The future-service viability caveat seems to be in line with other disclaimers seen on, e.g., the Seiko Service Center USA website:
"Please know that service for older, discontinued calibers may not be possible if movement parts are no longer available. Final determination will be made upon watchmaker inspection."
Which is not to gainsay the quality of the service provided here! Having gone down the rabbit hole of finding rare and OOP parts for a King Seiko 4502-7000 (keyless works, click spring, crystal, etc.) in concert with a *very* patient independent watchmaker—a search which ranged far and wide but was ultimately successful—I understand the Mothership's reluctance to even hint at guaranteeing their ability to offer further successful repairs given the dearth of spare fiddly bits with which to make any given vintage watch run like new.
Very interesting article. Not in the same league but I tried to have my 6218 Weekdater serviced at Seiko UK HQ service centre but they wouldn’t do it as they lacked the parts, though they suggested (note: not ‘recommended’) some independents, one of which ended up using. I was happy with the result, but perhaps I should have pushed for it to have been sent back to Japan, or at least tried to get a quote to do so. I will enquire for my KS first to see if it’s possible (and the cost). Seiko UK did service a very worn 7548 for me 5 years ago, at the time they stated they could not source the parts direct, however the technician had some in his personal collection that he was happy to use.
I am going over to Tokyo at the end of the month and plan to take my 4520 and 4522 over to get a complete overhaul. Do you think that will also run in the (( usd$1000 )) range as well? I feel that by dropping it off there, it saves a week or two in the process. I'm reading they are so backed up - to not expect it back for weeks! I am very excited that I will be getting an SLGW005.
Hey there, how did this service end up going? I have a recent, independently-serviced (i.e., not grand seiko themselves) 4522-8000 that I may consider officially sending to Japan (or if I'm fortunate, dropping it off whenever I travel to japan). I'm also from the United States. What was the process like, and how was your overall experience?
Hi Taylor. Nice to meet you. I wound up sending that watch off to GS in NJ. Then THEY sent it off to Japan and it took close to six months to get back. I’m pleased with how it turned out but it came back with a note basically saying they did their best and in the future some of the parts might not be available. It runs wonderfully and looks gorgeous. As for dropping a watch off in Japan, I will be doing that in two weeks when I’m over there. I have 4 vintage GS45’s I want overhauled, two LordMatics and one vintage Seiko 5. They are going to overhaul all of them, and even agreed to let me pick them up when I am over again in April. They estimated each one would be about ¥30,000. This watchmaker is just outside of Tokyo and used to work for Seiko. He does amazing work and will only work on Seiko. He will actually make any parts he can no longer get as originals.
My watches all work wonderfully, I just want them maintained so they last longer than I do.
My current collection of GS’s are overhauled every 5 years.
Hope this helps. Pls reach out if I can answer more questions. There is nothing I like talking about more than watches. pyrytdan@gmail.com
I just sent my 6146-8000 off to Grand Seiko USA in NJ to have it serviced. They sent it off to Japan straightaway. I'm really hoping they will be able to not only clean the inside, replace what needs replacing and oil what needs oiling, I want the quickset of the day of the week to work on the first pull of the crown and not have to send the hour hand around 24x for it to change. I've read it easily breaks on that model. It's such a gorgeous watch.
I had my 1969 6145 serviced a year ago through my local GS shop and I’m overjoyed with the result. Price in Europe is 1000+ euros (price of the watch...) but the outcome is a perfectly stable watch with a near new feel to it. I only had to retune it for accuracy - now a near perfect performer 🥰🥰
I can’t help but think a 44GS or similar would have been a better choice to send in to see if they can still lapinist it! I guess they’ve done the reissue of that so maybe some other model which had a weird combination of brushed and polished surfaces like 4520-7000 or 6145-8020?
I’ve chosen to acquire an outrageously expensive donor case to include with the sale of a VFA (should I be so lucky). Something I would never do for myself
The future-service viability caveat seems to be in line with other disclaimers seen on, e.g., the Seiko Service Center USA website:
"Please know that service for older, discontinued calibers may not be possible if movement parts are no longer available. Final determination will be made upon watchmaker inspection."
