I would like to get this Omega Speedmaster Professional serviced as it hasn't seen one in at least twenty years, as you can tell from its condition. Although I plan on wearing it I am worried about parts being replaced and devaluing the watch. In your opinion what (if anything) should be done to the watch? Would an ultrasonic clean and lubrication be good enough? What would you do if this was your watch? Thank you. Sidenote- The watch is in working condition.
Well, for a start, I'd take the bracelet off and put it in the dishwasher on "POT SCRUB". Then I'd wait for some expert advice.
I'm in the UK. It is currently with an Omega service centre but only to get an estimation of the cost for repair, I have not gone ahead with anything yet.
http://www.swisstimeservices.co.uk/ STS is an authorized Omega repair center that. specializes in vintage.
If you're in the UK you'll get an avalanche of responses saying send it to STS. They are one of the finest places in the world to send a vintage Speedmaster for service. They do it day in day out, are experienced with vintage watches and several members here (including me), use them frequently.
Nice watch, what's the story behind it? Is it a 105.012 (short pushers)? You would be foolish not to send it to STS for a "sympathetic" service. Do NOT send it to Omega. They will destroy the value of the watch by unnecessarily replacing parts and polishing the case. The only external thing that could be replaced without taking away from the value of the watch would be the crystal. Avoid replacing anything else.
I believe so, yes. It has been in the loft for the last 15-20 years and only recently found it. That's what I thought, do you know roughly how much it would cost? And the timeframe?
Your best bet would be to give STS a call... I would imagine something like $600-$1000 USD and 4-8 weeks. Perhaps some of the more experienced members can give you a better idea though. To put the cost of a proper service in context, if you indeed have a 105.012 with all of the proper parts, you have a very valuable watch: http://speedmaster101.com/price-chart-2/ I wouldn't be surprised if it was valued into the five figures after a good service and cleaning.
Quite the opposite, Reddit was extremely useful. However I have little knowledge about watches and I wanted advice from an Omega community.
Well to your credit, for someone who knows little about watches you know that replacing the ugly worn out parts on this old watch with brand spanking shiny new parts will actually make it worth less.
Young Padawan, you would be wise to listen to the Jedi Council before you embark on your journey of resurrection. If you are worrying about the cost, don't. It is money well spent, with a better investment return than your bank is giving you right now and with no risk!.
Not even replace with an identical tachymetre in better condition? I'm sure there are some out there.
You could replace but make sure you keep the original so that in the event of a sale you have it for the next owner to decide what they want.
This watch is an almost original, low owner (one?) example in used but honest condition. There are those that would pay far more for this as it is, not even cleaned, than it would fetch even sympathetically restored. That's the irony, is that some of us want to be sure that a watch is original, and often by even just cleaning it up, we remove that air of originality. And the value to the crazy barn hunters. You might not agree with their aesthetic, nor the prices they pay, but the reality is they exist and will pay more than the spectators for the right watch. If it were my watch, I would send it to STS. My instructions would be to change the crystal, and try to avoid changing the crown and pushers. Everything else will just clean up, even the bezel will improve slightly. I would specify no case polishing, only cleaning. I would budget £650 and eight weeks as long as the movement doesn't need too many bits. Changing the pushers is only required if you need waterproofing, or the current pushers are damaged. Same with the crown. There can be corrosion on cases like this, in which case it is pointless to change the crown and pushers, as it will fail at the gasket anyway. I think this watch will come to life after this process. There is a quality about a genuinely aged original watch that cannot be easily imitated. In fact to change the bezel on this watch for a better one, might be possible, but for me would change the attraction of the watch. Certainly it would not be cost effective with good DO90's going well north of $2000. Now the fly in the barn find story is that this watch bears a square end Chrono.....so the barn hunters might be slightly deterred. I'd still love to have it, as would many here. I would find a vintage drop end to replace it, but I would not change anything else, just clean and service.
Update: Thanks everyone for your input, you've been very helpful! It was sent to an Omega approved service centre and they estimated £780 to service, not including parts and not including postage to Switzerland as the watch is too old for them to repair. I'm going to take it to STS and get a quote, though from all the recommendations I will probably go with them anyway. Also, I recently noticed the bottom middle chrono dial doesn't reset to zero, but slightly before as you can just about see in the first picture, is that easily fixable during a servicing?
Yes, that will be fixed with servicing. I want to emphasize something that @Spacefruit mentioned... try and keep the original crown and pushers, even if it means it is no longer waterproof. This watch should not be getting anywhere near water - its a beautiful and valuable vintage watch - for water sports, buy a beater and have at it. Good luck, great watch!
I too would recommend STS and no cosmetic replacements. I would then be inclined to wear it fairly regularly without worrying about any little further surface 'damages'. I think a new crystal would be good, but I'd leave everything else, (unless as Spacefruit said, there's a need to waterproof). It will also look better in my view on a nice new leather strap.