Seiko Watch Service Experience, Is It Worth It?

A few months ago, while heading to the watch box, I had the idea of wearing my old and trusty Seiko SARB035. To me this is a Seiko classic, I love this watch for the simplicity and how it reminded me to my grandfather’s Citizen. I love how capable it is and how it can, technically, handle my day to day activities, from being a T-Rex with the kids, sitting in front of a computer, to digging holes in the backyard. 100 meters of water resistance is more than enough for that and the Seiko proprietary crystal can handle the usual door knob crash. Well, let’s not get sidetracked and get back to our story. When I picked it up, I realized that the crown was bent. I’m not the type that will beat watches to death, but like I mentioned before, I do use them for everything. I was not willing to risk it and ruin this one even more, so I put it back with disappointment and chose something else… another Seiko probably.

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The SARB sat on the watch box for a few months after I realized the crown situation, until I made up my mind to get it fixed. Asking around the local watch places, nobody was willing to service it, they either didn’t have the parts or they just simply did not service Seiko watches. Finally, I called the local AD where I have purchased watches recently to see if they had any insight. The best advice, they told me, to send it back to Seiko. According to them, that is what they would have done to begin with.

Without any further options, I decided to send the watch back to Seiko. They happen to have a service center in the East Coast (New Jersey), so it did not need to go all the way back to Japan and stayed relatively local. Maybe you are wondering what this process entails or you are on the fence trying to figure out the same. Well, if that is the case, here is the process you need to follow to get your watch serviced:

• The first step on this process was to visit their service website (here).
• While in the website you will be prompted to type the movement (caliber) you are searching service for.
• This search, instantly, will give you the price of how much you will be paying to service the watch.

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• Knowing the price, you move to the personal information step.
• Finally, you need to ship the watch.

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Overall, from door to door, the service took 16 days. I used the regular mail service, no first class, expedited or overnight. They do recommend to insure your package, just in case, so I did. Everything was smooth and without any inconveniences. Would I do it again? Yes, I would. Unless you know someone local to you that has the ability and parts to repair these watches, this might be your best bet. You may argue that the price for fixing this piece was worth half of the original price. Well, it is up to you if you want to go through this or just get a new watch. Some people may argue that, at this price point, these watches are disposable.

What would you do? Are you in the “just replace it” camp or do you get attached to your watches and would opt for a repair?

DL