queen for the previous owner) so there was no polish required. Not sure how much she would charge for this.
This is the first time I've had a watch serviced (only one I've had for over a year :rolleyes:) so I can't compare with any other companies. However, the price was well below what I was quoted elsewhere, and the work seems to have been done to a high standard.

tac foley

to have found this thread. Since I can't buy any more guns, I've been buying quality watches instead, and finding somebody in Ireland that does this kind of work, seemingly for peanuts, is very cheering.

Y'see, four years ago I had my 1971 Omega Flightmaster serviced here in UK. It was my present to myself on getting my first Army promotion, and has always been close to my heart [in spite of spending time on my wrist]. Those who know this watch will be aware that is has two pushers on the winder side for the stopwatch - they have red and yellow inserts. The 2nd hour hand - in blue - moves by rotating a blue-topped stem winder at 8 o'clock, and the black internal bezel moves via a black-topped stem winder at 10 o'clock.

When my watch was returned to me, after three months, all of these items had been removed, and replaced with plain pushers and regular Omega stem winders. I called up the fixers, and asked them what was going on, and where were my correct items. I was told -

1. It was company policy to replace ALL the pushers/winders on a service.

2. Parts removed were then the property of the company.

A series of snottograms got me absolutely nowhere.

I fumed, especially as the 'fixing' had cost me almost eu650.

It took me almost three months of looking to find replacement bits - the stop-watch buttons came from Australia and the winders from Luxembourg - and cost me just under eu250 for the four. Plus eu140 for fitting.

Omega UK?

Go scr&w.

tac

marcus1971

tac foley wrote: »

to have found this thread. Since I can't buy any more guns, I've been buying quality watches instead, and finding somebody in Ireland that does this kind of work, seemingly for peanuts, is very cheering.

Y'see, four years ago I had my 1971 Omega Flightmaster serviced here in UK. It was my present to myself on getting my first Army promotion, and has always been close to my heart [in spite of spending time on my wrist]. Those who know this watch will be aware that is has two pushers on the winder side for the stopwatch - they have red and yellow inserts. The 2nd hour hand - in blue - moves by rotating a blue-topped stem winder at 8 o'clock, and the black internal bezel moves via a black-topped stem winder at 10 o'clock.

When my watch was returned to me, after three months, all of these items had been removed, and replaced with plain pushers and regular Omega stem winders. I called up the fixers, and asked them what was going on, and where were my correct items. I was told -

1. It was company policy to replace ALL the pushers/winders on a service.

2. Parts removed were then the property of the company.

A series of snottograms got me absolutely nowhere.

I fumed, especially as the 'fixing' had cost me almost eu650.

It took me almost three months of looking to find replacement bits - the stop-watch buttons came from Australia and the winders from Luxembourg - and cost me just under eu250 for the four. Plus eu140 for fitting.

Omega UK?

Go scr&w.

tac

You got it serviced at an Omega service centre?

If you did I would, even now, contact Omega directky and be pretty blunt about how pissed off you are about it, they should NOT have replaced any of thise items with generic without your permission and it IS Omegas policy to return all replaced parts......are you sure it wasn'y just a place that advertises the fact that they service Omegas....big difference between that and authorised service centers.....its unfortunate but I'm pretty sure your old parts picked these guys up another couple of hundred on eBay.

Bullseye1

Fantastic thread. I will certainly keep her in mind for my watches. Thanks for sharing OP.

charlesanto

Hi does anyone know if "WATCH REPAIRS IRELAND" still exists at 51 South William St.? Thanks.

?Cee?view

bedlam wrote: »

As far as I am aware yes, but Emily is not there every day. Best bet is to call her

She was out last week unexpectedly. I spoke to her on Friday.

woodys924

Just had a repair done on my Tag Heuer was a bit dubious about posting out my valued watch. Didn't hear anything for a week or two from Emily, called hear and was told she would ring me back , never happened . Started to get alarmed and finally spoke with her she seems to be very distracted and vague . But to my delighted got my watch back repaired with a new battery and highly polished ! To sum up the final finish was worth the wait ( a month approx) I don't know how busy they are there and the communication could improve a lot but it seems to be a very professional finish on the watch repairs and service and very reasonable . I will be posting my omega vintage for service and polish !

Rosahane

Over two years ago Emily repaired my then ten year old Oris which had stopped auto winding. I got it back a couple of weeks later beautifully polished and working fine.
I don't wear the Oris a lot so it sits in a drawer unwound.
Many months later I noticed that when I wore it on occasions it started dropping the odd five or ten minutes randomly. I meant to send it back to Emily but never got around to it until a couple of weeks ago when I sent it back explaining the problem.
A while afterwards I texted her to check it had arrived and she replied that she was working on it and it arrived back a few days later, again looking pristine with an invoice stating no charge - not even for the registered post!
As it was my fault that I hadn't sent it back within the 12 month period which she gives as a guarantee I was fully prepared to pay for the repairs so it was a nice surprise and very impressive customer service.
Thoroughly recommended!

