Hi all,
I need your suggestions and expertise again, I have sent this watch for and extended service (It has slept in a drawer for 20 years) and now even if it works it needs to be cleaned and relubed.
It was owned by my grandfather and its movement is an Omega 40.6L T2, in very good conditions at a pre inspection (sorry, Iforgot to took photos)

Hands seems replaced to me because they are of different colors (seconds is blue, minutes is black and hours is white).
Also hours hand is bent.

Apart the mechanical servicing is there any other “fix” that you can suggest?
If this were yours will you replace hands ?
Which is the general consensus in re-dialing ? is it better to leave as is even if it's quite unreadable ?
Is it ok to polish the case ?



Thank you a million for you help !!

 

Advice I have learned from here is to leave it the way your grandfather would have seen it. Any redialing is prone to ruin the watch (check out https://omegaforums.net/posts/1429731/), or if it turns out great, would likely exceed the watch’s value. I’d be tempted to replace the hands, but await advice from others on that

 

DaveK, thank you for your suggestions ... What makes me doubt is the limit of when a redial is "needed" or when not.
Your reply is really clear.
I know it's a question of "taste" but I really like to discuss about.

Can anyone please comment about hands?
Thanks in advance for comments!

 

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

I think you first need to decide what you want to do with the watch.

If you want it to be a memento and an heirloom of your grandfather, consider leaving it alone. The dial you are gazing at is the same dial your grandfather would have looked at, and there is something special about that connection. And as mentioned above, it will likely cost you more to repair the watch than it is worth. If you choose to repaint the dial then you will have a different watch from the one your grandfather left behind.

However, watches are tools to measure time. If you want to use it as a timepiece - and why not? - then I think your dial has degraded to a point that it is difficult to read quickly and accurately. In this case, consider having the dial repainted or replaced, the hands straightened, and the movement serviced by an independent watchmaker. A light polish of the case by hand is all that is needed.

I think the "alpha" style hour and minute hands may be original to the watch; they would likely have been blued steel. Your watchmaker can have them painted black to simulate blued steel or can use chemicals to reblue the hands. If the hands are too damaged to reuse, finding replacement alpha hands may be impossible but your watchmaker should be able to help you find replacement hand styles that would look period-appropriate.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do, and let us know how it turns out