The Life of Your Watch: Customer After Sales Service

At a recent conference of their global editors and executives, the publisher of Esquire Magazine in Latin America was quoted as saying: “We need to encourage men to use their free time in an elegant manner.”

It is with this in mind that this week’s look into the IWC lifestyle focuses on what takes place to keep your IWC timepiece functioning perfectly, the Customer After Sales Service, so your free time is pursued as a gentleman’s should: worry free and with sophistication.

From the moment your watch arrives at one of the worldwide IWC Service Centres, it is handled with the same precision and detailed attention that it was given when first built. In the certified Complete Service (comprised of 16 steps and recommended every 5 years), skilled watchmakers dismantle, clean, repair, and reassemble every component in the watch. But that is just the quick description.

The truly unique service procedures include the removal of the watch movement from the case, and then a full dismantling of the movement’s many components. As seen here, this is no easy feat and requires extremely steady hands and immense dexterity.

The dismantling allows for a careful analysis of each piece to ensure it is functioning properly and does not need to be replaced.

While the inner workings of the timepiece are being inspected, the case goes through its own share of the 16-step service process. It is laser treated to repair extreme signs of wear and tear, then ground and polished, and immersed in an ultrasonic bath. These steps ensure that the case will provide the strength and function needed when rejoined with the movement – another painstaking step due to the sensitivity of the components that need to be reassembled to their original specification.

When all of this is complete, the reassembled watch is tested repeatedly for accuracy, which lasts for several days.

Now, what did you think it took to repair your watch?

While every few years you may be without your watch for a few days or a week, it is worth knowing that every other moment of your life it is working flawlessly, allowing you to enjoy your free time without worry, and with elegance.