# How often do you service your Orient?



## bigben10

I thought I`d throw this one out there, but how often, if at all, is it really necessary to have a watch serviced? I have had a Tissot Le Locle since 2005 and it still runs great, or is there a risk of running in to any problems by not servicing? Any thoughts welcome.


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## Jncky

It really depends on the price of the watch for me. I wouldn't service anything below 1000$. The service would cost more than than the watch itself! It's a different story if the watch as sentimental value to it tough. But it's not the case for me right now. So, the answer is never. (for now)


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## sirgilbert357

Jncky said:


> It really depends on the price of the watch for me. I wouldn't service anything below 1000$. The service would cost more than than the watch itself! It's a different story if the watch as sentimental value to it tough. But it's not the case for me right now. So, the answer is never. (for now)


Huh?? Why should a service on a basic ETA three hander movement cost more than 1,000??

To the OP: Its been more than 10 years on your LeLocle, so, yes, I would service it -- whether its been a daily wear piece or not. You will get varying opinions on this though.

I don't know where you live, but that's a very common movement and you should be able to find someone to service it rather cheap...certainly less than 1,000 dollars...

Edit: Oh, and why did you ask about an Orient in the title, but you mention your LeLocle in the body? Did you have an Orient you wanted to ask about?


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## bigben10

Thanks Sirgilbert357 for your reply. I should have been clearer on that, I live in Brazil and am just waiting to receive my new Orient Poseidon 469ss053. I agree that my Tissot should be serviced but I`m in the process of trying to sell it so that I can but an Orient Star Wz0041dv. I`d imagine that like ETA, Orient movements should be serviced every 3-5 years if I`m not wrong. Thanks.


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## GNNS

I have an Orient Symphony with the 48743 movt. I was wondering the same thing.Has anyone serviced that movement? I guess it will need service after 5 years or so? I wear it almost every day for 6-12 hours.


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## v1triol

Never. Orients are great watches but on their affordable price level I pefer to buy new one, than being bothered with service.


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## cabfrank

GNNS, most Orients and Seikos can go longer than that without service. I would leave it alone as long as it runs well.


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## GNNS

Thanks guys. It's still new (8 months),so I guess it will run fine for many years


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## cabfrank

It will. I have a white one, and I hope you love yours as much as I love mine.


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## sticky

An auto should be serviced every 7 years but when that time comes you will have to decide whether it's financially viable to have your Makos and Bambinos done or to let them run until they die.


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## Casey

For very low cost units, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. I have read that there are people wearing cheap Japanese autos for over 20 years without any servicing. In countries like Malaysia where labor cost is low, it might just costs usd $10 for a service (not incl. parts), so for cheap autos, it might not worth servicing, it all depends on the cost.


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## sirgilbert357

sticky said:


> An auto should be serviced every 7 years but when that time comes you will have to decide whether it's financially viable to have your Makos and Bambinos done or to let them run until they die.


Exactly.

And I personally don't let the price of the watch be the ONLY factor. If you have a 150 dollar watch that you can't buy new anymore, but you really love it and want to keep it in the collection, then you service it -- even if it costs 120 bucks to do it. But if you can buy it all over again -- exact same watch, for 150 bucks -- well, yeah, I would probably just buy another. Keep the original for parts or something...

Another option is a movement swap. This can often be cheaper than a full service, and with less down time...if you can buy a new standalone movement to drop in. This might be harder with Orients than other brands, not sure.

I'm getting to a point where I don't want to own anything I'm not willing to service. I'm looking long term longevity for my collection. The exception is my SKX171 and my SRP Monster due to sentimental attachments. I'll keep those until the movements quit or have issues and then get a movement swap. For the SKX, I'll probably buy the cheapest new Seiko 5 I can find at that point (saw a field watch with the 7S movement for like 45 bucks brand new once!) and harvest the movement.


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## Dwalinn

I use my Orient Star for the second year and the accuracy is good


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## MercifulFate

I never really thought about having to spend this much servicing my autos. That's a bummer, but thankfully right now I only have two, the Mako USA (on its way) and the orient flight


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## sirgilbert357

MercifulFate said:


> I never really thought about having to spend this much servicing my autos. That's a bummer, but thankfully right now I only have two, the Mako USA (on its way) and the orient flight


The servicing aspect of this hobby is one reason I limit myself to only 10 watches. Four of them are quartz at the moment too...


