Hi everybody, About two months ago I posted for the first time on the forums asking for help on what would be original to a black dial Seamaster. I had just bought one on the bay and it defiantly needed a dial restoration. It was also my first Omega that I have ever bought and now thanks to this terrible forum I have another vintage Seamaster and I'm about to purchase a Speedmaster. I bought the watch as not running and had no idea why it wasn't running. So here are the photos of the day I got the watch.

Needed a new hand set, had a bent lug and the seller wasn't lying, It was not running. So I started taking it apart and went on with the much needed service. After I got it out of the case I did a visual check and everything looked ok except for some of the plating was coming off of the movement, which I was ok with, Its obviously had a hard life. So I started disassembling the movement and quickly found why the watch wasn't running. The escape wheel pivot had been broken off. Here is the broken next to the new.
Here is the movement disassembled
Now that I had serviced the movement and everything was working properly I turned my attention to the cosmetic parts. I ordered a new crystal, Date wheel, Hand set, Leather strap and genuine Omega buckle. I also did some searching about the model of Seamaster that I had on the Omega database. Turns out that my watch was a Deville but I read somewhere that they didn't start putting Deville on the dials until a few years later. Now I know what I'm about to say and show a lot of people may not like. I am a big fan of Mad Men and I have always liked the Omega that they use on the show, Since I had to get the watch redialed anyway I decided that I wanted to make it close to the famous watch as I could. So I sent the dial along with instructions to International Dial. Took a little over a month to be completed but it just got back and it looks pretty good for what you pay. I decided that I wanted to put Deville on the dial not only because Omega lists my Seamaster as a Deville but I also like the extra text on the dial. The only thing that they did was mess up the font used in the word Seamaster. I know from all of the information that I have learned from this forum that that font is used on later models. I also fixed the bent lug as best as I could. I have read that trying to get the last 5% is what will mess you up so I stopped while I was ahead. Anyway this was really nice to work on and it is always nice to be able to bring something back to great working condition and make it look better in the process to. Hope everybody likes it. Thanks, Tyler

 

Well it does look nicer than it did, but personally I would find it hard to live with a non original watch. I suppose that it is likely that it would have ended up in the back of a draw somewhere if you had not resurrected it. The only thing that matters though is that you are happy with it and enjoy wearing it. Enjoy

 

Well done!

 

Sorry, the watchmaker part of me has to ask - did you actually fully disassemble it for cleaning, rather than just partially like in the photos? Hope so!

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks and normally I would like to keep my watches original. Since The dial was in bad shape I took that as an opportunity to make it how I wanted it.

 

That is how I had it before I cleaned the parts. I just saw a post that you put on saying that it is not good to keep the setting parts together when cleaning, Now I know. I am still learning and I was told that those parts would get just as clean still put together in the movement.
Thanks

 

I'm not trying to get on you or anything, because I do certainly want those who have an interest to do their own tinkering. I'm just trying to encourage people to do these things the proper way, as short cuts are never a good thing in my view, in particular when it comes to cleanliness of a movement.

In your photo I see setting parts left on the main plate, the click is still mounted on the barrel bridge, the date jumper is still mounted on the calendar plate, and the barrel has not been disassembled. These are all things that in my view need to be taken apart to properly clean the movement, and also for lubricating it after cleaning.

Now will there be any serious negative effects of leaving these parts on the movement? Maybe not, but the proper way of doing this is to remove all these parts to ensure the surfaces are clean before adding in new lubricants. The one that is most likely to pose problems is the barrel in my view. The barrel arbor and holes in the barrel drum and cover need to be checked for wear (excessive side shake is common), the end shake of the arbor needs to be checked and adjusted if needed (and most of them need it in my experience), and of course I would also replace the mainspring, but I do that on every watch I service.

Just some things to keep in mind for your next project. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers, Al

 

Yes sir I definitely will ask, I was a little scared to fool with the calendar plate as this was my first watch I had taken apart with a date feature. The click is another thing that I thought would get just as clean. Thanks for you help and I will definitely get all of these parts off and clean with any other watches that I service.

Thanks, Tyler

 

Looks fabulous!

 

Thanks

 

You've done an excellent job at this early stage of learning. It has gone from a complete bin job to a good looking and running, personalised watch. The advice from Al is sterling, and taking that on board, your next will be even better. It's a great hobby!

 

Thank you very much, And I was hoping Al would check it out and comment on anything I was doing wrong. And yes it is a great hobby, and rewarding.

 

I know that redials are not what everyone wants but now you have a working and wearable watch with the style you want so a thumbs up from me as well. I'm impressed that you managed to straighten that lug as it's far too easy to bend and break something that delicate.

Al, very generously, gives great advice and it's worth reading all of his posts. The parts on that movement are not too small so easy to strip and clean. Good luck with your next project and if you need any encouragement, there are quite a few on here who will give it.

Cheers, Chris

 

Thanks and I was scared that something terrible was going to happen every time that I touched the lug. I think that it is about .3mm off. I'm like a sponge so any advice on how to better my work for the future is appreciated. Thanks again, Tyler

 

It's your choice tuning. but...
It's not what i like.