Watch repairs

[Patstone]

Strange question, does anyone know of a watchmaker that can repair a watch which is over 100 years old. It needs a new spring and a wheel apparently. The story behind it - a friend of my grandmother gave me a watch when I was thirteen that his father had made. I have given it to my daughter but it needs work doing. It is in A silver case and is quite pretty and the local chap said the company he works for wouldn't repair it so I am looking for a hobby watch repairer.

[Aurarius]

the local chap said the company he works for wouldn't repair it so I am looking for a hobby watch repairer.
I'm not sure I follow. Why a hobby repairer particularly? If the watch is repairable then there will be professionals willing to repair it.

[Patstone]

Probably, but you have to find someone that is capable of making the wheel etc. or at least has one the right size. My thoughts about the hobby repairer was that they may be interested in tinkering with a hand made watch of that age, and it wouldnt be just "another" watch to repair. I havent tried Samuels or anyone like that, but I doubt if they would be interested. I have tried one individual and he said it would take too long, as it would be a labour of love. Just as why a hobby chap, my husband repairs computers, phones etc and does it for fun, doesnt charge for labour, just the bits to go in it.

[Goldsmith]

Pat, in the past when I worked at a company called McCabe McCarty, the watch and clock maker Paul Mason worked on pieces that I had made, Paul had worked at Cartier and he can do anything related to watches and clock movements, he creates his own clocks and watches also, this is his website; http://www.paulmasonfbhi.com/Watches.htm

Paul fitted the watch and clock movements into these pieces that I made back in those days.
7993 7994 7995 7996 7997

James

[SteveLAO]

Have you tried contacting the British Horological institute? They're very helpful and will advise you of watchmakers....

[CJ57]

We have one or two family run jewellers that were old fashioned watch makers in the area Pat, aren't there any beside you?

[silverlining]

Have a look through yellow pages? Along with the other suggestions, there should be someone able to do it. Someone who does restoration work on watches?

As an aside, it's interesting that your husband also has a hobby doing things for others that he doesn't charge for. I think you're both selling yourselves short,along with those who do charge, there.

With regard to a hobbyist though,they would probably still charge you

[Patstone]

Not expecting it to be done for nothing, but just havent got the money to spend much, my pension doesnt stretch far. As for not charging much for our "services", the two craft fairs that we go to regularly we never make much money. Got an enquiry for a ring, to be made in Adventurine and silver, gave her a guide price of £35 - she said she would ring me back, but thats the last i heard. Last weekend my daughter (who also makes silver jewellery as a hobby), sold a pair of simple thin silver studs for £15 and I sold two rings for £35 each. We would both love to sell more but people genuinely just dont seem to want to spend. We do seem to sell more when the weather is good tho and last Sunday it was really cold so people were filling up the pubs and cafe's not the craft market.

[Goldsmith]

Not expecting it to be done for nothing, but just havent got the money to spend much, my pension doesnt stretch far. As for not charging much for our "services", the two craft fairs that we go to regularly we never make much money. Got an enquiry for a ring, to be made in Adventurine and silver, gave her a guide price of £35 - she said she would ring me back, but thats the last i heard. Last weekend my daughter (who also makes silver jewellery as a hobby), sold a pair of simple thin silver studs for £15 and I sold two rings for £35 each. We would both love to sell more but people genuinely just dont seem to want to spend. We do seem to sell more when the weather is good tho and last Sunday it was really cold so people were filling up the pubs and cafe's not the craft market.

Don't try the man I suggested Pat, he will want top prices for his work. I am afraid that the trade's top workers charge a lot more per hour than I am sure you could afford to pay for your watch repair.

James

[caroleallen]

I think you're going to the wrong shows Pat. You're not even covering the cost of your time, let along materials.

[Patstone]

You are probably right. I love doing the Exmouth Show which is held every month because we are all mates, so have a fun day, done more for the social gathering than anything else. I dont want to "have to" make jewellery apart from the odd commission - I am retired and have been working non stop since I was sixteen, so dont want the hassle of travelling miles, and although I do drive, I am not keen on driving mile after mile and of course my partner in crime (my daughter) is still working in full time employment and makes jewellery as I do, as a hobby. The only couple of events that I know of within easy reach of here is the one at Westpoint which is a three day event and £300 plus a day for the table, and there is another at the Cathedral Green which is the same sort of money, so out of the question. I would be pleased to hear of any others, but after having people look at our stuff and say that it is far too expensive and put it back on the table again, we have kept prices down.

