What would you do?? Advice needed

[sfscott]

I recently sent my SS black Daytona, which is a Zenith with an A serial number (ca. 1999) to an independent service shop that is well-regarded on this forum. I won't call out the service provider as this is not intended to slam them or bitch. Rather, I am not sure what the right course forward is. Also, I only provide details of the watch to add context, both in terms of value preservation and potential options.

After several weeks of delay in getting the watch back, I was told 10 days ago that it had just finished being QA tested and would be back in my hands early the following week. Last Friday, after not hearing anything (again without my asking), the shop informed me that during QA, they noticed that the bracelet on the watch did not look correct, and looking at "before" photos, they confirmed the wrong bracelet had been put on.

Over the weekend, they searched the bins to see if my bracelet was misplaced, and not finding it, they are wondering if some workers from the security company or drywall vendor might have walked off with it; they are reviewing a month's worth of security footage.

Considering that they had a bracelet on my watch, I am guessing, someone got mine mixed up with another, and that mine was sent out to a client who now has the incorrect bracelet as well. While they said they would look into this, I am not sure how they find and verify.

The shop tells me that they are scouring the Internet and have found a couple of NOS bracelets in Europe that *might* be a match--if they have the proper clasp and patina. BTW, the watch and bracelet have never been polished, and it is in great condition, so the chances of a patina match are small, I think, suggesting that I will have to polish the watch to match a new bracelet.

I have no idea how viable the option of finding a suitable replacement bracelet is, and I have zero hope of getting the original back. And while it would be easy to rant about how someone in the business of repairing expensive Rolexes shouldn't royally F--K up like this, that won't do any good.

So, any suggestions or ideas on what to do or what I should be asking for?

Obviously, I am not paying for anything other than the service (which they should comp!) but would a period-correct NOS bracelet be acceptable to you? If not, then what?

While i have no intention of selling the watch--at least not any time soon--how much of a hit in value did these Keystone Kops cost me? Are bracelets on a watch like this equivalent to a vintage car where certain of the serial numbers on the parts don't match up, so a knowledgeable buyer would defer?

What recourse do I have?

I now regret going to this shop instead of the RSC. Yes, they had stellar reviews, faster turn-around and cost less, but WTF?

Thanks for listening.