Cartier Watch Service prices went down

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

vsminimoose

vsminimoose

O.G.
Aug 17, 2006
697
11
#1
Well Well Well......

I know quite a few of you guys mentioned that Cartier watch service was a total rip off (yea, it kind of is.) Some of you guys may have even received a check in the mail a year or two ago. As it turns out there was some kind of legal going-ons and a lot of people who used the Cartier watch service got some kind of partial refund. I'm only speculating but I believe there was a class-action lawsuit where they were accused of overcharging for their services or recommending people get repairs that were not necessary.

Well today I visited the Cartier service site and their prices are considerablly lower than last year. By quite a bit. Very happy to see.

Rapid Service: $60
Maintenence Service: $95
Complete Service: $190 (correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this close to or over $300??)

So there you have it. Still a chunk of change but MUCH easier on the wallet if you want your Cartier watch to be serviced in-house.
 
#5
A couple years ago I know they were sued in a class-action lawsuit for charging to high of prices for repairs, and I just got a gift card/voucher thing....glad to see now they've actually lowered the prices
 
#6
lanasyogamama said:
Nice! How often are you suppose to do this for an automatic watch?
Click to expand...

For Rapid/Maintenance service which includes gasket checks/water resist checks and battery changed are recommended for every 2 years.

Complete service (which comes with a polish) is recommended every 5 years.

I work with a lot of people that have the Tank Francaise. None of them have taken it for the complete service yet and they've all had theirs 7+ years. They only go in to get the battery changed which sounds like it's about once every 3 years. The MD I work for gets her batteries changed at bloomingdales for $20.

I have the Tank Solo (it's only a year old) and I plan to move out of NYC next year. I'll take it for a rapid service before I move so I can have it done same-day out of convenience while I still live here.
 
#7
vsminimoose said:
Well Well Well......

I know quite a few of you guys mentioned that Cartier watch service was a total rip off (yea, it kind of is.) Some of you guys may have even received a check in the mail a year or two ago. As it turns out there was some kind of legal going-ons and a lot of people who used the Cartier watch service got some kind of partial refund. I'm only speculating but I believe there was a class-action lawsuit where they were accused of overcharging for their services or recommending people get repairs that were not necessary.

Well today I visited the Cartier service site and their prices are considerablly lower than last year. By quite a bit. Very happy to see.

Rapid Service: $60
Maintenence Service: $95
Complete Service: $190 (correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this close to or over $300??)

So there you have it. Still a chunk of change but MUCH easier on the wallet if you want your Cartier watch to be serviced in-house.
Click to expand...

I presume yours is a quartz with a battery? It was always less expensive to service a quartz with a battery, as it has very few moving parts and not much to do other than change gaskets, put in a new battery, and polish the case and bracelet. It was over $400 if you had a basic automatic or manual wind...but those actually have numerous small parts for their movements which must be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled.

In addition, even at $400-$450 its far less than the service on a Rolex around $600, or something truly high end such as a Patek or Audemars Piguet, where a complete service is about $1,000.

radio_shrink said:
A couple years ago I know they were sued in a class-action lawsuit for charging to high of prices for repairs, and I just got a gift card/voucher thing....glad to see now they've actually lowered the prices
Click to expand...

How much did you get for a voucher? It sounds like something they would have settled just for good customer relations. I could be wrong, but I doubt it was for the prices they charged for servicing watches. As a lawyer, I can't think of a more ridiculous lawsuit, as you get a quote, and you are not obligated to have them service your watch, you can say yes or no. Its like buying a Mercedes and then wanting to sue Mercedes because it cost more to service a Mercedes at a Mercedes dealer than at an independent shop, or because it cost more than servicing a Kia. IIRC, the lawsuit was because Cartier won't sell parts to independent service shops, which some think creates a monopoly...but most good watch companies (not just Cartier won't sell parts to independent watch makers to service their watches) . In addition, Cartier is actually among the more affordable companies when it comes to servicing their watches. Still interesting that they gave out some vouchers.
 
#8
vsminimoose said:
For Rapid/Maintenance service which includes gasket checks/water resist checks and battery changed are recommended for every 2 years.

Complete service (which comes with a polish) is recommended every 5 years.