[Aurarius]

people look at our stuff and say that it is far too expensive and put it back on the table again
Do you trust these people's judgement on the matter better than your own and that of the people on this forum who are consistently telling you you're selling it too cheaply? Your fellow forum-members are people who should know, since they're successfully selling their jewellery at higher prices than you.

You've often said that people down your way just don't have the money to pay higher prices. Well firstly there are bound to be many exceptions to that generalisation (and you should try coming to the North!), and secondly all this means is that you need to find a better market place in which to sell your goods. This in itself takes work, of course, and some money, but unless you do go and find a better market in which to sell your goods, then you'll be perpetually condemned to relive the same demoralising experience of meeting buyers who complain your goods are too expensive when simple economics, if nothing else, tells you they're not.

[ps_bond]

I had one of my mokume gane bowls in the recent ACJW exhibition. One woman complained that it was very expensive, so I gave her the whistle-stop tour of how long they take. Finishing up with "and then I shape it into a bowl". It's not expensive, it's actually quite cheap for the labour.

Anyway, I sold its brother privately. :)

[SteveLAO]

I was just going to mention...too expensive.....compared to what? Everything has it's price, and the quality of the work and the time taken and the skill required should never be underestimated, or indeed hidden from the customer!

[CJ57]

I always go back to people being willing to pay their mechanic, plumber, electrician the £40 -£60 an hour at least!

[caroleallen]

I really do get it Pat. It's so easy to fall into the trap of wanting to sell stuff so much that you keep the prices low. I don't think the problem is the area you live in as much as the shows you do.

Those more expensive shows may seem a bit daunting but if you can take five times your booking fee, then it's worth it. Maybe you should forget the regular summer shows when it's just visitors wiling away their time and think about spending your time making stuff for a good Christmas show. That's when people really do spend their money. I've heard the Cathedral Green one can be really good. I have a jewellery (mostly beaded) friend who rents a cabin there at Christmas. She spends all year making stuff for it, spends 5 days dressing, decorating and stocking the cabin and makes a years worth of dosh in one go! Bit scary I know! Having gone to look last year, I can report that there's no decent handmade silver jewellery there, probably because most people are too busy elsewhere.

I was in a local seaside town recently (won't mention where). There was a craft fair going on in a church hall so I thought I'd pop in.
The stalls all looked really cheap (a cloth slung over a table). The produce was all so "homespun" but not in a nice way, more in a "nicknacks that your Gran might like" sort of way. The stallholders all had that desperate look in their eyes. Because I know how it feels, I looked around to find something I might like, but there was absolutely nothing that looked at all contemporary or interesting.

I hope you don't think I'm getting at you Pat but you do seem, quite understandably, to be quite down about it all. I too have spent time doing local shows where all the stallholders just moan about lack of trade and it's soul destroying. No way would I spend a day taking just £75. I just don't do those shows any more.

[ps_bond]

I really do get it Pat. It's so easy to fall into the trap of wanting to sell stuff so much that you keep the prices low.

See it at the exhibitions we run too - where for some people it's more important that they get a sale than value their work properly.
It takes a lot of bloody-minded determination not to drop your prices the first time someone complains the prices are "too high".

[Tabby66]

A constant question.......is my work over-priced/under-priced.....I have stood my ground with slight adjustments, I am certainly not the cheapest at fairs, but I also know that my weight of metal is good and my workmanship is pretty good, my work is fairly unique too,....and.....despite the constant advice of my immediate family (who all have a differing view and way to improve sales/ display/blah blah....), with the very best of intentions,.......and comments from people looking and passers by, which tend to be, that's expensive....but I can see why......plus increasing sales....I can't be that far off......*another moment of doubt*.

I have made losses at fairs, but you begin to get a feel for where your work works and where are none starters. So, as an example, I did some game fairs last year, targeted my potential audience with dog jewellery, shooting based jewellery, horse jewellery, etc......made sure that I had some lower priced stock (still all designed and made by me), but with a much smaller margin......at the first fair, by 2pm I had a small amount of my higher end work out and that covered my costs, plus a bit, a different game fair, minimal sales of anything and a loss......I won't be doing any more.....not right for my work (despite the wildlife tendency!!).......just fuel for peoples thought :)

[caroleallen]

I think I was lucky to have started doing shows in "the good old days" before there was so much cheap imported stuff around. Back in the day, even my regular local show turned over a 5 x stand profit.

