Gold Santos Repair- insanely expensive?

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

smallbeast217

smallbeast217

Member
Nov 1, 2023
104
1,121
#1
My mother gave me her gold Santos watch (from the 70s) as a gift last year. She had it was broken so I took it in & it was repaired- EXTENSIVELY (see attached photos) for $1K (quite reasonable, I thought).

Then suddenly the watch band totally fell apart! Luckily I was sitting and it just kind of slid apart. I took it in again (this is only 4 months later btw) and the estimate now came back to replace the entire band and it’s $16,500!

Is this insane? I don’t know enough to know. Can I get it fixed elsewhere? I am sentimentally attached but this seems excessive. Would welcome any thoughts- thank you.
 

Attachments

  • 0CBFC963-D728-4CEB-894F-56E8CF609EA5.jpeg
    0CBFC963-D728-4CEB-894F-56E8CF609EA5.jpeg
    109.8 KB · Views: 190
  • Wow
  • Sad
  • Like
Reactions: protein_, fashionelite, etudes and 5 others
#8
It's the gold that costs the money, but sadly the bracelet as scrap will only go some of the way towards it.

It doesn't say much for Cartier's time pieces that it breaks so easily. I have my grandmother's JLC from early 1950s, and all it costs me is a clean now and then, and just once a dead-stock part for around $100.
 
  • Insightful
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Etriers, SmokieDragon, smallbeast217 and 5 others
#9
smallbeast217 said:
My mother gave me her gold Santos watch (from the 70s) as a gift last year. She had it was broken so I took it in & it was repaired- EXTENSIVELY (see attached photos) for $1K (quite reasonable, I thought).

Then suddenly the watch band totally fell apart! Luckily I was sitting and it just kind of slid apart. I took it in again (this is only 4 months later btw) and the estimate now came back to replace the entire band and it’s $16,500!

Is this insane? I don’t know enough to know. Can I get it fixed elsewhere? I am sentimentally attached but this seems excessive. Would welcome any thoughts- thank you.
Click to expand...
Could be worth seeing if a jeweller can fix the bracelet. (Bracelet repair being more of a jewelry repair than a watch repair)
 
  • Like
  • Insightful
Reactions: Etriers, nicole0612, papertiger and 4 others
#11
Bumping this old-ish thread to ask if you decided what to do with your mother’s Santos @smallbeast217? Were you able to get it repaired, or did you go another route?

Curious because I’m actually eyeing a vintage 18k Santos dated to roughly the mid-80s-early 90s … it’s listed as in Very Good condition by a reputable seller, but your experience does give me pause because I wouldn’t want to need a costly repair in just a few year’s time!

Hope you were able to find a solution you’re happy with for your heirloom! 💙
 
#12
Classy&Fab said:
Bumping this old-ish thread to ask if you decided what to do with your mother’s Santos @smallbeast217? Were you able to get it repaired, or did you go another route?

Curious because I’m actually eyeing a vintage 18k Santos dated to roughly the mid-80s-early 90s … it’s listed as in Very Good condition by a reputable seller, but your experience does give me pause because I wouldn’t want to need a costly repair in just a few year’s time!

Hope you were able to find a solution you’re happy with for your heirloom! 💙
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I have not found a solution. I was pretty displeased with the whole Cartier experience and them kind of shrugging it off. It’s currently in the safe while I figure out what to do. Sorry! I wish I had a better ending but I don’t. :/
 
  • Sad
  • Like
Reactions: papertiger, A bottle of Red, Etriers and 2 others
#13
smallbeast217 said:
Unfortunately I have not found a solution. I was pretty displeased with the whole Cartier experience and them kind of shrugging it off. It’s currently in the safe while I figure out what to do. Sorry! I wish I had a better ending but I don’t. :/
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the speedy reply! I am quite sorry to hear you had such a frustrating experience with them and have yet to find a solution. I do hope that an independent jeweler might be able to fix it (for a fraction of the cost)! I also find it a bit hard to believe that the band would need outright replacing and is totally unable to be repaired … this feels potentially like an upsell moment to me, although I’m just speculating. But surely if the band was just a few months away from needing total replacement when you sent it in to be serviced they would have noticed and mentioned that?! But perhaps not.

Your response does give me pause about purchasing it vintage, though, because I don’t have experience with Cartier’s quality and would never pay that amount on a repair of any of my luxury watches (or goods).

Anyway, l hope you are able to find a satisfying solution someday! Good luck on your journey to a resolution. 💙
 
  • Like
Reactions: Etriers
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top