I am with you, as I like them near perfect or honest, but not a shitty case polish that is worn. This brings up an interesting question, as would you rather see a shitty, worn case polish, or a corrected new case polish? ABC just did my 105.012-65 case and they worked wonders, but it looks like it let the factory.
The reason I ask is that your analogy of a botoxed retiree in Vegas makes me think of a newly refinished case, whereas this Speedy reminds me a woman who got implants in the 1980s and hasn't upgraded...weren't that great back then, and definitely not good now.
I *dream* of the true factory-fresh case polish. But it's just SO risky. Not to mention costly for someone with my lack of resources/networks. If I could get Omega to do one on my 20th Anniversary (without touching the tritium, like here:
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/t...-professional-for-an-omega-authorized-service), I would.
(I wouldn't on my 145.012, because the bezel is so charmingly beat-up already, and I like wearing my worry-free 321 every other day).
For me, the point of a true NOS piece is almost as a personal museum, to showcase the strength of the watch's design: "Here is how its factory-perfection looked, exactly when astronauts got it new."
In contrast, the point of a beat up piece is almost as a personal laboratory, to showcase the strength of the watch's engineering: "Here is how its factory-perfection works, after decades of the wear and use it was made for."
Any deviations from original spec remove it from contention in both categories (which is why I personally hold both originality, and 'perfection of original condition' paramount -- I recently gave up a very scarce, all-original LeCoultre Memovox 911 with gold fluted bezel because of factory misalignments on the dial c/o 1960s US LeCoultre. It's gotta be Platonic to begin with).
From a philosophical standpoint, third-party polishing can never elevate a watch from the latter category to the former. It's no longer "as Omega made it". Which is why I dreamed of the Omega polish for the 20th. Ideally, the only *raw inputs* I want on my watches come from either the manufacture or the elements.
But from a practical standpoint, one might say that Omega of today is no longer the same people at all as Omega of 1960s, so the lines for "as Omega made it" become blurred. If a third-party provider is so well-reputed and vetted in bringing the watch to OEM spec and dimensions (and I mean perfect) that it can be said to be risk-free (which ABC sounds like, from what you're saying). Then I'd definitely consider it. Or, I mean, consider saving up for it, as if they do it up to my standards, then I defintiely can't afford it!
😁
