# Timex Electric - Does Anyone Service Them?



## bedfellow (Aug 21, 2017)

The title says it all. Does anyone service Timex Electric watches?

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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Greg at Woodland Technical


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## bedfellow (Aug 21, 2017)

Silver Hawk said:


> Greg at Woodland Technical


Thanks

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## Robden (Apr 2, 2016)

Yes Greg. He sorted my M. Mouse out.......... after I had had a play with it................and cocked it up.


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## Ted (Oct 29, 2009)

The movements of all Timex watches, in my humble opinion, tend to be sort of throwaways. So unless you have a very special case and dial, like the Mickey Mouse one above or a solid 14k(very rare) case, they are hardly worth the repair cost. Also, they can be purchased quite inexpensively, so movements can be swapped(non-working for working ones). Timex is very good with there warranties and replacing a defective watch with a new one(for a modest cost) even after the warrantee ends. Taking to them is like going back in time. I think the same lady down South has been working there and answering the phone for 60 years. She is so nice and friendly. I would love to send her a 50 year old Timex Electric and see what she would replace it with, however!


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Well, it is somewhat true that originally TIMEX were designed to have as many interchangeabl parts as possible!

25 page reply follows later - - :crazy5vh:


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Back from the dance studio and continuing the answer!

Interchangeable parts - - thus cutting the inventory of stock held in all the TIMEX plants, plus allowing a movemnet of parts from where they were actually made, knowing they would fit parts from other plants where "they" were made. This accounted for the reduction in costs achieved by TIMEX, but also a continuous policy of reduction in parts numbers was also partially responsible. Any TIMEX mechanical is inherently simpler than most if not all makers of the same time frame, and certainly contains fewer individual parts than traditional watchmaking practice would have dictated. :yes:

Now the Electrics were slightly different - - being an early "Bill Gates/Micro$aft" operation. Rather than trying to develop an Electric movement from scratch, TIMEX looked at sourcing from those already working in the field, and ended up buying the LACO expertise (and company) to achieve this end, but perhaps not realising LACO were not quite where they could/should have been and they certainly couldn't supply the quantities TIMEX were used to dealing with. 

So as to disposability, yes, original TIMEX mechanicals were designed to be throwaways, with the intention of being replaced by a NEW watch every 6 years or so, thus creating a brand loyalty and generating continuous income for US Time. It has to be said that if you can master the re-assembly of these watches, many can be brought back to life even 50 years on with a full strip down and re-assembly plus re-lube. They ARE repairable despite what many folks say, it just needs a tad more patience and understanding that they are slightly un-conventional in construction! :crazy5vh:

The TIMEX Electrics are different, they are a product of LACO, modified slightly by simplification where possible, and initially very much a typical product from LACO's Pforzheim factory, built to conventional Swiss/Euro standards, and on a par with anything else in the electro-mech ranges of the day. Once production was standardised, and quantities became available, some simplification took place, and essentially whilst they are awkward to service and repair, fixes are possible, but often a cheaper and quicker fix is a swap out of the movement from a working example. As recommended, Greg at Woodland does good work, but spares are the main problem - - :biggrin:

Hope this helps those who want to know 

(IMO never humble :laugh: )


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