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Increase about omega service
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pdxleaf
路...is this something you've seriously considered? 馃榾
Oh, the stories my teeth could tell.
Come to think of it, I have actually done a little work myself. I knocked a tooth out with a hammer once. (Long story), which led to getting a post implant. There wasn't much to hold onto, which is why one day it broke, leaving me with a large gap in the top front.
This happened just when we were getting photos to announce our engagement. So, I whittled a small tooth out of wood and put it in the gap, which held in place by pressure. Lasted long enough for the photographer.
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RevZMan123
路If you do not have Henry's Textbook(s) then get them. I wonder what happened to the NY schools Henry was so proud of? One would think that there is some vestige of them 30 years later. Where ever Henry went in the world there would be people who wanted him to autograph his book.
I have a couple of his books. I went on the AWCI page and looked at what they were selling and picked some of them for my wife to get me for Yule.
The AWCI classes look great and I will hopefully get to one. I more want it as a second set of eyes to say, hey this is wrong but this is right. I learn best by doing as many of us seem to.
Fixing things is in my nature and have always been this way. Starting with electronics, computers, cars, motorcycles, small engines, guns, and now watches.
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Bernhard J
路However experienced one is in handling tweezers, be sure that if you attend to disassembly or reassembly yourself, preferably the smallest part will occasionally go flying without you having a chance to trace the trajectory.
In the factory this is no problem, just take another one from the drawer and do not bother about the one on the floor (or in your cloth, or whereever). At home you have only this one part and you will need eagles eyes or a magnet for sweeping the region where it might have landed. Luckily screws in most cases are made of steel. But you will then need a demagnetizer as well when you have found the item.
In any way, the chances for 馃are quite good, so that an otherwise generally good temper is helpful as well 馃榿
In the factory this is no problem, just take another one from the drawer and do not bother about the one on the floor (or in your cloth, or whereever). At home you have only this one part and you will need eagles eyes or a magnet for sweeping the region where it might have landed. Luckily screws in most cases are made of steel. But you will then need a demagnetizer as well when you have found the item.
In any way, the chances for 馃are quite good, so that an otherwise generally good temper is helpful as well 馃榿
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Aroxx
路Since I joined here and went off the deep end again I looked into build kits and watchmaking books and starting to learn some basics. I quickly abandoned the idea as I just don鈥檛 have the time or energy right now to get into that. I also realized that I would likely never move beyond basic tinkering and generally causing more damage than anything else. Never mind servicing something I actually cared about, tool cost, etc. Still something I may mess around with in the future as I like tinkering and learning how things work.
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RevZMan123
路However experienced one is in handling tweezers, be sure that if you attend to disassembly or reassembly yourself, preferably the smallest part will occasionally go flying without you having a chance to trace the trajectory.
In the factory this is no problem, just take another one from the drawer and do not bother about the one on the floor (or in your cloth, or whereever). At home you have only this one part and you will need eagles eyes or a magnet for sweeping the region where it might have landed. Luckily screws in most cases are made of steel. But you will then need a demagnetizer as well when you have found the item.
In any way, the chances for 馃are quite good, so that an otherwise generally good temper is helpful as well 馃榿
Yeah man, nothing worse than having a balance bridge screw fly out of your holder and onto the floor ... time for the hands and knees with the light on an angle hunt. BTDT already a couple times. lol
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Archer
路路Omega Qualified WatchmakerYeah man, nothing worse than having a balance bridge screw fly out of your holder and onto the floor ... time for the hands and knees with the light on an angle hunt. BTDT already a couple times. lol
It happens to everyone, even some of the best...this is a photo of a book I have, and the photo in the book shows Philippe Dufour on hands and knees looking for a part in his shop...
He told me he was pretty upset that the photographer took this when he wasn't aware, but he has a great sense of humour so he's taken it in stride.
You can go a long ways in preventing this by keeping your tweezers in good shape, and that starts by using them only what they were intended for - they aren't pry bars for example. Not dropping them also helps. But keeping them dressed properly using a file or stone is key. Make sure the tips come together properly.
Also, learning how to grip things takes time - applying the right amount of pressure so that you don't drop the part, but not enough that you send it flying. Most new people grip things too tightly, so parts go flying.
So practice is important - get yourself a bunch of screws of different sizes, and put them in a container - then use your tweezers to pick them up out of that container and put them into another, then move them back. Do this every day, and you will get the feel - there are no short cuts here, it just takes time.
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RevZMan123
路So practice is important - get yourself a bunch of screws of different sizes, and put them in a container - then use your tweezers to pick them up out of that container and put them into another, then move them back. Do this every day, and you will get the feel - there are no short cuts here, it just takes time.
Agreed. I know that the first 3 exercises in John Bulova's School of Watchmaking are to pick up, insert, and tighten 50 pillar plate screws into a specially designed plate. Then 50 smaller pallet bridge screws. And then 50 more of the tiniest stud/jewel screws.
Then the next two are working screws in a bi-metallic balance wheel and a mono-metallic balance wheel.
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sheepdoll
路I was taught to pick up a short piece of hair, then flip it over. Harder than it looks.
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7enderbender
路If they use the extra money to hire and train better qualified techs for more reliable and predictable outcomes I fine with that.
At least here in the US I鈥檓 not comfortable sending another of our Omegas for service - and instead spend even more to make sure they go back to Switzerland or Munich.
At least here in the US I鈥檓 not comfortable sending another of our Omegas for service - and instead spend even more to make sure they go back to Switzerland or Munich.
