It has been a very interesting project, and it has been a pleasure to work on a vintage piece by such a prestigious manufacturer in the history of horology.īefore I commence the restoration, I place the watch on my timegrapher, to get an idea of what I will be up against. As you will see t here was quite a lot of work required to bring the watch up to a fine condition. I could not resist a “before and after” shot in the introduction, but the transformation on this watch is far from being just cosmetic. Also note the missing paint under the A in TAG, and next to the U in Heuer.ĭon't mind paying for a new dial if that's what it needs but I'm being quoted £295 for the service + '£200-£300' for a replacement dial and want to make sure this is the going rate.Īs an amusing sidenote when I spoke to LMVH on the phone the woman initially seemed to think I had already sent my watch in and just wanted an update on its progress, and before I could get a word in to say I was making an initial enquiry she had gone off and come back with someone elses watch (?) who I presume shared the same surname as me? Bit worrying that.This week I decided to feature the restoration of this Blancpain Calibre R540 watch. The 'E' actually 'appears' in that photo, in normal light looking at the watch at a normal distance it's like it isn't there, if that makes sense. Note the oxidisation on the 0 (zero) on the 10. Also took the watch into Goldsmiths yesterday who seemed to think it would need a whole new dial to fix the issue? Spoke to them on the phone as well to make the same enquiry and they seemed to just want me to send it off for an estimate. Have tried emailing Tag UK (LMVH) who have been particularly useless at responding to my simple emails. 1 year or so ago so perhaps there was moisture ingress during that repair? I have also noticed what appears to be paint (?) flecking off of the logo, and oxidisation on a couple of the numbers.

The E in Heuer in particular is pretty much invisible when looking face on, only appearing to exist under very strong light (if that makes sense). The Tag logo on the dial has developed some sort of strange corrosion/dulling which means it is no longer properly reflective. Can anyone recommend a good place to get my Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph (CV2A10.BA0796) repaired and/or serviced?

Calibre watch service