My first AP and tour of the AP Service Center

[Patton250]

First off I would like to thank all of you enabler's here at TRF. I really love my Rolexes but reading the posts about APs fine timepieces really got me interested. That combined with great trusted seller's here I found one at a price I could not resist. 23% off retail with full factory warranty. So I bought the piece from addy616 a trusted seller here. As I posted in the Who's Who forum it was an absolutely outstanding buying experience. I needed to get it sized so he suggested since I live in Tampa to swing by the Clearwater service center. It's the only one in the northern hemisphere and they take in all new watches from Switzerland to inspect before they go to the AD's to be sold retail as well as do routine service and repairs for all the APs in North and South America. So I called them and set an appointment and the rest is just amazing. From the moment I arrived they treated me like royalty. Coffee, water and a personal inspection of my new AP. They sized it for me pressure tested it and tested the movement. They registered it for me and gave me an extra year of warranty. While I was waiting for them to check the timepiece they brought me some extra goodies. A leather travel case and a beautiful wipe down cloth. As well as a maintenance book and bag. And for the best part I got a tour of their entire facility. They showed me the entire process from how they receive peoples watches to the first phase of disassembly all the way to the polishing rome and the best part the movement room. These people are incredible. Clean rooms and shoe covers the works. This place is cleaner than a hospital. The tour took about an hour. Anyway if you ever have the chance I highly recommend it. Just a great organization with well-paid and happy employees. I can't wait to buy my next AP. Here are some pictures with a lady named Courtney who does the reception and logging of all incoming timepieces and Kevin who is a watchmaker. None of this would have happen without this forum. Thank you TRF.