The India Made ROSHAN Silicon Watch grease sold at triple its Indian MSRP and the expensive 3 sets of Swiss Made O-Rings at ca. USD 8 per set of 50 rings
WS 7: Vintage Omega Seamaster Gasket Ring Replacement
Silicon Grease and O-Rings
I had bought 3 assortments of O-rings. And important: I had brought the watch to the watch shop to make sure one of the sizes would fit. This is quite important, especially if you are holding a modern bigger watch in your hands (over 40 mm diameter without crown) those standard O-ring assortments with sizes popular in the 70ies and 80ies might not fit your big watch case.
ROSHAN sounds Indian and after removing the sticker from the
importer/exporter (?) "JURG SULL" from the underside of the box it revealed:
M.R.P. Rs. 40.00. The importer and the watch shop each scored 100% profit ... I
felt a bit stupid when comparing with my margins on PMWC. I am a good customer
at R.T.B. and noticed that they have very high prices compared to other watch
parts shop in Bangkok. But the shop is big, has many staff, not all are friendly
if you are a Caucasian but in general the service is good. And if Somboon the
shop owner has time you get really first class service. Somboon knows watches
and his watch shop. He is almost instantly able to tell you whether he has a
spring for an old caliber that is 20 years discontinued on stock. A really
amazing knowledge and memory. If you are happy with a less luxurious shop and
prepared to talk with the hands (English is less common in China Town) then I suggest you
visit Soi Texas (Soi Padung Dao is the original Thai name but everybody knows
Soi Texas) at Yaowarat Road in China Town. Go there in the morning as the
traffic becomes really heavy after noon. And make sure you take your taxi out of
China Town before 3 PM. After that you will easily spend an hour or two trying
to get out. The prices there are however considerably
lower. E.g. the Bergeon professional case opener 5700Z was ca. THB 15'100
at Soi Texas (RTS) and ca. THB 17'900 at RTB, Chidlom in 2002. Only USD 75 you will say, but on a
price of ca. USD 400 that is quite a bit of a difference and about the lower
range of a monthly salary of a
household aide here in Thailand.
So if you got to RTB (located between Rachaprarop Road and Soi Chidlom - the
shortcut between those is called Soi "Big C", RTB is on the right just before
you reach Chidlom) make sure you bring some watch problems along that Somboon
will be happily assist to solve and then just pay and think you gotten good
advice along with the purchase of the parts. I know that many members of the
watch forum Siam Naliga think that Somboon's prices are a rip-off but you have
to take into consideration that he has ca. 10 staff in the shop and a really big
inventory and that he is always willing to help you to find a part or to help to
solve a watch problem. It is not only about the prices of the parts I think, one
has to see the whole picture.
Anyway, 400 O-Rings at R.T.S. in Soi Texas are THB 150 - local made - and the 3 bags in the picture below with 50 O-Rings made in Switzerland are THB 1'000. Or one local ring is 37.50 Satang (100 Satang = 1 Thai Baht = 2.5 cents in June 2004) and a Swiss O-Ring is about 7 Baht or about 20 times more expensive. I found a Swiss watch deserves a Swiss O-Ring.
Click on the picture below to read on >>>
The India Made ROSHAN Silicon Watch grease sold at triple
its Indian MSRP and the expensive 3 sets of Swiss Made O-Rings at ca. USD 8 per
set of 50 rings
