I'm a proud owner of a new Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. I see many people send their watches off to Omega for servicing, but are there any drawbacks to having a reputable, competent non official Omega watchmaker perform service? I know I'm several years away for needing to do this, but was wondering what others think on this matter. I have owned a few vintage Omegas and haven't had issues getting service done this way. Never any chronographs though. Thanks!

 

No drawbacks whatsoever sending it to a competent watchmaker.

 

Yep should be fine. 1861 is based on a pretty common base movement (Lemania) so any competent watchmaker will be able to do it. If they say they can't then.. kindly reconsider.

 

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask, if a non-Omega-certified watchmaker performs service, and then an issue arises down the road where it needs to be sent to Omega, will Omega still work on it?

 

Yes. Why won't they?

Unless it's a Watchco, that might get a bit iffy.

By the way if it's vintage, the general advice is, don't send to Omega

 

I would think they would, I just wanted to make sure. I thought it might void the manufacturers warranty though. Why would you say don't send a vintage watch to Omega? Just curious.

 

If you have warranty why not just send to omega direct?

Vintage - omega replaces all vintage parts and tosses them in a bag for you, so it's not that good of an option unless it's got to be a last resort.

 

If your watch is under warranty still and you have it serviced by someone other than Omega, it will void the warranty.

That doesn't mean that Omega won't work on it in the future, but it won't be worked on under warranty - you would have to pay for the service.

 

If the watch was really butchered they may refuse to work on it. I was told that by the watchmaker of my Omega boutique.
If it was not serviced by Omega but that was done (more or less) properly, they will service it. They will only accept a full service though. Partial service can be done by Omega only if last service was done by them.

For Vintage, you can still ask Omega what you do not want to be replaced. For example, you can ask them no service dial, no service hand, no polishing. They are still accepting that kind of recommendation (at least in France).

 

I wouldn't send the newer Co-axial movements to someone who isn't certified, but the vintage market is a different animal. Between the forum, and my local watch group I've come across many stories of "watchmakers" who are willing to have a go at something even if they don't have the proper tools.

 

Did he say what "really butchered" meant specifically? I find this statement by the watchmaker a little odd, because when I have been in situations where I've received an Omega that was badly rusted, and a huge number of parts would need replacing Omega has suggested that if I didn't want to deal with it, to send it in and they would service it. I can't imagine a watchmaker "butchering" a movement to a point that is worse than a movement that is rusted into a nearly solid mass, so if Omega will work on the rusted one, I get the impression they will work on just about any Omega movement in any condition.

IMO the only time Omega is going to turn away a watch is if they no longer have parts for it (very old vintage) or if the movement isn't really an Omega.

Cheers, Al

 

this is correct. confirmed via omega when I emailed them

 

Yep. Pieces that seem non legit basically. Either non Omega as you said, but also with Omega pieces that doesn't seem to add up. They do not want to legitimate a watch by servicing it if they think it did not get out the factory in this specification.

For example (given by me, from my understanding) if the escape wheel bridge of a 861 seems to come to another watch because of very different discoloration, they'll refuse it: serial number is on it and it could come from a 910 Chronostop instead of a 861.
They'll do the same for the whole watch: if they know this caliber was never fit inside that case number, they won't service it. For example, a 168.005 with a 1020... (I do not know if it is feasible but let's admit it is)

So you're right, for a watch that "only" got beat up by an incompetent, they will accept to service it (with a smile in front of the customer, and when servicing it, sometimes with words that cannot be told to the customer - he was explicit about that last part ). If I recall correctly, you may have in that case to pay for some of the parts that need to be replaced

I did not ask if they accept bad redials or not. I guess yes, but with an extra to replace the dial by a service one.

About very old vintages, they should be able to do it more and more. For now he told me the limit was - I think - "about mid-50's, maybe even late 40's for some models". Older than that, they cannot guarantee they can produce the broken parts. So they will not accept to "service" it, but they will still accept it for a "restoration"

 

I have found Simon Freese to be good and reasonably priced.