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7enderbender
路I hate that they ask a flat fee for all watches. I would expect that an old ETA based movement costs less to service than those modern co-axials.
750eur is almost 50% of what those ETA watches retailed for...
I doubt that. Some of the old ETA movements are hard to work on. My Speedy reduced automatic chrono movement comes to mind. Which is why they鈥檝e moved to just swapping out the whole movement.
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sheepdoll
路I doubt that. Some of the old ETA movements are hard to work on. My Speedy reduced automatic chrono movement comes to mind. Which is why they鈥檝e moved to just swapping out the whole movement.
The reduced automatic is a bastard child from a world that was confused. Mechanical movements have to burn a lot of energy to drive the escapement. Quartz movements on the other hand drive the escapement, so there is no extra energy to burn. This confused the designers in the 1980s and 1990s. So that was the worst of both worlds.
Manufacturing techniques also affect serviceability. Why a 1950s movement is easier to work on than a 1970s. I was surprised how well made the Bettlach 8800 is. On the other hand with cost savings to pres fit the balance spring makes working on such more impractical other than to toss and swap.
I have a 3D photograph of Phillipe I took in his workshop on my website from 1996. He was pretty good about having photos taken. https://delectra.com/jporter/p003.html
Or a cached version.
The special red/cyan glasses are needed. Otherwise it looks blurry. Greatly reduced as there was not a lot of bandwidth in 1996. I may have others, the old stereo camera did not do well in dim places. (the factories were well lit.)
Wonder if I should once again take to wearing a lab coat when working on watches. Sometimes it looked like the watchmakers were wearing scrubs as well. I worked for a pipe organ factory and we had to be ready at any moment for tours. So we dressed in shop aprons/lab coats, and everything was kept spotless.
Unlike my own she shed.
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Bernhard J
路... tweezers ... Not dropping them also helps.
As a sidenote, wear shoes. If 5er tweezers falls down, tips ahead, and hits a foot with socks only, this will really hurt. Almost happened to me once, I managed to pull the foot away in time. The tweezers then needed to be pulled out of the wooden floor ... 馃榿
Cheers, Bernhard
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Omega D
路That is ridiculous, especially the last service I had from Southampton this year, which was shocking, and I had to wait 5 months for the privilege. I'm always wary about sending watches back to them, and I'm always right to be. They seldom come back better than they left me. Apart from the polishing.
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Omega D
路It鈥檚 been mentioned on here a few times so it鈥檚 not unexpected but it is unwelcome. In the UK the cost to service a steel 3 hander is now 拢590 and a chrono costs 拢825. Gold etc cased watches are higher still.
Not good news. It will likely mean a lot less watches go for an official service. The case for some lower cost older Omegas like the Speedy Reduced is made even less appealing when you bear in mind you may have to spend 50% of the purchase cost to put right a fault.
On the 1/1/2023 I am sure I noticed the prices you mentioned. But a few days later the prices went back to what they had been before i.e 拢450 for a steel non chronograph mechanical. See picture.
I remember around ten years ago this basic non chronograph service was 拢330, does anyone know if it went up in stages to 拢450 in the UK? Or did it jump suddenly to 拢450? When did these prices take place?
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502 to right
路I can confirm that in the U.S., service prices for a non-chronograph have jumped from $550 to $700. Quartz service has gone from $450 to $500.
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Matty1
路On the 1/1/2023 I am sure I noticed the prices you mentioned. But a few days later the prices went back to what they had been before i.e 拢450 for a steel non chronograph mechanical. See picture.
I remember around ten years ago this basic non chronograph service was 拢330, does anyone know if it went up in stages to 拢450 in the UK? Or did it jump suddenly to 拢450? When did these prices take place?
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502 to right
路M Matty1Just noticed the prices have gone back down. Odd. Perhaps it鈥檚 a timing thing and they will increase at some point soon again.
They have not gone back down in the U.S. 馃檨
I'm glad I got my SMP 2220.80 serviced last summer as I saved $150 and it's sitting on my wrist right now looking new.
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Modernism
路STS are quicker muck quicker Omega certified and UK based
On the 1/1/2023 I am sure I noticed the prices you mentioned. But a few days later the prices went back to what they had been before i.e 拢450 for a steel non chronograph mechanical. See picture.
I remember around ten years ago this basic non chronograph service was 拢330, does anyone know if it went up in stages to 拢450 in the UK? Or did it jump suddenly to 拢450? When did these prices take place?
I paid 300 in 2011 for a PO and 450 in 2022 UK, so there must've been an increase in the interim, and for my 450 it's losing 5 minutes after a full wind!. Joy.... 馃
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worldwidewes
路I'm not surprised they would increase the price - prices for luxury goods/services tend to increase and given the fears of a recession worldwide, being able to make money off of existing Omega owners will make up for some of the customers they lose.
But, what does surprise me is that anyone is sending their watch to Omega since watch brands replace/update watch parts even if something isn't wrong. I had a service done to my vintage Speedmaster a few months ago and it was roughly the same cost of what's mentioned here and it was done in a few weeks. I'm not sure why everyone wouldn't go that route given how valued originality is in the collecting community.
But, what does surprise me is that anyone is sending their watch to Omega since watch brands replace/update watch parts even if something isn't wrong. I had a service done to my vintage Speedmaster a few months ago and it was roughly the same cost of what's mentioned here and it was done in a few weeks. I'm not sure why everyone wouldn't go that route given how valued originality is in the collecting community.
