Category: Watch Repairs

One of the brands we regularly see in our workshop is Tag Heuer. As a watch brand, Tag Heuer in its current iteration was established in 1985, though the Heuer company has existed since 1860. Watches are produced both with quartz and automatic movements in a variety of different models including the Aquaracer, Kirium, F1 and Carrera.

Our workshop holds a parts account with Tag Heuer so we are able to obtain genuine Tag Heuer parts and repair many different faults with these watches.

One common repair we tackle is a quartz movement service or complete replacement. If you have a quartz Tag Heuer which has stopped and the battery is not at fault, this is most likely the repair required to get your watch up and running again.

In a quartz service we fully disassemble the watch movement before running it through our watch cleaning machine. Sensitive electronic parts like the circuit cannot be put through the machine, so these are carefully cleaned by hand. After cleaning the movement is reassembled, with appropriate oils used where necessary. The now complete movement is then tested electronically in a variety of different ways to ensure it is performing within the manufacturers tolerance. Test include lower working voltage, coil resistance and power consumption.

A complete movement replacement involves swapping out the entire movement in a like-for-like exchange. This may be necessary if for example the original movement is heavily water damaged.

Both a quartz service and complete movement replacement include ultrasonic cleaning of the case and bracelet.

As a Tag Heuer parts account holder we are able to obtain any case parts which may be required. Common repairs needed include bezel replacement (most often necessary on F1 models where the numbers can fade easily), Crown replacement and fitting a new set of seals to re-establish water resistance on models used in water. We are able to repair very water damaged watches – obtaining anything which needs to be replaced including the dial, hands, seals and of course the movement.

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Do you have a Tag Heuer watch in need of repair? Get in contact with us to see how we can help. We are able to repair almost any Tag Heuer watch and with our Tag Heuer parts access we offer a comprehensive service. We cater to clients all around the UK thanks to our fully insured freepost watch repairs service. As a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award accredited business, you can be confident when dealing with us.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Ltd.

A recent job we had in the workshop involved restoring a rather tired 18ct Gold Rolex Day-Date Automatic watch. This watch had certainly lived a life – the bracelet was extremely worn and stretched, and the movement had not seen a watchmaker for many, many years.

 

To tackle such a job we involved both our on-site jeweller and watchmaker. Our jeweller restored the 18ct gold bracelet, whereas our watchmaker serviced and repaired the intricate mechanism.

To restore such a worn bracelet took our jeweller many hours. Each link needed to be carefully broken down into its individual components, and the pins drilled out. He then needed to rebuild the bracelet – reforming some links and pinning every single link to ensure it is strong for many further years of continued wear and enjoyment.

 

Our watchmaker found the movement to most certainly be in need of a thorough service. Pivots which should be clean and nicely oiled were found running dry, with residue of old oils and greases broken down and further interfering with the smooth running of the mechanism.

To rectify these issues the entire watch movement is stripped apart, before going through a full cleaning cycle in a specialist watch movement cleaning machine. The movement is then carefully reassembled, with oils and greases used in certain places to ensure optimal performance of the watch for a full service interval. A new mainspring was fitted during the reassembly process too.

On top of the work to the movement, this watch required a new glass and crown – these jobs were also tackled by our watch workshop. This model of Rolex uses a plexi-glass with a cyclops lens to magnify the date. We sourced and fitted a glass based on the Rolex model reference – this presses onto the case before being secured in place by the fluted bezel.

After all the work was completed, the watch undergoes rigorous testing for timekeeping. It is initially regulated by our watchmaker and checked in multiple positions to ensure it is performing as expected. It then is testing for automatic winding on our Elma Cyclomotion winding machine, as well as for power reserve and performance after 24 hours has elapsed.

 

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If you have a Rolex Day-Date or similar model in need of repair, do get in contact with us. We are experts in the repair and restoration of almost any type of wrist and pocket watch. We hold a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award – testament to our many satisfied customers. Our fully insured, freepost repairs service is still operational during lockdown.

Yours sincerely

David Clark PJDip PJGemDip Cert GA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son

A lot of the work we undertake involves bringing our customers very sentimental timepieces back to life. Today society is at times geared towards throw away and replace, we try to encourage something a little different. What we are offering is a specialist service to breath life back into lifeless timepieces, that have sometimes been residing in ‘that’ drawer we all have somewhere at home.

The wonderful aspect of my job is being able to receive, on many occasions, a watch that has a huge emotional story attached to it for our customers. They passionately ask us to get it working again, and most times this is possible.

We have been working away in the background with our Postal Watch Repair Service, with the retail side of the business being currently shut. It has allowed our master watchmaker to continue working on some of the more challenging restorations, that can take 6-9 months to complete. These such repairs are those very historical or complicated timepieces. One we have been able to release back to a customer is a Pair Case Pocket Watch that was made in 1790. I have been mesmerised just listening to this watch, with such a distinctive sound.

