Dear 'Ristis
I plan to give my 111 G (2004) series to one of my sons. I have not serviced the watch and runs well. Since I would not want my son to deal with service and I 've had the watch for 8 years the question is: were you in my shoes would you send the watch for service now even though it runs well? Is the NY service centre operating better? Thank you very much in advance.
Joaquin

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
- Bertrand Russell



Night View DUOMO Firenze

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Nacho Martinez
Spain

If the timing is still on, what about the case seals? I was thinking especially about the crown seals with all the winding?...

Chad

At eight years old you should service it. Its coming up on time for a mainspring.

Also if you giving this as a gift and you don't want any worries I would service it.

system on the 111 and other historic PAM'S is of poor design. It puts lots of strain on the winding mechanism. That has nothing to do with the movement which is a workhorse. Eight years is way too long. Ask any competent watchmaker who has worked on them. Email me if you have other questions because I don't look at the forum much anymore.

Can't hurt to get an extra year's warranty, either

Got to keep on shufflin'!

If it's 8 years old and you wore it everyday then you're probably past due. If you wore it once a months and didn't keep it wound when you weren't using it, then you might get by for several more years.

It all depends.




"But sometimes when you bring the thunder, you get lost in the storm." K.P.

...take it to Jacob, the watchmaker a few booths over from Gary Jemal, on 47th Street. A basic clean & service will run you $250-300.

I. Has. Spoke.

BT

8 years is certainly long enough to warrant a service, and it it really doesn't matter how much it's been worn at this sort of time frame. The oils will break down over time (yes even synthetic oils) so it's due no matter if you have worn it daily or only once a month.

The 6497 based watches are very robust, but they do wear in spots as you can see from these photos of one I serviced earlier this year:







This leads to debris being spread throughout the movement:





How a watch runs is not really a good indicator of the need for servicing. Certainly if the timekeeping or power reserve changes suddenly that is a good indicator it needs service, but the reverse is not true. So a watch that is keeping good time can be in need of service as not every part that wears is directly related to timekeeping.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Al