Ballon Bleu won't keep time and the local Cartier boutique won't help

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#31
OMG, that watch is gorgeous. I own the same watch minus the diamonds. I'd love the diamonds. In two years and two months my watch stopped working. When I turned the winder it vibrated and was very difficult to manipulate. Fortunately I had purchased it at Wempe an authorized dealer that gave a three year guarantee. They sent it to Cartier to repair and several internal parts had to be changed as I understand it. It took six weeks. Its been running fine ever since (this happened about 8 months ago, I think). I think Cartier only offers a two year guarantee and I suspect, but don't know, that they would have charged me for the repair (of a 2 year old, close to $9K watch).

I was quite surprised that a Cartier would conk out after 2 years and two months. I too have cheapo watches that run fine for years and years. I have two other Cartiers that are 25 years old that never stopped working. I only need a new battery and tune up periodically (Cartier encouraged the tuneups; I don't even know if I needed them).
The difference for me is that the BB is automatic and my other Cartiers are quartz. I won't be buying another automatic Cartier.

I wish you luck. The time issue wouldn't bother me because I end up setting my time frequently because I don't wear the watch daily so it stops. I think for the price your mother paid she should get a brand new watch.

My experience at Wempe was so wonderful and they sell extremely expensive watches. Wempe knows how to treat customers. I've never had that kind of courteous treatment at Cartier when I went in for service.
 
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#32
Update - The BB has been acting up again! This time the watch was at first a little tardy then started to gain time and by January this year, it was gaining a few minutes each day.

When I dropped off the watch at the Cartier boutique on a Saturday - a different boutique in Chadstone this time around and the manager there was super professional and empathetic! - I made a point to reset the time.

On Monday morning, the manager checked the time on the watch and found that it had gained 12 minutes over two days and a half! So a full function test was immediately commenced on the watch.

Today I received a call from the manager advising that a problem had been found with the shellac (?) in the timepiece - it had become soft and was causing the watch to gain time.

Apparently this can happen within 3-5 years of wearing the watch and it just needs to be replaced at that time but it certainly should not be occurring just after 6 months (the whole inside of the watch had been replaced when it was looked at last time).

As the Client Relations Manager that I dealt with last time is on leave, the boutique manager called me and apologised, and offered to exchange the watch for a brand new version or another item.

Unfortunately, Mum unimpressed with Cartier at this point in time and requested a full refund. I have not received the final confirmation yet but hopefully they will keep their promise.

So that’s it, I guess! I just can’t believe the watch became defective again. Lucky I reset the time before handing it over otherwise I may have appeared unreasonable and vexatious!

I can’t seem to shake the thought that there is something inherently defective with this particular design. Shame though as it was a really beautiful brace.. eh hem, watch.

Will update won’t be final news next week sometime.

On a side note, if you’re in Melbourne and are looking to buy something from Cartier, make sure to head to Chadstone! Don’t bother with Collins St and their awful manager.
 
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