Watch repair

[vyking67]

looking for some advice and or direction...
long story short is .. a close family friend, left in a will a couple watches to me. mainly because we shared an intrest in fine time pieces and would tak about watches and the history of watches around the time of WWII and how that event in history effected them..

turns out 2 of the watches are fake / replica's , i think...and i say i think because the local watch repair shop, looked at them and said becaue they are PANERAI 's he did not have the equipment to work on them .. so like a nieve person i ring up my local authorized dealer and run right down there, and this is what happens..

i dont have the warranty card of either watch.. and they dont see anything in the records for panerai with my name.. so i tell them look up the serial number on the watch ... i get told there is nothing recorded ?
then im told " i'm very sorry joe. but we are not allowed to repair or service any watch that we can not authenticate "..

at this point i dont care if the watches are fake or not.. i woudl just liek to get them serviced/ cleaned they are automatics and the counter weight seems sticky ..

they just remind me of this old timer and i hate to basically discard them after the nice gesture he made after he was gone..

[jy211]

contact the mfg and explain the situation and ask for any local company who can repair them. Just because one won't repair it, doesn't mean the other's won't.

[vyking67]

i tried that.. its PANERAI .. with out the warranty card it appears that i am dead in the water.. i am not the original owner and i dont know how the gentleman i got it from got it... .. that is why i got looked at cross eyed .. these watches start at around $5000 and though the manafacture was not rude about it they dont actually service them in italy.. they reffered me to the local AD ... who said with out the card your beat..

so my question is lets assume its a fake.. and basically junk but it had sentamential value.. who work work on it..

[jy211]

what state are you located in?

[vyking67]

im in CT... the closest dealer is lux ,bond ,and green in hartford... i made an appointment with them to take a look at it.. i basically just want to watch to work.. i dont care if its real or not.. i did not buy it and i would not buy a counterfit or replica anything if i knew it was such.. i just dont understand why even any watch repairer wont work on it .. i mean if it had the face damaged or it was all apart and there was no branding on it, the guy in the mall would fix it .

[John Wright]

I read that the movements are numbered...maybe you can open it and find the number, then call the dealer and see about the certification paperwork and ultimately the repair.

[crustysack]

there is a quality watch repair shop in newport ri, small no internet listing. BUT this guy fixes watches

Antique Clock Restoration‎
79 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840-2530
(401) 849-6690
call him I bought an antique pocket watch from him for my brother as a best man gift from early 1800's- this guy will fix it and not give a hoot about warranty junk
hope that helps

[vyking67]

there is a quality watch repair shop in newport ri, small no internet listing. BUT this guy fixes watches

Antique Clock Restoration‎
79 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840-2530
(401) 849-6690
call him I bought an antique pocket watch from him for my brother as a best man gift from early 1800's- this guy will fix it and not give a hoot about warranty junk
hope that helps


thanks for the info... i went the the jeweler and i guess they did not want me making a stink about them not fixing it.... the watch repairman..( guess that what you call them ) stepped in and said let me look at it for a minute.. and came out and said your all set no charge..

i don't even know what he did.. and all i had to do was stand there like a dope with my hand held out holding the watch from the strap like a little kid about to loose his ice cream cone ...

im sure i looked pathetic but its fixed... thanks for all the help..