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Help Needed - Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Quartz not working

M
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hi I’ve got the above watch. bought in UK back in 2008. It stopped working having had a new battery last year so i took it to a jewellers near me. I now live in NZ. He’s sent it to the watchmaker he uses and he’s come back saying its got ‘a faulty circuit’ and needs a service. Quoted NZ $1750 (UK £850 - US - $1075). I bought it with a discount back in 2008 for £770.

Question is is this a reasonable price or am i being taken advantage of. Also is there anywhere else I could look to get it fixed? should I look to wait until i go back to the UK next year to get it sorted then.

any other advice welcome. thanks in advance.
 
Syrte
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Welcome to the forum,
No doubt you’re being taken for a BIG ride.

Omega usually charges around 650 euros/ GBP for a service and while I don’t know much about modern Omegas, it’s my understanding that quartz movements are cheaper to maintain.

For example Hermes a few years back charged me 250 euros for the repair/ replacement of a quartz movement, it’s much more of a luxury house than Omega - even though horology is not their core business.

Bottom line, either you go to an Omega authorized dealer, or someone here can recommend a reliable independent watchmaker. If you do a keyword search I believe someone recently got referrals for good watchmakers in New Zealand- people often ship watches for service. There’s a thread about packing/ advice.

best regards
 
JimInOz
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M mitchymoo
hi I’ve got the above watch. bought in UK back in 2008. It stopped working having had a new battery last year so i took it to a jewellers near me. I now live in NZ. He’s sent it to the watchmaker he uses and he’s come back saying its got ‘a faulty circuit’ and needs a service. Quoted NZ $1750 (UK £850 - US - $1075). I bought it with a discount back in 2008 for £770.

Question is is this a reasonable price or am i being taken advantage of. Also is there anywhere else I could look to get it fixed? should I look to wait until i go back to the UK next year to get it sorted then.

any other advice welcome. thanks in advance.
They're trying to bend you over for a shafting.

An Omega full service for a quartz watch should be about NZD$870 (Edit: Anout NZD$820).
I would expect them to replace the circuit if it's failed as part of the service. If they charge, it will be cheaper that "some bloke's price".

See the Aussie equivalent prices.

Screenshot 2024-06-20 at 18.41.37.png
Edited:
 
M
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Thanks so much for your advice both. I'll contact partridges in Auckland they are official omega sellers. 800 serviced and fixed seems more like it
 
lejaune
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The watch probably has a Omega branded ETA 255.461 movement. The complete ETA movement should cost less than $200. Your cheaper option would be to find a movement and have a watchmaker either swap it or tranplant the circuit board.
 
EuroDriver
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I saw a tutorial some months back about a similar issue where the owner replaced the movement with a non-omega, ETA movement because it was cost-prohibitive to replace it with an OEM Omega movement.

IIRC, Omega quoted him in excess of $1,000 for a new movement (which makes me believe that replacing the movement is not included in a regular service).

In the tutorial, the watchmaker offered to transplant the Omaga labeled cover to the new ETA movement, which I guess is an option. In that case, the owner opted not to.

So the most cost-effective solution would be to replace the movement with the ETA as suggested above. Another option might be to source a used Omega 1538 movement on ebay, etc
 
padders
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EuroDriver EuroDriver
I saw a tutorial some months back about a similar issue where the owner replaced the movement with a non-omega, ETA movement because it was cost-prohibitive to replace it with an OEM Omega movement.

IIRC, Omega quoted him in excess of $1,000 for a new movement (which makes me believe that replacing the movement is not included in a regular service).

In the tutorial, the watchmaker offered to transplant the Omaga labeled cover to the new ETA movement, which I guess is an option. In that case, the owner opted not to.

So the most cost-effective solution would be to replace the movement with the ETA as suggested above. Another option might be to source a used Omega 1538 movement on ebay, etc

Actually Omega do swap quartz movements at service. On stuff since the late 1980s anyhow, the big problems start with the in house stuff before that point. There is no point ever spending more than the Omega official price to repair a poorly quartz Omega, since they charge no more when the movement is totally shot than if it has no faults at all.
Edited:
 
EuroDriver
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I did not know this, since I've never had a quartz serviced. My comments are based strictly on the tutorial I watched. For the OP's sake, I hope the information I shared is erroneous.
 
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