Hi all!

I have a pretty nice mono-pusher chronograph with cal. 33.3. Unfortunately the dial is not that nice: it has some flaws and also it seems to have been redone in the past. Thus I am wondering if a 33.3 dial could be available with a restoration from Omega. Do you think such a dial could be found in excellent condition elsewhere?

Thanks for any help!

 

The occasional original 33.3 dial will pop up on eBay from time to time, although they are usually in rough condition and might be worse than yours. Some nice pictures of your watch in its current state will help us to advise you.

 

It is highly unlikely that Omega would have a dial, but they can certainly refinish an existing one - that will be the only real option you will get with them.

Cheers, Al

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I will post some pictures as soon as done.

 

My local Omega AD is now sending the watch to Biel to see what they propose. So unfortunately I won't be able to take pictures soon.
I am quite curious to see what they will be offering. Probably full restoration with refurbishing the dial for 3000 CHF... In that case I would have it sent back to my AD and let him do a service without touching the dial.

 

What does the watch look like? Do you have any pictures?

 

As I mentioned I cannot take pictures as the watch is now being sent to Biel. What I have is this old picture from when I bought it:

 

There is no chance that Omega will supply a NOS dial, unfortunately.

 

Omegas refinished dials can be quite underwhelming. you have to ask for a picture before you agree...... Kind regards. achim

 

I had some recent correspondence with Omega on the subject of vintage restoration/refurbishment and the prevailing warnings that Omega will do whatever they consider the watch needs regardless of what the owner wants. This is what Omega said:-

"I am sorry of your concerns regarding the restoration of a vintage OMEGA watch and would like to assure you your feedback is of great importance to us. I am glad you have allowed us the opportunity to further clarify matters with you.

I agree the purpose of a restoration is, to restore a vintage watch not to reproduce it. I would like to assure you that these watches with a soul and history are restored by highly qualified watchmakers This intricate work is completed with the aim to maintain the authenticity of a time piece. Vintage models often have great sentimental value and certain esthetic, showing the marks of time often referred as a patina, are important to the proud owner.

Please be aware that, in some special cases we even recommend to not intervene on an antique watch, as the watch should give its owner the feeling of comfort and pride to own a timepiece representing the heritage of the OMEGA brand. The result of a restoration should never appear non-authentic or artificial.

Further information on restorations please visit our website:

https://www.omegawatches.com/customer-service/interventions-and-prices/restoration/"

I don't want to reignite the whole "DON'T SEND IT TO OMEGA" debate, and offer the above for information only. What you do with that information, especially given the experience of some members is up to you.

 

^^^ This just reinforces what we already know, and in fact they admit that they will "restore" the watch to the extent that they recommend you not sending it to them if you value the patina.

I can confirm that the service center here has sent people with vintages watches to me, because they would not honour the wishes of the watch owner.

 

I've read what the said several times, and nowhere can I see where they "recommend you not sending it to them if you value the patina.". In fact they say "This intricate work is completed with the aim to maintain the authenticity of a time piece. Vintage models often have great sentimental value and certain esthetic, showing the marks of time often referred as a patina, are important to the proud owner." However, I do agree that the statement in my OP seems to be at variance with both your experience and others that have posted here.

As as I said above, I offer the above for information only. I'm fully aware that the policy and the actuality may be different.

 

"Please be aware that, in some special cases we even recommend to not intervene on an antique watch, as the watch should give its owner the feeling of comfort and pride to own a timepiece representing the heritage of the OMEGA brand."

This is what I was referring to. I think a certain amount of reading between the lines is required here, because they are not going to come right out and say that the patina will not be maintained if they feel it's in their best interests to replace a bunch of parts.

Authenticity is not the same as originality. They will certainly use "authentic" i.e. genuine Omega replacement parts...but they won't look the same.

 

Very illuminating. I think we can see where there may be a delta between policy and practice. The more people know, the better placed they are to make informed choices.

 

Not sure I follow what you are getting at here - their policies are clear that they will do whatever they deem is required to offer a warranty on the work they do. Anything that in their judgement is likely to cause a "comeback" will be "solved" as they see fit. There is no ambiguity here, so I'm not sure why you believe that policy and practice differ.

 

The ambiguity exists because nowhere in the extract from correspondence I originally posted or on the publicly accessible website is there text that confirms your statement of their policy. I can't find the Terms and Conditions of service and repair online, nor can I find any internal Swatch Group policies on service/repair. So I've asked a direct question of Swatch Group to get their input. When (or if) I get a response, I'll update.Till then, I'm done.

 

Just to be clear here, if people prefer to send their watch to Omega, as long as they know and are okay with the fact that they may very well get back a watch that looks vastly different, then I have no problems at all with that approach - it's their watch. As you have said many times on different forums, it is a matter of taste of you want patina, or want your watch to look like it was made yesterday. I would not my own watches to be treated that way, but if you want yours done that way, by all means that is your right.

I think the majority of vintage collectors here are not on side with the "make it look new" approach, but that is simply a function of the forum and the people who participate here, so it's natural that they say what they would do from their perspective. In my own experience dealing with people who don't frequent these forums, they have no idea that Omega is going to replace a bunch of parts that they may not want replaced - this is why you see people here recommending that the various uncle watches don't end up at Omega for "restoration" when all they really need is a sympathetic service.

In the end for me personally - I do what my customers ask me to.

Now regarding the quest to find something in writing, I can't publish internal documents here. But that is irrelevant because you won't find this stated in one place all neat and tidy as you are hoping. It's not that simple, as there are various policies and work instructions that lead to one end point - Omega is a large corporation, and in my experience large corporations don't make things all neat and tidy. For example there are work instructions on fitting hands that give guidelines for what defects those hands must be free of in order to be acceptable. In other work instructions direction is given for when things like crystals, date disks, worn plates and bridges, etc. can be used again or when they must be replaced because of purely cosmetic damage. In total there are over 80 different work instructions...plus various other policies and procedures.

The next place you would need to look is the spare parts policy - that's where they tell you that they guarantee parts availability for 20 years after the last watch leaves the factory, and if they no longer have the parts that were of the original style or type, they will substitute them with something that works, but isn't really the same "thus compromising the exact original design."

The last place you need to look is the CS policy, where they state the warranty. You don't have to see all this to understand that Omega offers a 2 year warranty on their repairs, and if they are of the opinion that some item on your watch is likely to cause a comeback in that 2 year period, or doesn't meet their standards, they will replace those parts. This is just common sense, and we have gone over this many times before.

Omega will not take the time to repair parts, stabilize lume, or do the things that other watchmakers will do - they replace with new parts that may not be correct for the period.

There is no ambiguity or mystery here...if you want to believe there is...hey you be you man.

Cheers, Al

 

How you are repairing very old watches (< 1965) without original spare parts? Who has a stock of spare parts for watches? All what you do is bricolage - sorry!

 

Omega qualified watchmakers who have a parts account such as @Archer are able to obtain certain parts that other wholesellers (i.e Otto Frei, Cousins) may not have.

With no original spare parts, watchmakers can do the following:

* Use and/or ask for donor movements, either acquired by the client or by the watchmaker at the client's request
* Fabricate parts if needed (particularly balance stems)
* Make bushings, apply new jewels, fit mainsprings, repair hands, etc.

Bricolage is a very strong word, and really is only used to describe what we call "Frankenwatches" - a competent watchmaker will do their best to give the watch a sympathetic and era appropriate look and service.