Laco Buhr - nothing but problems

[rice]

Hey,

Wasn't trying to troll on the board, and I'm not overly bitter either. You're right maybe I do place too high of expectations on my watches. I'm still sort of new to the watch game. I have two rolex and one panerai - so i'm not much of a collector - and i've only had them for ten years. All mechanical devices will fail - I just thought 4 months was a bit quick. I have no experience with Laco, I thought when you put your brand on something you sanctioned it. BMW's don't make every single part in their car, however they brand it and stand by it. Laco did the same, they repaired the watch with no fuss what-so-ever. The issue that came up was a customer service one - the misunderstanding or misidentification of the papers FedEx needed. The smaller issue being - do I end up paying over half what the watch costs just to get it back again - or donate it to customs (throw good money behind bad).

As someone new to the Laco brand I couldn't help but do some math - mechanical failure within 4 months, customer service foul up - so I made my post 'nothing but trouble' because of course in my opinion that's true. I've had nothing but trouble with this watch. ;) I wasn't saying Laco sucks, I wasn't saying that all their watches are crap, I was conveying my experience. Sorry if it came across as harsh. It was a beautiful piece, and lots of good conversations about it.

I also don't believe I said U-Boat had better timekeeping ability than Rolex... I LOVE Rolex, mine are tanks and they get daily use. However I think anyone who owns one will agree they are not the most accurate time-piece. If I leave mine alone for 6 months I pretty much know I've lost 5-10 min... My friends and I joke about Rolex giving you the 'approximate time'... Instead I was questioning why it seems (on this and other boards) that U-Boat doesn't seem to get much respect? I'm very close to picking up the 53mm and I guess I was just fishing for some quick input about it. There aren't that many 53mm+ watches out there at the moment.

On a slightly less flattering note (and I'm sure i'll get beat up for this) - the Buhr is a BIG frigging watch, it DOES attract notice, I can honestly say that I'm shallow enough to wish it cost more - when you're wearing a watch that big it's making a bold statement. Peers will either think: 1. it's vintage 2. it's valuable - when in fact it's neither vintage or valuable, it's just big, I sometimes feel embarrassed to talk about it as i 'feel' like it's just two steps up from a G-shock - ha. There are swiss army watches that cost as much - doh!. I didn't buy a vintage one cause i knew it wouldn't stand up to my lifestyle. Up until now I assumed that if a manufacturer came out with a 6k+ watch it would be better made (better parts) than a sub 1k watch.. However after reading Janne's post about the JLC - who knows. There aren't many accessories guys can wear to tell a bit about themselves. So I totally understand why some friends like all gold Daytona's and such.. I mean, I LOVE the style of the watch and would been very glad to have a version that was higher quality even if it were higher price. Nothing feels quite as bad as watching your new watch stop working...

Peace.

[Janne]

Most ETA movements are bought by watch companies like Laco ( and tons of others) "as they are", with zero modifications. They come in different grades.

ETA can do some modifications at a price. IWC movements come to my mind here.

If you Rolex is Chronometer grade ( "Certified Chronometer" on the Dial), it should not lose/gain much time, -4 /+6 secs a day.

I think you should be able to solve your situation by emailng Laco, explaining, and they should send you an email that explains the fault they made you can show FedEx. It is their duty to help you!



Good luck!

[rice]

Most ETA movements are bought by watch companies like Laco ( and tons of others) "as they are", with zero modifications. They come in different grades.
If you Rolex is Chronometer grade ( "Certified Chronometer" on the Dial), it should not lose/gain much time, -4 /+6 secs a day.

so that's -3 min a month.. sounds about right.

[Janne]

You will not get much better than that. Most people adjust the watch maybe once a week, at a set day.

If you read the movement description the various manufacturers give us, you will get the idea that very few use ETA, or that they are heavily modified. This is not so. Usually the only modification ( not really one) is the watch-assemblers name on the rotor.

Carmanufacturers of today install standard components too. The housing may be unique, but the inside is stock. Cheaper that way.

I believe your U-boat has an ETA movement, but I am niot sure which grade.
You say you have owned some watches for 10 years - time for service!!!

[avatar1]

so that's -3 min a month.. sounds about right.

Yes it does. Welcome to the real world.

[Janne]

Yes it does. Welcome to the real world.

The real mechanical world!!!

[Gabriel A. Zorrilla]

What country on earth charges a 50% duty? That sounds crazy.

Argentina is one of those and in a good day. *rolls eyes*

[Janne]

Argentina is one of those and in a good day. *rolls eyes*

Sounds like a good country to assemble watches for in-country use!

[forestone]

I don't think you got bad customer service. Laco probably put the value on 500€ so if something happened to the watch YOU would get 500€ back. If they had only insured it for $100 and it was lost on the mail, I'm pretty sure you would have been really mad.

I don't know where you live, but I'm pretty sure that if you get Laco to write a letter/confirmation that the watch was in for a repair, you wont have to pay the customs fee.

Im from the Philippines. I had a watched repaired in the u.s. I send the head only. I was still taxed by the customs here when the watch was returned.

Different government has diff poloicies.

[Myron]

Argentina is one of those and in a good day. *rolls eyes*

Apparently, the OP is from the Phillipines, so he can apparently empathize. I admit I had no idea there were such outrageous duties in some countries.

Myron