I work with a lot of people that have the Tank Francaise. None of them have taken it for the complete service yet and they've all had theirs 7+ years. They only go in to get the battery changed which sounds like it's about once every 3 years. The MD I work for gets her batteries changed at bloomingdales for $20.

I have the Tank Solo (it's only a year old) and I plan to move out of NYC next year. I'll take it for a rapid service before I move so I can have it done same-day out of convenience while I still live here.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info!
 
#9
Jetsetmax said:
I presume yours is a quartz with a battery? It was always less expensive to service a quartz with a battery, as it has very few moving parts and not much to do other than change gaskets, put in a new battery, and polish the case and bracelet. It was over $400 if you had a basic automatic or manual wind...but those actually have numerous small parts for their movements which must be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled.

In addition, even at $400-$450 its far less than the service on a Rolex around $600, or something truly high end such as a Patek or Audemars Piguet, where a complete service is about $1,000.



How much did you get for a voucher? It sounds like something they would have settled just for good customer relations. I could be wrong, but I doubt it was for the prices they charged for servicing watches. As a lawyer, I can't think of a more ridiculous lawsuit, as you get a quote, and you are not obligated to have them service your watch, you can say yes or no. Its like buying a Mercedes and then wanting to sue Mercedes because it cost more to service a Mercedes at a Mercedes dealer than at an independent shop, or because it cost more than servicing a Kia. IIRC, the lawsuit was because Cartier won't sell parts to independent service shops, which some think creates a monopoly...but most good watch companies (not just Cartier won't sell parts to independent watch makers to service their watches) . In addition, Cartier is actually among the more affordable companies when it comes to servicing their watches. Still interesting that they gave out some vouchers.
Click to expand...

Right.....It's a quartz movement and I didn't mention what a Rolex would cost to have repaired because I was talking about Cartier. Sorry - I think I'm confused by your post. Was it to tell us that, in comparison to other watch companies, Cartier is not as expensive? I don't think many people would argue with that.

Thanks though.
 
#10
vsminimoose said:
Right.....It's a quartz movement and I didn't mention what a Rolex would cost to have repaired because I was talking about Cartier. Sorry - I think I'm confused by your post. Was it to tell us that, in comparison to other watch companies, Cartier is not as expensive? I don't think many people would argue with that.

Thanks though.
Click to expand...

My main point was that the price of servicing a watch has not gone down. It was never $300+ for a basic service to a quartz watch. If the price you quoted was for an automatic or manual wind, then that would have been a significant drop in the cost of service (over $300 is generally for automatics and manal wind watches).

My mention of service prices for other brands was just a relative comparison, to say that while servicing a Cartier isn't cheap, it could be a heck of a lot worse. I appologize if that confused you.
 
#11
Jetsetmax said:
My main point was that the price of servicing a watch has not gone down. It was never $300+ for a basic service to a quartz watch. If the price you quoted was for an automatic or manual wind, then that would have been a significant drop in the cost of service (over $300 is generally for automatics and manal wind watches).

My mention of service prices for other brands was just a relative comparison, to say that while servicing a Cartier isn't cheap, it could be a heck of a lot worse. I appologize if that confused you.
Click to expand...

Oh ok - but I never said the basic service was around $300. The complete service was around $300 - where they take everything apart, oil, polish, etc. Another member in this thread also had hers quoted at $300.
 
#12
vsminimoose said:
Oh ok - but I never said the basic service was around $300. The complete service was around $300 - where they take everything apart, oil, polish, etc. Another member in this thread also had hers quoted at $300.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that. Just curious if your Tank Solo is on a bracelet or a strap, as that could also affect the cost of your service. With regard to a quartz watch, there isn't much for them to take apart, clean or oil...so beyond changing gaskets and a battery, the only real difference between a basic service and complete is probably polishing.

I am going to see if I can dig up my old service invoice to an automatic Tank Francaise I have to see how they break down the cost of service/polishing etc.
 
#13
This thread is a bit old, but I wanted to throw in my 2-cents since I've been shopping Cartier watches.

I was told by a AD that the complete service is around $300-$400 if all is okay with the quartz watch. Battery replacements would cost $60 at Cartier (but the AD would do free lifetime batteries).

This is the first I'm reading about the lower cost of maintenance. That's exciting!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top