Going to leave this piece of work here..
 

Is that Ev?

Could be, I hear he does wear stockings.

Great commercial. If they are only going to want to sell watches to X- WWII Spitfire pilots. They will go bankrupt. Cant imagine there are many left, sadly.

If they gripped any harder, they would dock themselves!

Bought a Rolex Submariner 10 yrs ago and have worn it ever since. First service after 5 yrs cost AUD1000. Present service will cost AUD6000. Not worth it by a long shot. It's going up for sale. I'll use my smartphone now like all the spikey hairs!

Got my 28year old 18 ct Rolex serviced last year for about £700 in UK. That's a helluva lot less than $6000AUD.

The irony that IWC is a Swiss company, and that Switzerland was "neutral" in WW2 and offered neither sanctuary nor succour to downed allied aviators isn't lost on me.
I'd never buy one, on principal.

Capt U

Well said. Same reason I won't drink Guinness!

Regrettably, my Casio AQ-426 is no longer in production but appears to go on and on.

Yes, what a vomit-inducing commercial.

Completely off thread VR-HFX, but I think you will find that allied service men who ended in in the Irish Free State as it was called were well treated and 'arrangements' were made.

And those Irishmen who came to fight on the Allied side were treated abominably when they returned to The Republic.

Who pays AUD 6000 for a service of a watch? Rip off I call that. Watches don't need service. Period.

You're showing your ignorance.

Automatic watches certainly do need occasional servicing.

AUD$6000 is a joke, however. As it's a second service, I assume it's out of warranty - therefore nothing to be gained by sending it to Rolex.

There are some very talented watch repair guys - they'll do a better job, source Rolex parts, regulate the spring more accurately, and send it back looking like new. All for a fraction of the cost.

Had a Seiko for 14 years. Cracked face glass, got full of water and stopped working. Took it to Seiko Bahrain. Fixed next day for $30US. Had 3 batteries in its lifetime and keeps time to 1 second a week. You can keep your Rolex.:ok:

Breitling want HK$5500 to service my Aerospace. It's in the draw in my bedside locker and has a flat battery and will stay there. The $880 Seiko (which keeps better time) is doing me fine in the meantime.

I am guessing that the aerospace service will have its guts changed. Not sure the age of your watch. Breitling also pressure checks it and replaces all the rubber seals etc. A simple battery change should not cost $5500 HK.

Automatic watches, like bottled water, are a complete marketing con - the market was almost killed by the advent of the digital watch, until the marketeers re-invigorated it. It has always struck me how absurd it is to pay for the complexity, unreliability, inaccuracy and servicing hassle of an automatic mechanism that you never even see, when a quartz mechanism that is more reliable, much more accurate and needs less servicing can be had for a fraction of the price. (apart from Breitling that is - some sucker has to pay for all that advertising and the airshows)

My (dead) Swiss automatic that has cost me thousands in servicing will remain in the drawer - next watch will be a quartz, probably Japanese.

I too am normally presented with a hefty servicing bill when I take my Breitling in.
However, I find if a tell them all I want is a battery change and replace the seal, strangely the watch keeps working, it stays waterproof, mine keeps excellent time and I don't end up paying exorbitant service fees.
If it ****s itself in the future, a whole new movement, according to a colleague who had his replaced, is not far off a couple of hefty service fees. I'll take that risk.

My watch is engraved 'cos my Dad ( now deceased) bought it for me. It never leaves my wrist and rarely needs servicing. When it does, like my favourite car (100/4 Healey), it will be serviced. Of course!