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My A Lange and Söhne Zeitwerk fiasco. If you own a luxury watch, here’s how you can protect yourself

615K views · Sep 23, 2022 · People & Blogs

Watch Enthusiast London

13K subscribers

Comments · 2.5K

@MaxNelder · 3 years ago
This was one of the best audiobooks ive listned to this year.
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@Valentin-sz3wd · 3 years ago
This is more captivating than most shows on Netflix.
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@plifplouf · 3 years ago (edited)
I'm a watchmaker with about 15 years of experience and I'm working at a Lange & Söhne dealer. As soon as you mentioned the initial response from the manufacture, I 100% knew what happened. L&S dealers should know never to let anybody operate on a watch under warranty. L&S takes pictures of the watch once it is cleared from QC and they always compare the position of the case back screws to see if it has been tempered with. The pinched gasket was a dumb mistake from the Wempe watchmaker and they should have known better than to open a watch under warranty. One thing to mention though is that L&S aren't the definition of perfection and it happens that watches are delivered with slightly damaged screws, oil smudges or hair fibers on the movement. I worked on watches under warranty but I'm proud to say that I am extremely careful and conscientious about my work ethics/quality, so it never occasioned problems to our clients. I also don't believe anything that Wempe has been telling you. I don't believe that they were supposed to take pictures of watches or that the person who handles your watch stopped working there. As soon as they heard from L&S, they knew the mistake was theirs. Maybe their watchmaker lied and said he didn't open the watch but given the fact that they offered to look at your watch and potentially fix a small issue doesn't make me believe that. Instead of acknowledging their fault and take the costs on them they preferred to lie and insinuate that the fault was on your end.
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@ChandanaSamarasekara · 1 year ago
I’m more curious about why the $50,000 watch suddenly stopped working.
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@kaunas88 · 3 years ago
The fact that Wempe is willing to fix the problem at their cost I believe is an indirect admission that they did something wrong.  The whole saga makes me appreciate having a nice cheap watch that can be repaired by any competent watchmaker in the world.  In house movements can be a real pain...unless one lives in Switzerland.
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@thibaud9269 · 3 years ago (edited)
Watchmaker here, and very well aware of the protocols of diagnosis in high-end horology brands like ALS : It is, without even a reasonable doubt, this guy from Wempe who suddenly felt he was Sir Breguet reincarnated, but did as well as a poor lad with Parkinson. As for ALS, they gave you the answer you would have received anywhere else, once it is opened by a non-authorized watchmaker/repair center (not the same as an authorized dealer) they basically have to do a complete service. Reasong being that you don’t imagine what kind of crap a bad watchmaker can do in a couple minutes to fine pieces…or now you might have a glimpse of that !
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@hueyh5637 · 3 years ago
Strange that the employee that took in your watch at the boutique left shortly after.
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@DungeonMetal · 3 years ago
Someone was caught being incompetent and won’t admit it because doing so would cause far more damage in the following embarrassment.  Digging in their heels and hoping the customer gives up is a common strategy for many entities large and small, private and public. They would rather fault someone else rather than admit their own faults, simple as that.
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@chrishatton2642 · 3 years ago
The tone of this gentleman’s voice kept me riveted to the story.
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@mikemurphy8996 · 2 years ago
Your wife is a smart women. Also that employee who is not at that company anymore may have been fired for the handling of your watch.
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@GotThePug · 3 years ago
Just wow. It was like listening to a good drama audiobook. Sorry for your experience, but your storytelling skills are just more than great!
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@frankschroth4038 · 3 years ago (edited)
The question that comes to my mind is how convenient it was for Wempe that the fellow who inspected your watch isn't with them anymore and they can't get a hold of him neither ? Very fishy .......!
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