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## Bassgroove

Ask me in 2036 

I think never - maybe let adjust the watch (if it doesn´t work korrektly in some years)


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## rob_honer

I service my watches I wear most often Sothis, JLC and Rolex every four years _from an independent watch repair shop and they charge me three hundred dollars per watch. I would agree that for watches that are valued under a thousand dollars it is not worth it, unless it has real sentimental value, or a heirloom piece and you want to pass it down to kids._ By the way I have a OMEGA SMP Pro Chrono and have never serviced it and after twenty years it is still accurate enough for me.


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## sirgilbert357

rob_honer said:


> I service my watches I wear most often Sothis, JLC and Rolex every four years _from an independent watch repair shop and they charge me three hundred dollars per watch. I would agree that for watches that are valued under a thousand dollars it is not worth it, unless it has real sentimental value, or a heirloom piece and you want to pass it down to kids._ By the way I have a OMEGA SMP Pro Chrono and have never serviced it and after twenty years it is still accurate enough for me.


Oh man...but when you DO service it, good luck. Chronos ain't cheap when you start replacing parts. And you probably will, cause oil don't last forever (about 7 years) and how accurate a watch runs is not an indicator of the need for servicing...

https://www.watchuseek.com/f20/how-often-service-watch-watchmakers-view-789280.html


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## bigben10

Thanks Sirgilbert357, that was a very informative link and very useful to know.


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## Colderamstel

Honestly, I would probably only service the watch if it became a sentimental attachment. Especially for the Mako/USA/Ray line where the service cost would be comparable to buying a half the watch. But hey, you never know. In 5-7 years if they are still kicking along I may do it.


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## go0oser

So, on a similar note, I recently purchased a Orient Mako USA and had it for about two weeks.Earlier this week I was making some dinner and I took off the watch so I didn't get it all dirty.

When I went to put it back on, I dropped it from waist level to the tile floor in my kitchen. 

The watch seems to sound like its winding as shaking it produces a clicking sound. The watch was keeping time similarly to when I dropped it. That said when shaking it you can also hear what sounds like something is hitting the case. It just doesn't sound quite right.

I have brought the watch to a local watchmaker to have them look at it and let me know if the damage is serious or not, but it is going to take 3 weeks for them to even look at it. They don't seem to be all that familiar with Orient, but I cant say that Ill be able to find another watchmaker in my area that is.

What do you think about any repairs that are necessary? I was really excited to get this watch being that it is my first auto-mechanical. Its a beautiful watch.


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## MadMrB

go0oser said:


> So, on a similar note, I recently purchased a Orient Mako USA and had it for about two weeks.Earlier this week I was making some dinner and I took off the watch so I didn't get it all dirty.
> 
> When I went to put it back on, I dropped it from waist level to the tile floor in my kitchen.
> 
> The watch seems to sound like its winding as shaking it produces a clicking sound. The watch was keeping time similarly to when I dropped it. That said when shaking it you can also hear what sounds like something is hitting the case. It just doesn't sound quite right.
> 
> I have brought the watch to a local watchmaker to have them look at it and let me know if the damage is serious or not, but it is going to take 3 weeks for them to even look at it. They don't seem to be all that familiar with Orient, but I cant say that Ill be able to find another watchmaker in my area that is.
> 
> What do you think about any repairs that are necessary? I was really excited to get this watch being that it is my first auto-mechanical. Its a beautiful watch.


I had a similar problem with one of my Orients, but not due to dropping. It would intermittently sound like the rotor was catching the case back, luckily it was one I had purchased from an AD and under warranty, so I sent it back for service. The service center said it was due to the spacer that helps support the movement, so they reinforced it to make sure the movement can't move anymore.

So perhaps the movement spacer on your Mako has been damaged?


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## go0oser

Its very possible. I guess we will find out in a couple of weeks from the watchmaker. Hopefully not too expensive.


