My go-to watch guy has retired and closed shop. I guess it's time to find a new one, but given.. *waves hands at the world in general* I don't know how easy that will be. Is this something someone at a generic jewelry store could do competently?
I assume your concern is based on the ring of discoloration on the caseback that seems to correspond to some wear on the rotor? I hadn't thought about that being damage until you mentioned it. (that's why you're the watchmaker I guess
😀)
Well, I see this wear a lot - if you press on the rotor opposite that wear spot, on the far side of the axle, you will likely see the the rotor has a lot of vertical play in it. The rotor pinion wears all the time on these - here's an example:
Ball bearings are not immune to this either:
In both cases, new parts are required, and in your watch this is a new rotor pinion. The old one is pressed out, a new one is pressed in, and then it has to be reamed to size to fit the axle. Special reamers are available from Omega for this work...here's what this process look like:
Pressing the old pinion out...
Pressing a new one in place...
Reaming it to size...
Test fit, clean, and assembly...
I show all this in part to explain why a jeweller is not where you need to take this. Taking it to a local jeweller means that most likely they will send it out to a local "trade" watchmaker. This will be the guy that has bid the lowest prices to the jeweller, who then marks that price up by 100%, and takes no responsibility for the work. This is work that requires a watchmaker with the knowledge and parts access to complete it, so someone who does more than change batteries, but who works on vintage, and preferably vintage Omegas specifically.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Al