Blessington Bill

Hi, I am looking for an email address for Emily the watch repairer in Laois as when I go to the address shown I can only get a Dublin firm? I am new to Bulletin Boards so am sorry if not following the proper protocol.

893bet

Info@watchrepairs.ie will get to her

ralc

Well she must be gone again because I've rang and emailed several times and getting nothing. I was hoping not to pay high street prices on a repair but was reluctant to go back to her because after sending her the last watch it was near impossible to get hold of her to find out what repair she even planned for the watch so I guess she's not doing running this as a serious business. If anybody know any other watch repair company's that offer a fair cost repair I'd be interested?

johnthemull

Not great Comms is it?
You could try John Donoghue in Kilkenny.
http://www.thevintagewatch.net
He repairs modern watches as well as vintage. I spoke to him last autumn about a repair on a vintage Heuer. In the end I sold the watch on so I can't vouch for his service. All I know is that he does exist!
There are loads of very good guys in the UK. If the watch is relatively low in value may be worth exploring. Getting insurance on them is practically impossible from Ireland which is a huge PITA.
Good luck
John

If you want to chance going to the UK Duncan at Genesis is highly recommended on Timezone UK
http://www.genesiswatchmaking.co.uk/...r-pricing.html

T-Maxx

Well I've tried on a number of occasions to get in touch with thevintagewatch.net - all without luck. From his site he looks like the ideal guy to do up my trench watch - if I can just get hold of him!

johnthemull

Did you try his mobile?

T-Maxx

I tried the number on the website, also sent him a message through the site.

johnthemull

Fair enough. Seems like he has gone to ground as well. I guess we are a victim of our small population. Obviously not enough critical mass here for an independent to provide a decent service. Being condemned to pay high street prices does make you think twice about expanding a collection of mechanical watches into the future. Add to the fact that no one will insure a watch when you want to send them out of the country for a service, its starting to look good for the Apple Watch!

Wibbs

Feck I had hoped the Donoghue chap was going strong. I've a couple of yokes that need fixing, one in particular. No way would I post them. I wouldn't risk it as they be the most valuable by a long shot.

charlesanto

It almost two years since John Donohoe repaired a watch for me I was very happy with the service. I contacted him on this email address thevintagewatchnet@gmail.com

Wibbs

Fair enough C and I've heard similar good reports about the chap's work, but is he still plying his trade two years on?

T-Maxx

I've tried that email as well to no avail. If he is still trading I'd be surprised because it sure seems as if he's not looking for any. Might be that he's just too busy.

Wibbs

There was a chap who is, or was a member here who IIRC was "in the trade" and knew their stuff, including the wackier tuning fork and early quartz stuff(which is very rare in the trade). His name escapes, but I'll have a dig around, because they also did servicing and repair and if biz could go "local" and their way that would be brilliant IMH.

ctlsleh

Any news on whether Emily or John are still in business? I need some work done.

garyh3

John is still in Business as I have just sent my Late Dads Omega for repair.

unkel

Thanks for the update. Any idea of what John charges for a service on an automatic Omega Seamaster?

garyh3

unkel wrote: »

Thanks for the update. Any idea of what John charges for a service on an automatic Omega Seamaster?

Its on his Website

http://thevintagewatch.net

Depends on What type of watch

Service charges:
Manual wind €180
Automatic wind €230
Manual Chronograph €280
Automatic Chronograph €320

Cienciano

If had a cheap older watch, where would you get it serviced? I mean, do people pay €230 to service a €100 watch? I understand the hours that go into it, but is there a cheaper option?

garyh3

Cienciano wrote: »

If had a cheap older watch, where would you get it serviced? I mean, do people pay €230 to service a €100 watch? I understand the hours that go into it, but is there a cheaper option?

Err no I think its more for your Swiss Watches
Omega,Tag, Rolex etc ...

The_Guvnor

Cienciano wrote: »

If had a cheap older watch, where would you get it serviced? I mean, do people pay €230 to service a €100 watch? I understand the hours that go into it, but is there a cheaper option?

Yes, buy the same model again; and use it as a donor watch. (Make one excellent piece out of two bad ones).
Say one that is scratched or has a damaged crystal etc (but good movement).
Then just swap the movements over.
It's often more cost effective just to replace a movement with a brand new one than to service the one one that is faulty.