Sometimes we ask ourselves: are shopkeepers sufficiently clear and comprehensive at the time of sale in recommending to the customer that the watch, like any precision instrument and like everything that is used daily, will need ordinary maintenance over time? We come back to this subject because it is part of everyday life to be told with amazement by many: but how is it possible that only after five years does one have to spend money on a maintenance service (overhaul) for a watch of such prestige? The sums we are referring to are negligible when compared to the years that elapse between one maintenance service and the next (an average of 80/90 euros per year) also considering the use of the watch over days months, years, in every season and, last but not least, the value of the watch. So why do so many people, despite having chosen and owning a brand-name watch, not infrequently a top-of-the-range one, remain so astonished and opposed to such maintenance? What stops them from doing so? And why do they willingly and scrupulously overhaul other objects and less so the watch? What leads them to think that a timepiece does not need care, that it should run forever without any technician putting his expert hands into the mechanism? Well, at this point and after decades spent in the industry, we believe that at the time of sale, salespeople often neglect to make it clear that the watch they have just chosen and purchased with enthusiasm must necessarily undergo periodic maintenance, in order to keep it in perfect condition as originally conceived. If, on the other hand, these recommendations have been imparted skilfully and as good advice and the customer, who is often an enthusiast, shows aversion to the maintenance requirements, he is demonstrating behaviour that is in complete disagreement with the philosophy of the company to which he turned with confidence at the time of purchase, fully espousing its quality, style, production and history. We cannot give an unequivocal answer to this strange but frequent phenomenon. We have often teased these uncaring or maintenance-averse users with targeted questions, and each one has given an evasive or downright incorrect answer such as 'But shouldn't a watch walk forever? With good, proper and frequent maintenance, the answer is yes, if not, no.
