Ulysse Nardin

Is my watchmaker right
May 31 2008,01:18 AM

My first contact whit Ulysse Nardin was very positive.

I ask them about some data and I got it the next day.

It turns out that my watch was made on 9-12-1999 and has caliber UN- 22.

My Ulysse Nardin Michelangelo Big Date that I bought pre owned is running  + 6 sec a day now and because I have an inactive desk job and  ill put it on the winder every 2e night it turns ad 650 clockwise. I bought the watch to my watchmaker to let him see if a service is needed.

He said that the watch is in a very good shape.

Now I have a question. Is my watchmaker right when he says that whit the new oils it is not necessary to service the watch every 5 years. He says you don’t have to let it serve until the watch is not running on time anymore than you bring it in for service .in his opinion no harm to the watch will be done if you wait until that moment.

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I recommend you the following reading
May 31 2008,01:25 AM

http://home.watchprosite.com/show-nblog.post/ti-432276/

 

I'd say that a service each 5 years is strongly recommended..

Best.

Nicolas

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Would you wait until your cars stops? ...
May 31 2008,10:10 AM

... or bring it into the workshop, when you hear a strange noise from the engine, or better even, at fixed service intervals?

Regardless of any innovation in lubrication technology, a conventional swiss lever escapement watch will always have to be subjected to service. Even if the escapement might become free of service with new materials, silicium, diamond even, a watch consists of many other parts that are subjedt of wear and ageing. Just think of the case gaskets, the crown stem, and many other parts. These have to be taken care of or replaced in order to assure tightness and faultless operation.I would not wait until discovering goldfish enjoying to swim around the hands behind the crystal.

We can discuss about the five years interval. But I would not wait much longer, depending on the circumstances and the frequence of wear.

Best regards,
Marcus

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thanks and a sommething about a old Omega
Jun 03 2008,07:33 AM

Thanks for answering my question

I will let it serve ones every 5 years.

Why I asked the question in the first place was because my watchmaker sad it wasn’t necessary to let my watch serve every 5 years.

But I have a story for you guys.

I was speaking whit a guy from the office and he ask me if I know a good watchmaker because his bracelet was broken.

So we talkt about watches for some time and he showed me his 34 year old Omega de Ville automatic.

I asked him after how many years do you let it have a service.

He replayed , what service I don’t let it serve ever.

No one told him his watch needed service.

So the watch is running  and keeping good time  for 34 years now without any service.

I told him that this is after my opinion very exceptional.

But he will let it serve now when he takes it to the watchmaker for his bracelet repair.

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The service's purpose is mainly to prevent any damages ...
Jun 04 2008,01:01 AM

... from overusing it. I, too, had such a watch: An IWC cal. 854 that had never been serviced for thirty years. But if you speak with a watchmaker who regularly services Roles, he will tell you many stories about damaged parts in the movement. Because Rolex movements are bad? No, in the contrary: because they are too good! Rolex movements are reliable like tractor engines, and permit a high accuracy for many years of use. The result is, most Rolex wearers without deeper knowledge about mechanical watches, do not even think about anything like a service, and keep wearing their watches for a decade - until something causes a rattling noise: totally worn pins, for example, that had been running in dried bearings for years.

In a similar context: I regularly made fun of Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover drivers, because their thin axles tend to break in heavy offroad use. I used to say: "Why don't these companies learn how to make solid axles from Toyota or Nissan?", until a mechanic explained the issues as follows: a replacement axle for Land Rover or jeep is not too expensive, can be replaced in the field quite quickly, and is easy to transport as a spare part even during an expedition. Since the very strong axles of other cars won't break, finally something different will, that cannot be replaced or repaired as easily, so you might left stranded somewhere in the wild.

I think both approaches have their merits and disadvantages.

With best regards,
Marcus

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