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1970 Speedmaster with moisture damage. Looking to have it repaired. (Seattle)
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Dan S
·Second thought: Unless having just the tritium restored wouldn't affect the value of the watch, but I don't know anything about the valuations.
Thank you!
I noticed the Flight Qualified row a few down from that one. That's the back that it has, though I have no idea if it's the original.
Generally speaking, a 28M serial movement with a DON bezel would be expected to have a pre-moon caseback, not a straight writing.
Overall, it doesn't look bad at all to me, especially compared to what I expected to see when I read the OP. A modest amount of surface rust in the movement and some lume loss on the dial, but I have no idea if the latter is even due to the dunking, it could have been that way already for all I know. Of course, one can't really judge without a closer look and disassembly, but my guess is that the repair will be pretty straightforward for a good watchmaker. We've seen much worse.
Edited:
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rbob99
·Kelly Hunter in Portland does excellent work.
artofthewatch.com
artofthewatch.com
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI know of them, and I happen to be in Seattle! I'll arrange to drop it off to them this week after work and see what they say once they get a chance to have a look. Thanks!
It will be interesting to see what they say. They used to be a service center, and to a degree still think like a service center, so my gut tells me they will insist on new dial and hands, plus new pushers and crown.
I've had others bring watches to me after they have "insisted" on replacing things that the watch owner didn't want replaced, so be aware that they may not be willing to follow your wishes.
The damage doesn't look too bad - I've certainly repaired a lot worse than this one, but the final cost will rely a great deal on the condition of the balance. That is typically the single largest expense in a rusted movement like this one.
He probably could but he's in Canada....
Not that I'm looking for more work (I already have too much) but I service watches from all over the world. Probably 60% of my work is from the US.