Hey guys I have a 366.0858 Seamaster,
I've recently replaced the dial, hands, crystal, crown and bracelet. It really freshened up the watch but the wretched Bakelite bezel insert is driving me bananas !!! It's in bad shape and faded. I've searched high and low and cannot find a replacement. Is anyone doing restoration jobs on these bezel inserts? Or does anyone have a bead on a new one ??
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Richard

 

Here is the watch .

 

Hi Richard

Funny how people like different things. Your new hands, dial, crown etc look great, very clean and crisp. I on the other hand like the look of your existing bezel. If your old hands and dial match this patina I would have kept it as is but that's just me.

Sorry i don't know of any one that can help you out with the bezel.

Jay

 

Can't help you on a replacement bezel insert but I'm curious to know if you kept the original dial and hands. Of course it's your watch, so whatever makes you happy should guide you, but I'm sure most on this forum would love to see it with the original dial, hands, bezel insert. I'm genuinely interested to see what condition they were in.

 

Look on Seamaster 300 insert and bezel repair on the forum . Btw i like the bezel so try to match the hands to the insert instead . Maybe use the old hands ?

 

This is so weird . I wanted to freshen up the look and you all are interested in the old parts and bits and like the "aged" look. Different strokes....
BTW I do have all the original parts .

 

Aldo in Italy does this service on the 300 bezel, not sure if he can help you with this bezel.

 

It's all in the matching . The new hands don't match the patina of the insert .

 

I do get where you are coming from.... When I first started on this board I wanted my watches to be shiny.... But over time I did come round to the majority opinion where I like my old watches to show their age. One of my favourite watches I think started out with an ivory dial - over the course of nearly sixty years its developed a character of its own.
I think the best advice we can give is to carry on on your path, but try really hard to preserve the original parts in case your taste changes over time - modify this bezel and you may never be able to find another like it if you change your mind. Maybe keep an eye out for a spare, trashed bezel and refurbish that one?

 

Looks similar in size to my Seamaster f300Hz bezel, is it definitely engraved Bakelite? I cant tell from the picture. The f300's bezel is smooth acrylic that's painted from the back. I found this out the hard way when I soaked it in metho to clean it once, the insert came away from the bezel and also delaminated from the paint leaving a transparent ring! From that day on I've left my watches to the professionals.

 

Otto Frei shows it discontinued. Maybe eBay?

Tom

 

Thanks Tom .
I already traveled that path when I was looking for the other bits.

 

Nice F300

 

Ask one of the Omega certified watchmakers. Sometimes the product supply house lists a part as discontinued where it is in fact still in production and available.

 

Bezel is discontinued...