We recently received a watch repair request from a customer.
This time, it was a request for a battery replacement, but for some reason, the crown could not be operated, so
we first disassembled the inside and checked it.
This Cartier Panthère was repaired and sold by the manufacturer about three years ago.
At that time, I operated the crown while taking photos,
and it operated smoothly without any problems.
However, when I tried to pull out the crown during this battery replacement, it wouldn't budge at all.
Even if it was a little stiff, it was hard to believe it wouldn't move at all, so
I opened the case back and removed the movement holder.
Then, I found something like adhesive attached to the crown,
which was probably the reason why the crown couldn't be pulled out.
Of course, the customer would not put adhesive on the crown, so I considered the cause, and
it is possible that during the manufacturer's repair, too much adhesive was used when connecting the crown to the winding stem,
and it seeped out and hardened over the years.
Naturally, there was no malicious intent,
and since it is human work, minor problems are not uncommon.
However, since the manufacturer's warranty period had expired this time, and we determined that warranty coverage would be difficult,
we performed an overhaul and repair at our store.
This was an exceptional case, so there was no charge to the customer, and it was handled free of charge.
Such rare cases reminded me that it's reassuring to have parts, but
even repairs done by the manufacturer do not come with a "100% operational guarantee."
Natural failures can occur, excluding misuse.
Rather than judging right or wrong based on such an incident,
what's more important is how well the issue is addressed if something goes wrong.
Whether it's our repairs, the manufacturer, or other stores,
we strive to perform work as close to 100% as possible,
but nevertheless, some problems may still arise.
This is because watch repairs are performed by humans, not robots.
Just as 100% perfection doesn't exist in human endeavors,
current technology dictates that only humans can repair watches.
I'm not trying to make excuses, but rather than right or wrong, how do you handle post-processing?
This incident made me realize that this is the most important thing.