Good evening,
I am looking for some advice, I sent my watch for authentication and received
the attached reply. As collectors would you change the dial and hands or leave
them as originals?
Thanks in advance,
Stewart
Dear Mr. Johnson,
I hope this email finds you well and you are enjoying your day.
I am glad to inform you that your Vintage open-face pocket watch cal.52 has
been registered with reference 43312682 and it has been shipped to
Schaffhausen.
In our manufacture, our specialists have verified that your timepiece has a
higher radiation level than our accepted tolerance and we can only repair it
according to our safety regulations, under special conditions and in a
specially protected atmosphere.
Since you asked only for the Certificate of Authenticity, we need to inform
you that it can only be issued together with the decontamination and whole
intervention such as the dial and hands replacement because they are
contaminated.
Moreover, we need to remove and substitute them in a controlled atmosphere and
disposed of properly.
If you do not agree to the replacement of the dial and hands, we have to
return the watch unrepaired.
The provisional cost ceiling for this special procedure (including the
additional repair of the watch, replacement of the crown and certificate)
amounts to between approximately CHF 4,000.00 to CHF 5,000.00.
Please, be aware that in order to perform a diagnosis and make a detailed cost
estimate for the necessary work, the dial and hands must first be removed and
disposed of. This cannot be reversed if the cost estimate is then rejected.
In this way, our watchmakers can proceed with the precise examination
according to which they will issue the certificate of authenticity.
Finally, according to this diagnosis, they will verify if some other spare
parts need to be replaced.
We would like you to be aware that if the spare parts for the repair are not
available and can no longer be produced, we reserve the right to return the
watch unrepaired and to charge the costs already incurred.
In order to proceed with the service, we need your written agreement to
proceed with the decontamination and dial and hands replacement, please.
Hoping it is a clear information to you, I thank you in advance for your
attention and I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Alba RICCOBONO
IWC Concierge Services
+44 207 075 07 33
concierge.europe@iwc.com
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