I wanted to share some photos of a pocket watch that we released back to our customer last week. When it first came into us, it was in a very poor state of repair. The front glass was missing, the dial was cracked and badly marked. The mechanism did not function at all, with as broken mainspring. The case is also very worn, but this was left as it was, to retain the character that the customer loved. They did however wish for the dial to be restored. Please see the before and after photos below. If you have vintage pocket watch restoration that you would like to discuss, please contact us.

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My watchmaker sent me this video which I found fascinating. The video below shows him working on a beautiful piece and very special piece. It is a chiming repeater watch, this is a timepiece that chimes when asked to indicate the time, this particular one is a Carillon repeater. One of the few people in the UK who can work on such complicated timepieces.

If you have any questions, or indeed would like to see if we can help bring back your cherished timepiece to life, contact us.

David Clark P.J. Dip. P.J. Gem. Dip Cert. G.A.
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son and W.E. Clark & Son Watch Repairs

Recently we were asked by our customer to carry out a Rolex bracelet repair. The watch came into our Lewes workshop in a pretty poor condition, it had clearly been well loved over the past 35 years. They asked:

“Is there anything you can do to save my gold Rolex watch bracelet?”

This is great, as a lovely timepiece such as this deserves to be worn and not locked away. It does, however, mean at some point refurbishments will need to be bestowed. The watch strap was solid 18ct yellow gold, and part of the prestigious Rolex Day-Date collection.

This bracelet repair was a job for our talented Goldsmith. The Rolex bracelet suffered badly from what is known as ‘sag’. A situation that occurs when the gold links have worn and the pins that hold each link together are wearing thin, causing the bracelet to gape in-between the links. In this case, it was a rather extreme example, the wear was so serious that the watch bracelet was holding together by a thread in places.

Restoring a Rolex Gold Watch Strap

First, our goldsmith disassembled each and every component part of every link, to assess what work was required. Some of the braclet links required repair, and many new 18 carat pins had to be made. It really was a painstaking, but very satisfying, task.

Fully Repaired Gold Rolex Bracelet

Once the repairs were completed to the gold links, our goldsmith was able to reassemble the bracelet- and reunite with the Rolex watch. Here is the finished piece, truly spectacular!

Do you have a mechanical watch in need of repair?

Here at WE Clark Watch Repairs we are experts in the repair of all makes and models of watch – from vintage pocket watches through to modern big name brands like Tag Heuer, Omega and Rolex. We offer a fully insured freepost watch repairs service to clients all around the UK. As holders of a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award, and business partners of the British Horological Institute, you can be confident in the service we provide.

Please Contact Us for further information regarding any requirement you may have.

 

We recently repaired this interesting gold Omega watch. As you can see from the picture, this timepiece does not have the conventional crown (winder) located in the 3 o’clock position. Hand setting and winding is instead done using a winder located on the reverse of the watch. Hence such timepieces are known as “backwinders”.The movement (mechanism) is an Omega calibre 440, which is the backwind version of the calibre 580. It’s a 17 jewel, incabloc shock protected movement, which runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour.

This particular watch showed signs of historic water ingress, so required a full service and a number of replacement parts. The movement was fully disassembled before being cleaned in our Greiner ACS 900 ultrasonic watch cleaning machine. After a clean and inspection of each part (replacing anything damaged/worn) it’s time for reassembly. The movement is carefully put back together, with a new mainspring fitted to ensure a reliable source of power. During reassembly the watch is carefully oiled using tiny amounts of specialist oils designed for such timepieces.

Alongside the servicing of the movement, the case and bracelet were given some attention. These were given a light buff and polish, before an ultrasonic and steam clean.

There was also significant discolouration to the dial on its arrival with us – again, due to the historic water ingress. We had the dial fully restored back to excellent condition.

After refitting the dial and hands to the movement, the watch is reassembled. A beautiful timepiece restored to continue providing many years of reliable service.

This restoration was a pleasure to undertake, please contact us to discuss your Omega Watch Restoration

Call or email us today.

It was the end of another busy week for us repairing watches. A customer called us to ask about the possibility of helping them with their watch. The vintage Rolex timepiece had suffered severe water damage. The water had made its way into the mechanical mechanism, and then sadly caused damage to the dial as well.

The customer initially had little hope that we could assist them in any way.  Upon receipt of the watch we were able to fully assess the damage to the timepiece.

It was clear that once the Rolex had been dissasembled that corrosion had set in, so it was vital we dried out the timepiece to make sure that any further damage could be stopped.

Our customer instructed us to proceed with a full Vintage Restoration, this included overhailing the mechanism and then sympathetically restoring the dial. We were also able to source a replacement Rolex button that was contemporary to the piece.

We think you will agree the visible result of the dial restoration below is spectalular:

If you have a treasured timepiece that you would like us to offer a FREE no obligation quotation for repair, please fill out our FREEPOST request form, to use our Postal Watch Repair Service.