The humble wristwatch is still bought, sold and gifted, for both its looks and its prestige, but getting one fixed is not as easy as it used to be.
Independent watch repairers say manufacturers are refusing to sell them spare parts in an attempt to force customers back to the company for all repairs.
Watch repairers claim the practice is driving them out of business and killing off their trade.
Greg Alexander is a watchmaker based in Sydney. Like old watches themselves, workshops like his are an endangered species.
When a local watch dealer drops in with some acquisitions, Mr Alexander is not sure what they are worth at first, or even if they can be fixed.
But he is in luck — it is a nearly 100-year-old Rolex.
"It's actually a more straight forward job to repair it than later model Rolexes where you'd be dependent on the company to be decent enough to supply you with spare parts," Mr Alexander said.
Spare parts are increasingly hard to come by and that is no accident.
High-end Swiss manufacturers have been trying for years to lock down the lucrative repairs market by starving independent repairers of the parts they need to do the job.
Andrew Markerink from Watch and Clock Makers Australia said it was working, and had come at the expense of independent businesses.
"The result then, they're the only supplier of the spare part and that's the only place that anybody that's ever bought a watch from any of the major Swiss brands can actually go to get it repaired," Mr Markerink said.
"So they're actually forced to go to these companies. There's no way they can go to their independent watchmaker they may have been using for decades."
'A Holden engine under the bonnet'
Until recently, big manufacturers collaborated with, and even trained independent watchmakers like Mr Alexander.
"When I was first in this trade we were in a position where we were supported by the Swiss industry and repair manuals and helpful hints and repair courses were freely given out," he said.
"But now, they don't want to talk to you."
Mr Alexander is now one of only a handful of watchmakers left in Sydney.
"I put batteries in for $5 — the TAG (Heuer) company charge $80.
"I've currently got a Vacheron Constantin watch here that needs a very simple repair, which I would have been happy to do for in the $50-$100 range, it would only take me an hour plus the price of the part.
"He'll have to take that to Vacheron Constantin — I'm sure that'll be a four figure amount."
The American and British spare parts industries have tried to challenge the practice in court, but manufacturers have argued that independent watchmakers do not have the expertise to do the job properly.
Mr Alexander dismisses the claim.
"The prestige brands generally use very plain mechanisms," he said.
"As I'm fond of saying, there's only a Holden engine under the bonnet."
He is confident he will have enough work to get by, but is fearful for the future of his industry.
"I'll work for another 10 or 15 years or death, whichever comes first, so I don't have to worry, but new players contemplating coming into watch repairing, I'm not sure that there's a trade there," Mr Alexander said.
"They've got no support, no back up from the industry itself, which does so well out of this country selling all these expensive watches."
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