I sent my watches off to @Tmorehouse51 a few weeks ago and he did an excellent job of refinishing and servicing my two marks. My Mark II I picked up on eBay and the case showed lots of marks from years of use. Looks like it had all of it's metal and was probably polished at one time so I asked Tanner to clean it up with out taking off a lot of material.

Here are some before pictures on the MKII





Here are some after pictures:




I don't have any before of my MKIV it wasn't bad but now it looks great. I wear this watch more then any other watch. Love the feel and look of this watch. Yes I know the chrono hand is wrong but hay it's my beater!


Here they are in some sun light.


New crystal and gaskets and they are running great now.

I know not everyone like to refinish cases but i think these 70's style watches really look great when refinished and the sunburst is nice and clean.

Thanks!

 

love the sunburst finish, and those look awesome

 

NICE!!!

Enjoy them

 

That Mk II case looks incredible refinished.

 

They look great @kkrankall, wear them in good health!

On a side note, do they wear as large as they look?

 

I have very small wrist. I'm a runner 6'2" @ 185lbs. This is after removing all extra links.

This is as big of a watch as I'll wear. So yes they are chunky.
MKII

MKIV

 

He is in Minnesota. I think a few members here have used his service.

 

If this was an Omega Moonwatch of any year everybody would be yelling and screaming about the overpolished case. I have no idea why the mark II gets a pass on this. Tanner Morehouse destroys a lot of Speedmaster cases.

 

I must say that I prefer a 'worn' look as long as it's not a total wreck.
However, your watches look great and, after all - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

?

Not sure if serious... This forum is full of pictures of refinished Omega cases and I have yet to see a reaction such as you suggest.

IMO, these blocky designs really need a sharp case in order to look good, as there aren't a lot of other design characteristics to the case. It quickly ends up looking like a well-used bar of soap.

 

Great looking pieces! And a carefully and correctly done refinish realy brings these MK cases back to life!

+1 on what @ConElPueblo said about the differences of speedmaster and MK cases.
Now this makes me want to pic up a beaten up MK and bring it back to it's former glory.

Cheers,

Max

 

+2 in fact off to see Simon Freese to discuss returning a Mk2 and mk4.5 back to former glories this afternoon . I know that he'll keep things appropriate to the current condition of the watch and not go to far and wreck the case.

 

I agree with you 100%. I have other watches that I never dream of polishing. I wasn't going to have the MKIV redone but he promised to not take off a lot of metal. I think he said he was going to build it up with laser so no existing metal would be removed. He will have to clarify this as I may be wrong. But in fact it doesn't look like anything was removed.

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/polishing-speedmaster-at-tourneaus.33971/

https://omegaforums.net/threads/to-polish-or-not-to-polish-that-is-the-question.10640/

I could go on and on and on. From what I read if it is a Moonwatch, Constellation, or vintage Seamaster the answer is do not polish. The Mark Series seems to get a pass. Maybe I am the only one to value these in their original condition.

 

Oh no, not at all. But take for instance the first thread you are quoting - most of the replies and comments are in regard to overpolished cases or even cases that have lost their original shape from a incompetently performed polishing. Some of the examples shown are horrific! I don't think that anyone here wouldn't rather have an unpolished, original-looking vintage watch more than one that have been refinished, but if the watch to begin with looked like the OPs, I would vastly prefer a refinish that brought out the original facets and that fantastic sunburst brushing. Do you honestly prefer how the Mk II looked like before?

Here's a similar case, a Seamaster Sparkle owned by Tyrantlizardrex, which in many ways resemble the Mk II - blocky designs, sunburst polishing:




And after polishing:



I have one myself where the case is sliiiiiightly polished (or just a bit worn?), which makes the sunburst a lot more subtle. A bit tricky, since it's too nice to polish, but not really as nice as I would like it to be

 

When you look at how much the crystals on the Mark Speedmasters protrude after having the case ground, yes I prefer the original. The Mark II is an easy target because the signs of being worked on are not as obvious, but they are there. I think a lot of people take the shortcut and grind without welding because there is so much metal. In a forum obsessed with the spacing of Ts on dials, I think I am alone in standing up for the originality of the Mark series.

 

Very nice case work. Those are difficult to refinish properly and the work looks very good. Nice.

 

I have also purchased redone watches from Tanner Morehouse (MkII and MkIV). While polishing will always be a polarizing topic, I'm firmly in agreement with ConElPueblo that a competent polish that respects the original design intent can provide an excellent result.

Tanner does excellent work on this style case. Sunburst is even and clear, bevels are polished and sharp. It's a pleasure to see on the wrist. He provides a NOS appearance.

It's not for everyone, but it's perfect for me.

 

If you look from the side the work that Tanner did looks great. The case and the glass match up perfect.



I wouldn't have had it refinished if the case wasn't all banged up. It just didn't do the racing dial any justice having a marked up case.

Everyone has their own taste. Me personally I would be horrified if someone polished their ed white. imo those look good with marks. It give them character. But I think it makes the Marks look sloppy. But again that is my opinion.