Hi All,
As some of you may know, I did some serious damage to my PPC a few months back whilst on a trip. A feel and landed on a concrete path somehow with my wrist bent in such a fashion that the crown and side of case managed to strike the concrete, leaving some nice grazes on the case and crown, damaging the crystal, dislodging the month hand and damaging the clasp so that it would not close anymore.
I dropped the watch off at the local Richemont service centre at which point the service person looked at the damage and said "Oh, looks like we will need to replace the case" - bing the white gold version of the PPC I dont think she really understood the implications of her statement so I replied "Thats a white gold case, I think we should try and see if there is some way to repair it, can we look at laser refinishing please?".
I received a quote back on the 18th of June but had to wait for the insurance approval so finally approved the service centre to proceed on the 18th of June for the following:
Complete service - Disassemble case, Adjust rate, Check magnetisation, restore and check functioning of movement, replace all gaskets, ultrasonic clean, re-assemble watch, check functioning power reserve, check water resistance, check and adjust bracelet
Case intervention (Laser treatment)
Polishing
New Gold Crown
New Crystal
I have heard of some lengthy spa trips for PPC's getting service so was well prepared for a 3+ month wait so you can imagine my when I received an email back on the 31st of July saying that the watch was ready to pick up.
I have not had time to get back in to pick it up until today and have been thinking all along "Hmm, I wonder if they couldn't repair it properly and that is why it has come back so quick"
I have to say, these people at IWC are wizards, magicians, experts of their trade! They have restored my watch to what looks like a new watch! I simply could not believe the results when I looked at it, there was absolutely no sign of the damage that had been done and no sign that it has been repaired, it simply looks like a new watch!
I do not have a good camera with me at the moment and wanting to do the repair teams work the justice it deserves, I will hold off on posting hte "now" pics until I get home, but here are the before shots that the service centre took when it was checked in:
The mina damage is to the bezel on the right side and the crown both of which you can make out in the pics but not great - a side pic would have been spot on but this is all I have.
A massive thumbs up to the service crew, they have done a sensational job of not only repairing the damage but also performing a full service i what I consider a super quick time - great work team!
You know what, I couldn't wait until I got home to get the camera, so here is a quick wrist shot form the phone cam :) :
I will get some better shots when I get home and update here.
Cheers,
Ben