Which is not to gainsay the quality of the service provided here! Having gone down the rabbit hole of finding rare and OOP parts for a King Seiko 4502-7000 (keyless works, click spring, crystal, etc.) in concert with a *very* patient independent watchmaker—a search which ranged far and wide but was ultimately successful—I understand the Mothership's reluctance to even hint at guaranteeing their ability to offer further successful repairs given the dearth of spare fiddly bits with which to make any given vintage watch run like new.
Very interesting article. Not in the same league but I tried to have my 6218 Weekdater serviced at Seiko UK HQ service centre but they wouldn’t do it as they lacked the parts, though they suggested (note: not ‘recommended’) some independents, one of which ended up using. I was happy with the result, but perhaps I should have pushed for it to have been sent back to Japan, or at least tried to get a quote to do so. I will enquire for my KS first to see if it’s possible (and the cost). Seiko UK did service a very worn 7548 for me 5 years ago, at the time they stated they could not source the parts direct, however the technician had some in his personal collection that he was happy to use.
Just wondering, was your watch working when u sent it in?
Yes fully working
I am going over to Tokyo at the end of the month and plan to take my 4520 and 4522 over to get a complete overhaul. Do you think that will also run in the (( usd$1000 )) range as well? I feel that by dropping it off there, it saves a week or two in the process. I'm reading they are so backed up - to not expect it back for weeks! I am very excited that I will be getting an SLGW005.
Hey there, how did this service end up going? I have a recent, independently-serviced (i.e., not grand seiko themselves) 4522-8000 that I may consider officially sending to Japan (or if I'm fortunate, dropping it off whenever I travel to japan). I'm also from the United States. What was the process like, and how was your overall experience?
Hi Taylor. Nice to meet you. I wound up sending that watch off to GS in NJ. Then THEY sent it off to Japan and it took close to six months to get back. I’m pleased with how it turned out but it came back with a note basically saying they did their best and in the future some of the parts might not be available. It runs wonderfully and looks gorgeous. As for dropping a watch off in Japan, I will be doing that in two weeks when I’m over there. I have 4 vintage GS45’s I want overhauled, two LordMatics and one vintage Seiko 5. They are going to overhaul all of them, and even agreed to let me pick them up when I am over again in April. They estimated each one would be about ¥30,000. This watchmaker is just outside of Tokyo and used to work for Seiko. He does amazing work and will only work on Seiko. He will actually make any parts he can no longer get as originals.
My watches all work wonderfully, I just want them maintained so they last longer than I do.
My current collection of GS’s are overhauled every 5 years.
Hope this helps. Pls reach out if I can answer more questions. There is nothing I like talking about more than watches. pyrytdan@gmail.com
I just sent my 6146-8000 off to Grand Seiko USA in NJ to have it serviced. They sent it off to Japan straightaway. I'm really hoping they will be able to not only clean the inside, replace what needs replacing and oil what needs oiling, I want the quickset of the day of the week to work on the first pull of the crown and not have to send the hour hand around 24x for it to change. I've read it easily breaks on that model. It's such a gorgeous watch.
Sorry for the late reply. The 6146 movement does not have a quickset day, only a quickset date.
If GSUSA implied that it did, then you need to have some very serious words with them!
Probably when the time is up for maintenance for my First I’ll have it serviced in Japan too
I had my 1969 6145 serviced a year ago through my local GS shop and I’m overjoyed with the result. Price in Europe is 1000+ euros (price of the watch...) but the outcome is a perfectly stable watch with a near new feel to it. I only had to retune it for accuracy - now a near perfect performer 🥰🥰
I can’t help but think a 44GS or similar would have been a better choice to send in to see if they can still lapinist it! I guess they’ve done the reissue of that so maybe some other model which had a weird combination of brushed and polished surfaces like 4520-7000 or 6145-8020?
Just curious, what was their assessment of your watch when u sent in for servicing? Only hairline scratches?
I’ve chosen to acquire an outrageously expensive donor case to include with the sale of a VFA (should I be so lucky). Something I would never do for myself