 

Well, what he's telling you is sort of right, but doesn't exactly follow Omega policies. If a watch has been modified (mix of parts from different models, but all Omega) then Omega will service it, but the policy states that it would be brought back to the original spec at the customer's cost. So they will service it contrary to what he has indicated.

Well the scenario you write isn't very likely. In order to check serial numbers for watches older than the late 90's, the service center would have to essentially contact the same people who create the extracts of the archive, because the Omega Extranet is sketchy giving any information on serial numbers below 50 million. The service center is focused on getting the watch serviced, so they are not going to take the time to go to the museum staff to figure out if the serial number is correct for the model - it's just not practical for them to do that for every watch. In fact, given that no extracts are being generated right now due to the museum move, that would mean all servicing of vintage watches would have to stop until they can check serials numbers again - that's not the case.

They will - I've sent redialed watches to Bienne for service and they have not mentioned the dial at all, just serviced the watch and sent it back.

The cut off is not only age based - it's based on a number of things, and age is only one criteria that will result in a watch being sent to Bienne rather than being done at a service center. Things like complexity of the movement are factors, but age is not the only one. In fact I recently sent two quartz watches to Bienne - they are Bienne only but are far newer that 40's or 50's obviously.

In the end it's very difficult to encapsulate all of Omegas policies in one sweeping statement about butchered watches not being accepted, as it's much more complex/nuanced than that to cover all the possible scenarios.

Again generally the only time Omega is going to refuse a watch is if it's fake, or if they no longer have parts for it. They will accept far more than what the watchmaker at the Boutique is suggesting, but he clearly wants people to use the Omega path...

Cheers, Al

 

Interesting. My experience with a '57 Replica from the 90s is different. I had the bezel and hands replaced and they left it all and didn't complain. Last service before I traded it was, I think, a year and a half ago.

I sent a vintage Seamaster of no great scarcity to Omega for service, so it'll be interesting what comes back. The price was competitive and even somewhat lower than what I could get locally.

Tom

 

As you post illustrates the policy is not always followed, but it is the policy...

 

Very recently, while at an Omega Boutique I asked about getting a speedmaster serviced. Once I pointed out it was a tritium dial, he then proceeded to tell me a story... how a recent customer sent in a tritium dialed/hand watch, asking specifically to leave in place. Omega returned the watch with a new service dial and hands and had disposed of his originals

Scared the heck out of me. couldn't sleep all week it was such a terrifying story .

 

That is why I put some warning ligths I talked about different discoloration because for me, different discoloration from the rest implies that this piece had a different life than the others, so that the original was replaced by this one at some point. So, if the piece that wear the serial number is a replacement, then that should be an issue. I admit it could be a bad example...
But I did not want to imply they look at the serial every time to know it is correct or not. As you said, it would be like requesting and archive extract for each vintage watch they service: it is unrealistic. Maybe they'll be able to do it in 10 or 15 years if they decide to digitalize all the microfilms and put everything in a data lake

For the rest, for sure they do not apply these rules stricto sensu. It is on a case-by-case basis and that is why I initially said "may refuse" . Replacing a crown or a bezel won't be an issue. Replacing half of the movement to put it back to factory spec could be a different story.
I was told they were very lenient about all this only a few years ago, and they accepted everything (bar fake or no parts anymore) but they are currently pushing to be more strict.

Anyway, none of this should prevent us to have our Omega's (or any other watches) serviced by a skilled watchmaker.

One question about the redials you sent to be sure I understood it correctly - as I am not a native English speaker: by "not mention the dial", do you imply they serviced the watches and left their dials as-is (I presume that is what you meant), or did they replaced the dials as part of the service process?
And out of curisity; were the redials baldy done (eligible to be in the "worst redials" topic), or ok-ish?

 

$670 keeping the dial they acknowledged was damaged and the gold-filled case they acknowledged they can't fix... I declined the service.

Tom