Need restoration advice/guidance

Hi All,

My grandfather recently passed away and I inherited his engraved early 60s Seamaster Deville (with a cool 2-tone crosshair dial that I can't find anywhere on the internet). When I received it, the watch worked, but it would seize up periodically and stop running. When it froze, the crown wouldn't budge. I'd set it down on a table, and an hour later it'd be running again. My grandfather hadn't worn it in decades and I'm sure it hasn't been serviced in at least as long.

I sent it away to Omega to have the movement serviced and get the watch brought back to life. When Omega contacted me, they suggested overhauling the whole watch: dial, hands, crown, crystal, movement, polish the case and bracelet. I requested that they leave it alone as much as possible and just fix the movement because, to me, the cool thing about that watch is that it was my grandfather's and I want to preserve it, at least cosmetically, as much as possible, while still getting it working again. I like that it looks a little funky. Omega says that they can preserve it to an extent, but that they MUST replace the crown, hands, and crystal.

I deal in vintage Martin guitars, and if you needed to get your grandfather's old guitar restored, Martin would NOT be the place to take it because they would do what I'm now afraid Omega wants to do with this watch - replace everything with modern parts and, in doing so, spoil the old vibe that makes it so cool. There are guys who specialize in vintage guitar repair -- they're who you go see when your old guitar needs work.

Are there other people I should be sending the watch to who could keep or reuse the original parts or is Omega really the way to go? Why would they have to replace the hands? And could they replace the stem, but keep the crown? Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
B

There is nothing to add to your post, as you correctly stated, Omega is usually not the place to go if you want to keep your watch as original as possible.
If you tell us your location, other members might hopefully chime in regarding recommended watchmakers in your area.

Question is, will the hands be exactly the same as the hands on the watch now. Replacing crystal is no biggie and its good that they have agreed to leave the dial alone. As far as the crown is concerned it was normal to replace crowns at intervals and it's possible your grandfather would have had the crown replaced during a service at some stage.

Nevertheless if you do have Omega service it, and the advice above is pretty solid about going to an independent watchmaker, please do ask for the parts back, which can then remain at least as part of the package.

Cheers

Desmond

As you mentioned it, I can't resist - here is a picture of my 1889 Martin 0-28 -



It still gets played quite a lot . . .

Thanks for the feedback guys. It sounds like I should find someone independent. I'm in NYC. Any suggestions?

And John R Smith, that's a beautiful guitar! I mostly deal with steel-stringed Martins from the 30s-50s, but I love seeing the older gut string guitars. Congrats!

Bump.

Does anyone in NYC have recommendations for who should service my grandfather's old Seamaster, keeping it as original as possible?

Thanks,
B