lifeasdaddy - A good watchmaker in Sydney is hard to find.

As the owner of several watches it's essential to know the whereabouts of Sydney's best watchmakers and watch repairers.

For months I had walked past the intriguing stall in Belgrave St., Kogarah of watchmaker Mr. Vanh Le.  Intriguing because it is the smallest watchmaker's premises I've seen.  And I've probably visited about 50 watchmakers in Sydney, Melbourne and overseas.

A few months ago I was given a copy Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean watch.  It's a great looking watch, but had a disturbing rattle sound when worn or shaken to use the automatic winding mechanism. 

Any rattle sound in a wrist watch is disturbing.  When I had some money set aside to get the watch repaired, I thought I'd use Mr. Le.

When I try a watchmaker I haven't used before I always use a watch that is expendable.  Here that means one which is worth repairing, but not so expensive that I'll cry if the job gets botched.

When I took the watch to him he removed the caseback in my presence, and I could see that the rotor of the automatic movement was loose.  He quickly assessed the damage and advised me that he could repair the watch by taking a rotor from another watch.  He quoted AUD$55 including supply and fitting the part and removal of a couple of bracelet links so that the band would better fit my wrist.  That seemed a fair price to me.

I was pleased that he agreed to perform the repair, as some watchmakers turn up their noses when asked to repair a copy watch.

Today  I collected the watch and am very happy with the result.  Mr. Le also gave me a written  6-month guarantee for the repair.

Now I've left him another tricky repair job.

Thanks Mr. Le.

...

...Other watchmakers in Sydney I'm happy to recommend (with the jobs they have done for me in brackets) are:

Eugene Scarcella, 12 Norton Street, Leichardt.  (overhaul manual Orven, overhaul manual Waltham, Service Tag Heuer quartz, appraise the movement of a Rolex, replace special band and polish crystal of Omega Geneve Dynamic, replace batteries)

Thomas Czibula, Suite 306, level 3, 250 Pitt Street, Sydney. (overhaul, reseal, refurbish Alfex, replace mainspring Rolex, replace batteries)

Nicholas Hacko, Shop 18, Bridgepoint Shopping Centre, Mosman. (reseal vintage Heuer Carrera)

Tell them Bob sent you.

Comments

[Tien Stafidas]

Hi
Mr Van Le is a very honest business man and appreciates these comments. However just so that everybody is aware his business name is Mr Watchmaker Vanle (Van Le).

Van Le was trained in the profession of watchmaking since the 1960's in vietnam, where he repaired a lot of watches such as Omega, Rolex and other brands that we would now call VINTAGE or ANTIQUE.

A lot of his customers are those who have not been able to find another watchmaker that is highly experienced with quality vintage watches or watchmakers who are not highly experienced and unable to repair the watch.

Therefore Van Le can be considered as the most highly skilled and value for your money :-)

I am in the process of assisting with the advertising of Vanle's business so thanks for the head start.

For expert watchmaking services please call Mr Vanle (Van Le) on 0414287501.

Thank you

Regards.

Tien Stafidas

[Craig]

Interesting article thank you

[Lucy Longines]

I wouldn't take any watch I love to Eugene Scarcella. Ruined my longines watch and then denied anything to do with it. What a scam and a coward. Cost me over $600 in repairs. If you love your watch and want it in one piece, stay away from Eugene Scarcella.