Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

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mik
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Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by mik »

Posting this as I searched the forum and don’t see any mention of Milek, so I wanted to relay my positive experience in the hope that it might be of use to someone else.

I bought a 2nd hand Alpina Alpiner4 at the end of 2020. It is immaculate, but I realised it wasn’t running perfectly - more often than not stopping overnight on my bedside table.

It was clear from its condition that it had been sparingly worn, so I initially hoped it might just be “loosening up”, but eventually I accepted I would need to get someone professional to look at it. Damn.

I’m relatively new to mechanical watches so I don’t yet have someone I trust to work on them. My only real experience has been sending my C11 back to CW twice for repairs. Which doesn’t count.

I’m in Glasgow and had heard of Martin’s (of Glasgow), but he has a bit of a backlog at the moment and his service price wasn’t far off what I bought the watch for. The risk you take with any 2nd hand purchase, but - yikes :silent: . Following a tip-off from a watch-enthusiast contact on Twitter, I reached out to Simon Milek in Manchester (Stockport actually).

He is still building his web page, but he has an Instagram Page via which you can see the “class” of timepieces he usually works on.

Following my initial contact Simon asked me me for a time that was suitable for him to call. He wanted me to describe my issue of course (via which he mused possible causes and confirmed that he would be able to get required parts if his prognosis was accurate), but he was also very conscious I didn’t know him and therefore wanted to reassure me of his credentials, training and experience, and eager to talk me through the post and return processes (he has a workshop if you are local). Standard Royal Mail offered adequate insurance for me, but he can organise additional insurance for more valuable pieces.

He offered his normal service - he would open the case, diagnose the issue and advise repair costs before proceeding : if I wasn’t happy to proceed he would return it for a nominal £35 fee. Fair enough. We agreed that - if he was stripping the watch down for repair, I may as well get it serviced too - the watch is only 4yrs old but if you are in there anyway... he was confident that he could have any repair fully turned around inside 3 weeks.

Sent the watch off last Saturday. Got a text confirmation Monday AM that it had arrived safely. Within a couple of hours he was on the phone - he had taken off the auto mech and checked the main spring etc - no problems. I have to admit that at this point my technical knowledge was somewhat challenged, so something <ahem> had come out of position or a spring become coil-bound or something - possibly due to a bump when the watch was first shipped to me - and he had freed it up and everything seemed to be running perfectly. The bit I did hear and understand fully was that no parts were needed, and everything looked like new inside, so Simon wasn’t willing to service it as I’d be wasting my money.

He’d keep it til the end of the week to confirm all was well, and with my permission he’d regulate it and get it back in the post.

It arrived back today - well packaged - and it’s straight back onto my wrist.

Simon insisted he would not charge me anything more than his normal “open up and assess” fee as he get he hadn’t really done anything intensive (his words). Which was extremely fair.

I paid him more than he asked. As a Scotsman with a reputation to uphold, I can assure you this doesn’t happen very often :thumbup: I haven’t felt so well looked after - and felt such immediate trust in a service provider - for some time.

So one extremely happy customer who will absolutely use his services again. 8)
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by jkbarnes »

That’s fantastic service!
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

A wonderful write up mik. Thank you.

I see that you have also posted details in our Watch Service Providers forum. Excellent.

Guy

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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by H0rati0 »

Result. Every watch enthusiast needs a goto technician. You've found yours.
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by downer »

Good to hear - and fairly local to me, so definitely one to consider. Thanks
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by scooter »

An invaluable thread for future reference.

The guy's a star.

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mik
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by mik »

Update : Simon phoned me yesterday - conscious that it was a year since he fixed my watch - wanted to check all was well (which it is). 8)

Before he dropped off the call I took the opportunity to ask him to service my C11. It is now 8yrs old, but it has been back to CW twice for repairs which would have required at least a partial strip down and elements would have been re-oiled during this process). With this in mind, and the fact the watch isn’t displaying any unusual behaviour, he suggested that - whilst he’d be happy to service it if I insisted - his recommendation was to hold off for another year and reassess then. :thumbup:

Not sure if any of you follow his Instagram profile, but he’s had some really nice items in for work recently - he spoke highly around the quality of the innards of the Richard Mille….

https://instagram.com/milekandco
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by jkbarnes »

Your posts speak volumes about this guy. As I’m in the States, doubtful I’d ever have make use of his services, but I went ahead and gave him a follow on IG.
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by golfjunky »

Brilliant story. Good to hear about the good guys.
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by tikkathree »

Wow, that's excellent service and you should count yourself as fortunate to have found "a good 'un".

My previous go-to repairman has now retired and though I've had service elsewhere which I'm totally happy with, Omega GB and Simon Freese being high points I've had frustrating experiences elsewhere involving "you should let us do....." pushy emails in relation to purely cosmetic work which I had clearly stated at the outset that I didn't want.

There is much to be said for striking up a relationship with someone whom you trust.
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by monkeymax »

tikkathree wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 1:29 pmI've had frustrating experiences elsewhere involving "you should let us do....." pushy emails in relation to purely cosmetic work which I had clearly stated at the outset that I didn't want.
Me too, to the point that a watch I have sentimental attachments to but is (well, can be - this isn't a great example) worth quite a bit of money has had the dial irrepably damaged because of work done. Apparently because I chose the "cheap option" but neither knew the risks of that, or had the non-cheap option really explained to me. I haven't done anything about it, but everytime I look at the dial it still hurts.

Can only echo the above. If you've found someone really decent, stick with them! In fact, I may contact Milek and Co myself sometime soon!
mik
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Re: Milek & Co watchmaker Stockport - first class service

Post by mik »

Bit of a thread bump, but I had the pleasure of using Simon's services again very recently when mrs mik managed to crack the crystal on her Rado Centrix (auto).

Sent the watch down to him (he's now shifted his workshop slightly to Mirfield), and received a call the following morning to assure me of safe receipt. Once he'd taken a look he advised on costs & likely timescales, and - if I didn't like the sound of them - he'd just send it back. I asked him to proceed.

Simon kept me informed on some slight delays on the parts, called me to let me know once they'd arrived and that he would commence the repair, let me know as soon as the post-repair testing was complete, before shipping it back to me & forwarding tracking details.

It's fair to say that Mrs mik is over the moon - the crystal was repaired as expected, but he also took the opportunity to polish the bracelet (which is all steel with polished outer elements, and brushed inner segments, so far from straight-forward) and it literally looks brand new again. :thumbup:

Flawless experience again, hence I had so share. 8)
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