My son has two geared wristwatches from his grandfather (and namesake) that he would like to restore. One needs a new crystal, the other needs to be cleaned and oiled and whatnot. He does NOT want me to go near them (imagine that). The watches are from Switzerland in the 1950's.

Is our best bet to find a local guy ? There are a few around...

Paging grumpyguy......

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clay
Paging grumpyguy......

Based on Grumpyguy's recommendation, I used Matt Becher: [www.thewatchtech.com]

He did good.

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......what about son of a Beech....er.....??

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Wig...darn.. he's not working this year. Hope he's okay.

"Due to unforseeen circumstances, I will be taking a hiatus from watch repair for much of 2017. If you have a watch in for repair now, note that I am working through the backlog and will return your completed watch ASAP. The ONLY repairs I may be able to take in this year are vintage pocket watches. I will remove this message once I am able to resume offering my regular level of service. Thanks and have a great 2017!"

Are you in NYC?
Central Watch gets good reviews.

[www.yelp.com]

I'm in Cleveland. There is a guy in the area who has a good rep. I'll be going to him. Classic little old Eastern European guy... You know the type... sits at his workbench with his magnifying glasses on, surrounded by bits and pieces. Often listening to Opera.

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cbelt3
Wig...darn.. he's not working this year. Hope he's okay.

"Due to unforseeen circumstances, I will be taking a hiatus from watch repair for much of 2017. If you have a watch in for repair now, note that I am working through the backlog and will return your completed watch ASAP. The ONLY repairs I may be able to take in this year are vintage pocket watches. I will remove this message once I am able to resume offering my regular level of service. Thanks and have a great 2017!"

Oh no! I hope he's ok too.

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Look no farther than Pollak Watch Service, 14429 Cedar Road, right in Cleveland. (fixwatch.com)

I'm in NYC and walk right past Central Watch in Grand Central every day. They're nice, and they've done no damage to my equipment over the years, but I don't think they want to be in the mechanical watch repair business. They want to sell watch batteries and bands, and maybe secondhand watches, at very high markups. If I were them maybe I'd rather be in that business too.

As far as repairs go, they quoted me thousands of dollars to repair an old watch that was worth perhaps $350 on a good day. Then they quoted me $600 to repair a 1940's vintage watch worth less than $350 that Pollak fixed for about $100 through the mail. Pollack also replaced a crystal on a different watch at a reasonable price that I don't recall.

I own a set of watch tools that easily get me into any watch I own for battery or band replacement so I have no reason to patronize Central Watch any more.

Baume jeweler, san francsico. Swiss watchmaker.

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Another potential source.