Dear forum members,

since there are many discussions on the topic where to service vintage watches, i wanted to share my experience servicing by Omega Service Center in Bienne.
Like many here, i already had one rather unfortunate experience doing service on my modern Seamaster Diver 300m, when they polished the case against my will. But there was a major communication issue between the local Store and the Service Center in Switzerland.

Recently i acquired a vintage Seamaster Cosmic for my wife and also was researching where to do the sevice otherwise.
Since the case of the Cosmic was polished to hell, i decidet to send it to Omega again, because thats what they do they also refinish the cases! Since i have an Omega certified service center in my hometown, it is extremely practical to hand the watch in localy and pick it up, without having to send the watch around the world by myself. Also if there are any issues, with sending or garanty, then the local store can often be very helpful.

The sevice took exactly 9 weeks, and cost exactly 590,- EUR, just like estimated!
They replaced like half the movement, since the old parts do look very worn.
I told them to leave the dial and hands as they are, although the hands had some minor signs left by previous watchmakers. To my positive surprise they did exactly as they were told, and left hands and dial completely untouched!
They refinished the case in a very nice way, the watch does look much better than prior to service.

All in all, i absolutely love the Result! and i am sure my wife will love it too!
With this post I dont mean you should or shouldnt be sending your most precious vintage watches to Omega for service! But i just wanted to point out that, they are also capable of doing a good work and not everyone that sends vintage watch to them has bad experience.
I hope some of you will find it helpful!
Cheers!

Before:


After:

 

Now that looks so much nicer.

Paul

 

Congratulations. It's a very good price for that great work.

 

Yes, i think so too, considering the amount of parts they replaced!

 

Stunning results, and I think the price paid was very fair considering the amount of work that went into it. I don't think anyone thinks the watchmakers at Omega aren't capable of exceptional work- they just do what they want. Glad in this case they kept the dial and hands.

 

As I've said many times, if the dial and hands are in good condition, they won't replace them. If they are in a condition that they feel might jeopardize the warranty on the service, then they will replace them or refuse the service.

I think the OP's watch has some things going for it in that regard, such as no tritium on the hands or dial that can more easily flake off and give them reason to swap parts out. Result looks good, and yes the value of the parts alone well exceeds what you paid for the service.

 

You are absolutely right, that is also something that i considered before sending the watch for service! i knew there shouldnt be any issues with lume etc. However i did think they might replace the hands, since they indicate some minor damage. But i could have lived with it, especially i know they return the original parts to the owner. So worst case, i could have swapped the hands back.
The case couldnt get any worce than it was, so i was happy about the proper refinishing too!

I wouldnt have sent the watch to Bienne, if i was worried about refinishing or dial swap.

 

Well, my euphoria was a bit damped after i realised the seconds hand was jumping and skipping seconds.. I didnt realise it first, since i was so smitten by the look of the watch.
Probably the friction spring is not adjusted properly
I brought the watch back in hope the local watchmaker could do the adjustment, but he told me that there is a 2 year warranty on the watch, and if he would open it, the warranty would be gone, therefore he will be sending the watch back to Bienne on Monday for adjustment
I hope it was just bad luck and that it will not take too long till i get it back..

 

They were very generous with the parts!

 

They did a great job on the case,

kind regards Max

 

It looks nice!

The service under warranty should be way faster, the watch will go in a priority line. Maybe just ask again to leave everything as-is: under warranty they re-do a full service with refinishing and all (maybe not in your case as it looks pristine, but better to ask)

 

It does look nice and at a reasonable price. I am sure it will get sorted!

 

Mainplate and bridges are still original, though

 

Did you get your watch back with the seconds hand fixed?

 

No, not yet 3rd week has passed..

 

Good news, after almost 7 weeks the watch is back from Beinne and is looking lovely!

 

@Eve The watch looks absolutely stunning! Congrats, wishing it gives you many happy years on the wrist.

I’m actually looking to get a vintage omega myself, been looking at the honeycomb dial variants and when I do get one I’ve been researching into sending it to Omega. I read on their website that they do a restoration service.
Just wondering is this the service you went for?

If so did they send you an extract from the archives of your watch, any fancy packaging or other paperwork/additions?

I’ll paste the link here for you.
Thank you

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

 

Thanks! yes i think they did an exceptionally good job here!

I went for a "complete service" which includes refinishing of the case, not "restoration".
I also mentioned at the AD that i want the dial to be kept original and i prefer that they keep the original hands.
While the dial was in an excellent state, and has no flaking lume (radium etc.), there was no danger of them replacing or repainting the dial, so it was a safe call. Hand also dont have any Tritium, so that probably the reason they left them as they are (however they are a bit scratched and i was surpised they didnt replace them), which was nice!

BUT that doesnt mean they will treat your watch the same way, it seems they often would refinish the case even though its not wished from customer. I recently even had a tritium Dial on my Blancpain (Swatch Group) swapped completely, even though i told them to leave it. They also didnt return the original one. Omega at least returns the original parts back.

So it is a bit of a gamble what they would do during service, and in some cases it pays off to go this road completely and in other cases there is no way i would send a watch to them. its a bit individual and depends on a watch.

Good luck!