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## Casey

it is exactly what happened to my Mako (orig) at Christmas day, dropped from chest height, and it stopped, when shaken it will run for some minutes but it will stop again. Had no choice but sent it to a watch repairer (i stay in Malaysia, made "famous" by the MH370 and the corrupted prime minister). He is always busy, kept my watch for nearly two months, and finally my wife brought it back for me yesterday. costs me about usd 15 to service it. I will check the accuracy within these few days.



go0oser said:


> So, on a similar note, I recently purchased a Orient Mako USA and had it for about two weeks.Earlier this week I was making some dinner and I took off the watch so I didn't get it all dirty.
> 
> When I went to put it back on, I dropped it from waist level to the tile floor in my kitchen.
> 
> The watch seems to sound like its winding as shaking it produces a clicking sound. The watch was keeping time similarly to when I dropped it. That said when shaking it you can also hear what sounds like something is hitting the case. It just doesn't sound quite right.
> 
> I have brought the watch to a local watchmaker to have them look at it and let me know if the damage is serious or not, but it is going to take 3 weeks for them to even look at it. They don't seem to be all that familiar with Orient, but I cant say that Ill be able to find another watchmaker in my area that is.
> 
> What do you think about any repairs that are necessary? I was really excited to get this watch being that it is my first auto-mechanical. Its a beautiful watch.


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## brahman

sirgilbert357 said:


> I'm getting to a point where I don't want to own anything I'm not willing to service. I'm looking long term longevity for my collection. The exception is my SKX171 and my SRP Monster due to sentimental attachments. I'll keep those until the movements quit or have issues and then get a movement swap. For the SKX, I'll probably buy the cheapest new Seiko 5 I can find at that point (saw a field watch with the 7S movement for like 45 bucks brand new once!) and harvest the movement.


Same here. Although my collection has been ballooning this year, I'd like to get down to just a couple of autos I like enough to service and keep long term, complemented by a few quartz I'll run into the ground.

My Bambino was under $100 brand new - unlikely I'll pay for a service on it. Likely get flipped before that becomes a concern, or like my quartz pieces, worn into the ground.

My SKX I probably will service because I'm so attached to it. But I do have a $46 SNK803 that I don't care to wear much but do plan to keep for the spare movement.


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## arogle1stus

I roll with most of the expressed opinions.
48743 in several Orient models have served me well.
Service em? Nah!!! I'll just wait til they expire of old age.
Then give Marc at L I Watches a call.

X traindriver Art


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## imperio

I didn't think servicing was necessary tbh..


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## go0oser

Thanks for sharing. Still have a couple weeks before I hear anything. Ill be sure to update everyone.


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## Jb330ci

Not worth it at all. Just buy another one if you really like it since it's so cheap. Servicing may cost you more in the long run.


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## go0oser

go0oser said:


> So, on a similar note, I recently purchased a Orient Mako USA and had it for about two weeks.Earlier this week I was making some dinner and I took off the watch so I didn't get it all dirty.
> 
> When I went to put it back on, I dropped it from waist level to the tile floor in my kitchen.
> 
> The watch seems to sound like its winding as shaking it produces a clicking sound. The watch was keeping time similarly to when I dropped it. That said when shaking it you can also hear what sounds like something is hitting the case. It just doesn't sound quite right.
> 
> I have brought the watch to a local watchmaker to have them look at it and let me know if the damage is serious or not, but it is going to take 3 weeks for them to even look at it. They don't seem to be all that familiar with Orient, but I cant say that Ill be able to find another watchmaker in my area that is.
> 
> What do you think about any repairs that are necessary? I was really excited to get this watch being that it is my first auto-mechanical. Its a beautiful watch.


Heard back from the watchmaker. No damage. Glad to have it back. They didn't charge me to look at it.


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## Rick5

I own two Orient watches. One is an Orient open heart that is no longer available. I serviced it through Orient USA after 6 years. I will service it again at the 4-5 year mark. It is the first mechanical watch I ever owned, so it has sentimental value. My other Orient is a Rose Gold Orient Star Retrograde. I will definitely be getting it serviced regularly. I absolutely love the watch, it is relatively expensive for an Orient, and I want to keep it for a long time. To me, it definitely has the feel and look of a watch that costs a lot more, so I plan on taking care of it.


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## phreeze2k1

I'm assuming it probably wouldn't be wise to service a watch that cost under $140 right? How long would a mako/bambino last in years?


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## mythless

phreeze2k1 said:


> I'm assuming it probably wouldn't be wise to service a watch that cost under $140 right? How long would a mako/bambino last in years?


Certainly you could if you really wanted to, it all depends on how much you value that particular watch.

As for longevity, I think the general consensus is that the movement is quite robust and reliable and will last as long as you take care of it, longer if you service them of course.


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## cabfrank

I'm thinking that is exactly right. Easily 7-10 years of very regular use without servicing, and with servicing, there is no reason it won't last a lifetime.


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