A collector in Portland called my work 'clean but soulless' and he had a point

I do CLA work for a local shop and always focused on getting everything spotless inside. Shutter speeds dead on, sensor clean, no dust anywhere. This old timer brings in a Nikon F2 with fungus and haze, asks me to fix it up but leave the brassing and dings. I do the job, hand it back, he inspects it for 2 minutes and says 'clean but soulless, you polished away the history.' Then he points at the mirror box and says I buffed out a tiny scratch that probably came from a repair in 1983. He wasn't mad, just disappointed. That hit different. Now I ask every customer if they want cosmetic preservation or full restoration. Changed how I quote jobs too, I charge extra for 'keep the patina' work. Anyone else run into clients who want their gear to look old on purpose?

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