- Posts
- 2,718
- Likes
- 5,540
kingsrider
·I see evidence of Rotor Rub on the caseback. That needs to be looked into. It may be old or it may be a current issue.
Just bought this ref. 166.002
- Posts
- 16,307
- Likes
- 44,936
JwRosenthal
·Not sure what "false premise" you are referring to, but your example has nothing to do with my argument, which boils down to this: the benefit of spending several hundred dollars for preventive maintenance on a $425 watch (which by definition is working reasonably well) does not out weigh the risk of not doing the preventive maintenance. I'm not suggesting the watch should be completely neglected, just wait until it is having a problem before spending additional $ on it and in the long run you will come out ahead.
I’ve spend multiple times the value of watches for service ($200 on a $35 watch), but if you want to keep it for years- I believe it’s good to have a clean and check-up. It is a personal choice of course- it’s your watch and you can do what you feel is best.
- Posts
- 418
- Likes
- 733
smorrisonmd
·Yes, that is what you said. I understood the first time you said it.
What "false premise"? Where did I mention anything about insurance?
And my comments are strictly referring to preventive maintenance, not something that needs "restored".
- Posts
- 7,631
- Likes
- 61,400
Spruce
··Sunburst dial fanActually, I don't think you did.
What "false premise"? Where did I mention anything about insurance?
And my comments are strictly referring to preventive maintenance, not something that needs "restored".
If you’d taken the trouble to read the initial post, you’d have seen that the OP asked OF whether or not his new acquisition should be serviced. He didn’t ask about preventative maintenance. You brought that into this thread.
All the posters before your initial post agreed that when you buy a 50 year old watch with no service history, it is a good idea to get it serviced. Where I am, the likely cost of a standard service for a 50 year old Omega automatic is about £100-120.
The watch was bought for €350. A quick perusal of eBay suggests that it may be worth a bit more, say £500-650 (or about $800) so worth preserving and, therefore and by general consensus, worth having it serviced.
Your 'false premise' was to a) infer something other than a service, and b) that the true value of the watch was what @marcowip paid for it.
- Posts
- 418
- Likes
- 733
smorrisonmd
·If you’d taken the trouble to read the initial post, you’d have seen that the OP asked OF whether or not his new acquisition should be serviced. He didn’t ask about preventative maintenance. You brought that into this thread.
All the posters before your initial post agreed that when you buy a 50 year old watch with no service history, it is a good idea to get it serviced. Where I am, the likely cost of a standard service for a 50 year old Omega automatic is about £100-120.
The watch was bought for €350. A quick perusal of eBay suggests that it may be worth a bit more, say £500-650 (or about $800) so worth preserving and, therefore and by general consensus, worth having it serviced.
Your 'false premise' was to a) infer something other than a service, and b) that the true value of the watch was what @marcowip paid for it.
I of course did read the OP, did you?. Sending a recent purchase for service simply because you don't know the service history is the ~ definition of preventive maintenance. I did not in any way "infer something other that a service", and what the OP paid for the watch is actually irrelevant to my argument.
The fact that "All the posters before your initial post agreed that when you buy a 50 year old watch with no service history, it is a good idea to get it serviced" is precisely why I have a burr in my saddle about this issue. This helps propagate myths two I see propagated on this forum:
1) If you don't have preventive maintenance done on your vintage watch, something disastrous will happen. I guess this is possible, but likely just not true. What is likely is that when it starts having a problem, it will be fixed by a routine service. Maybe some parts will need replaced, and cost a few extra bucks, but for now, vintage Omega parts are still readily available and relatively inexpensive.
I have been collecting vintage Omegas for ~ 30 years and have followed 3 or 4 forums at least somewhat regularly for that entire time. I have read numerous posts of disasters that have occurred AS A RESULT of sending a watch for service: watches lost or stolen; cases polished; dials refinished; hands replaced, etc. I have yet to read of a disaster that occurred from NOT sending a watch for preventive maintenance. If any member is aware of such an occurrence please post about it.
2) When you point out "All the posters before your initial post agreed that when you buy a 50 year old watch with no service history, it is a good idea to get it serviced" it leads the Noobs to believe all the "good" members on OF regularly service their watches. Again, I just do not believe this is true. Check out the current listings on the "Private Watch Sales" forum. You will find several "high-end" watches from forum members with a service history that is "unknown", i.e. they have never had their watch serviced. I have in fact reached out to at least one very well know member here who posted such a watch and asked him why he had not had a valuable, relatively rare, vintage Omega serviced. His answer was in effect, it is just not worth it. My point exactly.
Further, there are members here with collections that number in the hundreds. "Routine maintenance" every three to five years (what I have seen recommended) would cost them tens of thousands of $ a year. Do they have that done? I suspect not, but am happy to hear otherwise.
- Posts
- 16,307
- Likes
- 44,936
JwRosenthal
·I don’t disagree- of my 100+ collection, probably only 25% have been serviced (some more than once as I have worn some more than others over the decades). The other 75% are either in queue or so rarely worn that it is “just not worth it”. Those may eventually get cut from the collection. My watchmaker is very reasonable, but will only accept 4 watches from me at a time and it can take 6 months - 1 year to get them back....so at that rate, I could hopefully get through my collection before he dies...and the collection keeps growing.
As I said above, do what’s right for you and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You have both opinions here- I side with if you have access to a good watchmaker and want to invest in the health and well-being of the watch- then go for it. If you plan to only wear it occasionally on fair weather days, slap a nice strap on it and enjoy.
As I said above, do what’s right for you and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You have both opinions here- I side with if you have access to a good watchmaker and want to invest in the health and well-being of the watch- then go for it. If you plan to only wear it occasionally on fair weather days, slap a nice strap on it and enjoy.
- Posts
- 27,911
- Likes
- 71,079
Archer
·1) If you don't have preventive maintenance done on your vintage watch, something disastrous will happen. I guess this is possible, but likely just not true. What is likely is that when it starts having a problem, it will be fixed by a routine service. Maybe some parts will need replaced, and cost a few extra bucks, but for now, vintage Omega parts are still readily available and relatively inexpensive.
I don't believe I've ever seen anyone here claim that not servicing a vintage watch will be "disastrous"...
Vintage watch parts vary wildly in price, so if they are "reasonable" depends on the movement in question, and I guess what you consider reasonable personally. Most train wheels are under $50 if they are still available from Omega, but if not, then I have personally paid as much as $150 US for one train wheel for an Omega where the part is discontinued. But even some parts from Omega are going up massively in price in some cases - a reversing wheel for a Cal. 1010 series will now set you back about $270 US from Omega.
I have a vintage Patek in my shop right now with two worn train wheels. One I was able to find a NOS replacement with a bit of rust on it that I can clean up, and that was just $150 US. The other has been nearly impossible to find, and the only replacement wheel I could find for it was used, and would be $500 US. I won't say this is "disastrous" but it is certainly a significant part of the servicing price to say the least.
Personally I don't care if people choose to service their watches regularly or not, but the key point I always try to get across to people is that there is no one size fits all rule. So saying "always service" or "don't service until there's a problem" for every situation and every watch, is not a well informed approach in my view.
Cheers, Al
Edited:
- Posts
- 215
- Likes
- 188
kev1976t
·nice watch, i really like that one.