[Gemsetterchris]

I read a story somewhere recently about an artist selling a painting for $400 or $4000 (can`t remember but it doesn`t matter).
Anyway, the buyer wrote a cheque out & the seller noticed that they had added an extra zero...after pointing out the error the buyer took the cheque & promptly ripped it up saying they didn`t want it in that case as It can`t be any good if it`s that cheap.

No idea if the story is authentic but it makes you wonder.

[caroleallen]

I think there's some truth in that Chris. A lot of people would rather pay twice the price in a gallery than buy cheaper at a craft fair. I had someone once who bought from me at a show at Christmas and asked me not to tell his wife that he hadn't bought it in a gallery!

[Patstone]

The craft fairs that we go to are the cheap end of the craft fairs. Its good if you have £300 spare to cover the cost of a stall, but neither of us have, plus of course you have no guarantee that you will cover the cost, £35 is a lot easier to find. I quite agree that we could probably put our prices up x 4 and still sell if we were at the right fair, but you have to have the confidence to know that your stuff is good enough to sell at the higher prices.

[CJ57]

The galleries up here have a very strict policy of you not selling your work anywhere else cheaper than them. I don't know if this is normal practice

[caroleallen]

I've never had a gallery dictate anything about prices Caroline. In fact, they seem to accept that things will be a bit cheaper at a craft fair.

[caroleallen]

The craft fairs that we go to are the cheap end of the craft fairs. Its good if you have £300 spare to cover the cost of a stall, but neither of us have, plus of course you have no guarantee that you will cover the cost, £35 is a lot easier to find. I quite agree that we could probably put our prices up x 4 and still sell if we were at the right fair, but you have to have the confidence to know that your stuff is good enough to sell at the higher prices.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Pat. It's about having confidence in your work.

[CJ57]

I've never had a gallery dictate anything about prices Caroline. In fact, they seem to accept that things will be a bit cheaper at a craft fair.

The galleries and even the shops firmly state now that no artist will sell their work cheaper anywhere else which is a bit of a cheek

[CJ57]

I've never had a gallery dictate anything about prices Caroline. In fact, they seem to accept that things will be a bit cheaper at a craft fair.

This is the sort of thing common here :- We ask all artists supplying us to tell us their retail price for their work so that customers buying from the gallery pay no more than they would if buying from the artist directly.

[ps_bond]

It doesn't seem entirely unfair - if a shop or gallery is trying to sell work then it hardly seems fair to have the maker undercut them.

[BarryM]

I thought retail price maintenance was made illegal in the 1970's. In other words my understanding is that is is illegal to enforce a standard price for a product by dint of buying power or market dominance. It is anti-competitive.


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[ps_bond]

It's unlawful for a supplier to dictate the price at which goods will sell, or to refuse to allow discounting. Competition Act 1998 covers quite a lot of ground.

I don't see anything problematic in agreeing not to undercut the gallery. Nor do I see any problem with a gallery with work on SOR asking you to remove it if you decide not to honour that agreement.
Let's face it, if you become known as someone who'll sell your work at a lower price than it's available for in the gallery, why should they waste their time displaying your work for no reward?

It's not anti-competitive, it's anti-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot.

[CJ57]

On the other hand I have found that many galleries don't seem to know what to do with jewellery. Some think it can be treated the same way as a painting which is hung on a wall and it sells itself. In reality much of it is stuck in a cabinet, displayed badly, often not well lit or cleaned when it needs a bit more effort.
I was in a newly refurbished gallery yesterday and they had chosen to stick their jewellery cabinets on walls in dark corners instead of out there with the chainsaw cut slab of wood on a plinth in the middle of the gallery floor selling for thousands :/

[ps_bond]

On the other hand I have found that many galleries don't seem to know what to do with jewellery. Some think it can be treated the same way as a painting which is hung on a wall and it sells itself. In reality much of it is stuck in a cabinet, displayed badly, often not well lit or cleaned when it needs a bit more effort.

Yes... In return, the gallery needs to do its part (and listen when told they're not displaying stuff well). Mind you, the gallery cleaning pieces can go awry too - had one of my (commercial) chains break during a cleaning session. Irksome, but quick to fix.

[Tabby66]

It's commonplace I've found not to undercut prices amongst galleries or online.
That said, I've found at fairs there is more flexibility.