Journey to restore Seamaster 166.020, worth it or meh?

Posts
57
Likes
33
Hi esteem members of the forum. I recently went through a short attempt to restore this seamaster back to its original form as much as my knowledge goes. Please help me evaluate any short coming or tips on this piece, thank. A few month back I purchased this seamater 166.020 at the price of around 300$. It was running but with power reserve of around 5 hours and a large error of around 10 minutes - per day.

As any enthusiastic watch collector would do, I took it to the shop, found out the Caliber 565 main spring was broken, date quick-set mechanism was lost, spent around 100$ to fix everything. Now it is running fairly accurate at around 2-3 sec+-/day and most importantly I can double-pull the crown to adjust the date, really neat, I haven't seen this kind of mechanism before.
As I dived deep into the detail of this serial, I then found out that the dial is not original and the hands were not of the same color pattern, it was pink-gold. It took me around 2-3 months to sought out the correct dial and brought it along with the beat-up buckle (not sure about its original) and hands (which I still think is not the correct set) with the total price of around180$.

And Valla! here is my finished first amateur's attempt to restore an omega watch, now with the total damage of 580$. Please comment about the condition and suggest any think to your liking, hope you guys have a great time!
 
Posts
159
Likes
89
I, too, find it rewarding to sort out a watch such as this and perform a restoration using correct parts. You now have a nice watch to wear and enjoy.
 
Posts
57
Likes
33
I, too, find it rewarding to sort out a watch such as this and perform a restoration using correct parts. You now have a nice watch to wear and enjoy.
thank you! Good to know someone enjoying this hobby.
 
Posts
279
Likes
931
If you're happy with the result, nicely done! Sometimes people restore to wear, sometimes to sell for the highest dollar. It's nice you took the time to get this the way you wanted it.
 
Posts
57
Likes
33
If you're happy with the result, nicely done! Sometimes people restore to wear, sometimes to sell for the highest dollar. It's nice you took the time to get this the way you wanted it.
The journey is a blast, finding a nice dial in a reasonably price is tough though 😅
 
Posts
12,148
Likes
21,083
Congrats on what I assume was an enjoyable endeavour. Personally I couldn’t live with that dial which is why lost collectors advocate buying the best watch you can to start with, as restorations often end up costing more in time and money than what you’d spend on a good watch to begin with.

However, doing restorations is rewarding and can be really enjoyable, as well as a great learning experience and you do t get all that just buying a nice watch from the off
 
Posts
2,500
Likes
3,978
I like buying bits and pieces of watches to figure out the puzzle. Always seems to be more expensive that way in the long run. I like to call these rat-watches. I think the term comes from car enthusiasts who focus on rusty old wreaks, and enjoy them.

Been watching some Star Wars recently. (Thanks to Andor.) Seems that the Millennium Falcon is this sort of thing. Characters always refer to it as junk or garbage. Probably made from a few different space ships like a frankenwatch.

There are some pretty decent examples with good dials for 600USD so you are probably close to what this sort of thing is valued at. This leaves out the fun of course.
 
Posts
57
Likes
33
I like buying bits and pieces of watches to figure out the puzzle. Always seems to be more expensive that way in the long run. I like to call these rat-watches. I think the term comes from car enthusiasts who focus on rusty old wreaks, and enjoy them.

Been watching some Star Wars recently. (Thanks to Andor.) Seems that the Millennium Falcon is this sort of thing. Characters always refer to it as junk or garbage. Probably made from a few different space ships like a frankenwatch.

There are some pretty decent examples with good dials for 600USD so you are probably close to what this sort of thing is valued at. This leaves out the fun of course.
This piece really suits that term so well.