Wilson Watch

My experience was very similar to a previous reviewer’s experience. I’ve been a watch collector for 25 years, with a collection of approximately a hundred antique and vintage watches. We’ve just moved to this area, so I decided to give them a try in my search to see if I could find a new local watchmaker with whom I might have a long-​term relationship in coming years. I brought a vintage Omega I had bought on ebay, running but with a few issues (a tiny loose screw in the case, and rough moving crown), and I wanted a diagnostic report.
The watchmaker was in the back, and did not interact with me personally, so I talked through an intermediary lady, who was very nice. However, I could hear their conversation in the back, where the watchmaker was making dismissive comments and gestures while barely looking at the watch; when the lady returned with the watch, I was told that the watch was in terrible shape, and to discover the problem it would take $ 300 – 500 (come on, a regular service on a watch like this is barely $ 300 everywhere!), and «it would take months» (right, because 1960s Omegas are incredibly rare, and there aren’t replacement parts all over the world). Clearly, they wanted nothing to do with me or the watch.
I then asked if they could write down their observations at least, so I could use them when I’d try to return the watch to the seller; the lady went back, then returned and said they would do it for $ 20. Just to see what would happen, I said fine, let’s do it. She went back again, the watchmaker swiftly and dismissively murmured obvious cosmetic issues with the watch, and then they printed it out and gave it to me. So I «learned» what I already knew, and was already obvious: that the case had a couple of scratches, that the movement was dirty and needed oil and service. Nothing about the mechanical issues with the watch. I did not expect a complete disassembly of the watch for that fee to be sure, but certainly he could have spent more than 10 seconds looking at and barely handling the watch to offer a more thorough report. What did I exactly get for my money and time? And how could they feel good about taking $ 20 for essentially a worthless piece of paper I could have written myself?
So in summary, the front office lady is nice, but the watchmaker, who is the heart of the business, is distant and dismissive.
Watchmakers should be more aware of the current realities of the world; mechanical movement wristwatches are not exactly a booming market except at the very top (this store had no high-​end watches in its new-​watch display, just some Movados, Bulovas, Hamiltons, Citizens and such; nice but clearly entry to mid-​market products. With the rise of smartwatches, who knows what will happen to the existing entry-​middle new watch market), and antique/​vintage watch collectors like myself are part of a slowly shrinking community.
If it was my business, I would have done everything to personally establish a relationship with a new watch collector in the area instead of making it clear through gestures, words, and behavior that I wanted nothing to do with the collector or his worthless watch. I wonder if they would have behaved the same way if I had brought them my Calatrava for a regular service. Yikes. Their loss; I’ll find a watchmaker who cares, and give my not inconsiderable business in the coming years to that person.

Mr. Wilson has repaired watches for us over the last ten years. He always does a great job and is meticulous. He is a pleasure to deal with. We like him much better than dropping a watch off at a mall jewelers and having the watch fixed by whoever. Mr. Wilson does all the work himself and he obviously cares about watches and doing a great job of repairing them.

I cannot attest to the quality of his work because I was scared off by the prices and attitude toward replacing instead of refinishing.
Conclusion; watch repair prices are way too high and the watchmaker doesn’t listen to what the customer wants.
I didn’t get to speak with the watchmaker directly because he seemed occupied so one of his associates was the intermediary between us. I came in with a vintage tag heuer and wanted to get some refinishing work done. The case is 38 mm and has the black PVD coating but was half flaking off. I wanted to have the case and bezel polished and he wanted $ 175. He says the mineral crystal could not be polished and offered to replace it with a Sapphire one for around $ 75. I like the patina of the old hands but just wanted to have it cleaned a little, he offered to replace them at the cost for $ 95. I didn’t appreciate my experience and will not be returning.