Looking for Somebody with Some Bandwidth to do a Repair

[MartinM]

I never venture to the "watch" side if the mb so, I'm not sure about the etiquette, here. I have a basic 1860s London fusee that belonged to my great grandfather and I've been having trouble finding someone who is capable and has the bandwidth to go through it and give it some love. It needs a new crystal and the hands to be straightened along with a good cleaning and possibly some work on the front cover of the silver hunter case.
How do I go about finding someone who can do these things without waiting a year?

 

[MartinM]

I'm not finding anyone competent or realistic in pricing. I sent the watch to a repairer in San Francisco but, I refuse to pay $1800 for a cleaning on a running watch that there are dozens of examples of on ebay for a tenth the cost.
Am I just out of luck in finding an honest repairer to do a cleaning and replace a crystal?

 

[Skutt50]

Sorry you had no response to your first posting.

There is a contact in the thread "Watch parts and service sources" at the top of this forum.

My guess is that there may be scarse with watchmakers servicing Brittish Fusee watches in the US. They are a bit different than US made watches. Perhaps there is some watch meeting or similar close to where you live where you can find someone.

USD1800 sounds quite expensive. Perhaps it is his way of saying he is not interessted............

Good luck with your search.

 

[gmorse]

Hi Martin,

Carignan Watch Co. will service these, but I've no idea what his charges are, so worth asking him. Your $1800 guy clearly didn't want the work.

Regards,

Graham

 

[MartinM]

Thanks guys.
I got the watch back and got the hands reasonably straight. Wound it up a couple turns and it started running... A bit slow at first and then kept perfect time for the better part of a day before stopping. So... It really is just a cleaning (Hasn't run in 30-40 years), crystal replacement and some minor case work. I won't chance taking it to one of those places you see in some malls. I'd happily send it to England if I knew it would be done right.

 

[Incroyable]

I recently became aware of some other people in the US who work on antique English fusees including spring detent chronometers. They are few and far between--you can literally count them on one hand.

 

[MartinM]

Like I said in the OP, watches aren't my area of experience. The last time I had one worked-on was my grandfather's Ball Railroad watch, about 10 years ago, that needed a new balance staff, hairspring, winding pawl and a new jewel. It cost me all of $130. So. $1,800 was quite the shocker.

 

[Dave Coatsworth]

A few years ago I sent a rare Dutch verge fusee that I didn't feel comfortable working on to Eric Unselt at American Timekeeper. He did a beautiful job at a very reasonable price. You might try contacting him.

 

[MartinM]

Thanks Dave. Will do.

 

[Incroyable]

I forgot to mention that the other three US based people who work on antique English fusees and chronometers are: Peter Toot, David Walter (the famous clockmaker) and Jacob Curtis.