Generale Ressorts mainsprings becoming obsolete?

[VWatchie]

I think I've noticed that more and more Generale Ressorts mainsprings are listed as obsolete at cousinsuk.com. Today I was in need of a new mainspring for a rather common Unitas cal. 6325 and it was listed as obsolete.

Same story for an AS cal. 1686, a rather common Poljot calibre, and some other.

Anyone who knows what's going on, or am I just being unlucky?

[AdamC]

I agree. Many times I have looked to purchase a mainspring from Cousins and they have been marked Obsolete and sometimes very expensive, possibly due to scarcity. More often I have to source elsewhere to get my mainsprings.

[JohnR725]

6 hours ago, VWatchie said:

Anyone who knows what's going on, or am I just being unlucky

you're seeing several things go on like look up your AS cal. 1686 made around 1960 then the Unitas cal. 6325 made somewhere between 1965 and 1970 how many years ago was that? 51 years and how long are the Swiss supposed to supply parts for their watches? then a very long time ago I did hear a number of how long they were supposed to supply parts but I'm pretty sure it wasn't 50 years. Then when it came to the electronic watches that was a much shorter time span.

then there's a problem with mainsprings got your catalog go to the back section where they list the mainsprings by size. Start counting how many different mainsprings there supposed to supply and how many different mainsprings is that? While you're counting the mainsprings look at all the different names and brands I wonder how many of those ever get serviced?

the unfortunate reality is for a company they can't keep making mainsprings forever especially if there's a limited demand for them.

 

[AdamC]

It is unfortunate and I guess one day it will be almost impossible to service a vintage watch as parts and mainsprings become unavailable. Even setting lever springs are becoming increasingly difficult to source; again with prices being artificially inflated when parts are scarce.

[HectorLooi]

It will become harder and more expensive but not impossible. Just like vinyl records and vacuum tube equipment. It's still out there.

[HectorLooi]

I just checked eBay, someone is asking $2500 for a pair of Western Electric 300B vacuum tubes. Any takers?

[jdm]

13 hours ago, AdamC said:

It is unfortunate and I guess one day it will be almost impossible to service a vintage watch as parts and mainsprings become unavailable. 

Even if some feels so, always replacing the mainspring at service isn't a standard or best practice. A good repairer makes the call based on various factors. For most vintage pieces, meant to be worn occasionally, even a somewhat degraded mainsping performance is perfectly acceptable. 

[VWatchie]

19 minutes ago, jdm said:

always replacing the mainspring at service isn't a standard or best practice

Replacing the mainspring is described as a best practice by Mark in his watch repair courses when servicing watches for paying customers. However, servicing and reusing a mainspring that isn't set and in otherwise good condition is perfectly fine in my book.

[watchweasol]

The price of spare parts for any equipment is always proportional to the availability.  The less they become available the more expensive they become. Hence the reasoning dont throw away anything that may still have an afterlife even though its broken.