I have a Speedmaster which is about 45 years old. To me it has great sentimental value. Anyway, after several months and more than $1100, I just got it back from the Omega New Jersey repair facility. They replaced the case as well as the case back. The new back has the 'Flight-Qualified...' inscription on it unlike the original. Does this affect the value of the watch?

 

Did they return the original piece to you? If not, contact them asap. They may still have them. If you so desired, you could then return the watch to it's original condition.

 

As far as a collector, such as myself, all value has been lost.

Literally it has no appeal to me as all the original parts have gone. As such, it is arguable that it is not the watch that you have such emotional attachment to.

It is absolutely negligent that Omega staff allowed this. Only an emotionally vacant gibbon would have failed notice that this was a special watch to you, and allowed every important part to be replaced. In today's age, staff should recognise a potentially valuable vintage piece and know to at least check with the customer about such a dramatic alteration to the watch.

if you can get original parts back then it can be saved.

if not, then it's another terrible example of what Omega does to vintage.

Its a shame, because I have heard that Omega in Bienne is becoming more sympathetic.

i am very, very sorry for the loss of this watch. As I said, if you can get the parts, you may save the day.

 

What Steve, and Will both said, hits the nail on the head. Your best option at this point, is to contact Omega immediately requesting return of your original parts - which should not have been replaced without your consent, and which should have been returned to you, had you given your consent for replacement. This is a net loss: you paid about 3x more for service than you should have, and, devalued the watch easily by 2/3 of its worth.

 

This thread makes me so sad

 

Ok. Sounds as bad as I thought. I spoke with a manager at Omega twice today and they do not seem to have any idea that they lowered the value of this watch. They did change the face, hands, crown, crystal, case and back and a few parts inside. They sent me a few of the internal parts plus the crystal, but no case or back. If I can get all the old parts back who would you trust to put this watch back to original? Also, what would be an approximate value with all the new parts and value with the old?
P.S. I am not looking to sell this watch during my lifetime. I have worn it off and on since it was new 45 yrs ago. It is possible that my son will sell it after I'm gone, but I doubt it.

 

The dial and case back will be very very important as also the watch hands if it happens to be the earlier version are very hard to source and replace...

 

You no longer have a 45-year old watch.

 

Please call Omega tomorrow and insist on getting those parts back ASAP....Case, Dial, hands etc..do not give them any room for any excuses, whatever you do make sure you can confirm that without delay...after that then we have suggestions for you...but phase 1 first.

 

Advice given here is 100 times more qualified than the Omega rep.

It's essential that you get your case, caseback and hands back from them, they alone are probably equal in value to what you paid for the service.

You musn't take no for an answer.

I'm a suspicious old bastard and my slant is that, some watch tech may have the parts sitting in a drawer just waiting for the dust to settle.

Maybe, maybe not, but get them back, they're yours.

 

How the hell can they get away operating like this? You bet some technician has a stash of vintage parts they are off loading on ebay. Short of the watch having been run over by a steam roller what possible justification is there in replacing the whole case??

 

thats definitively not the way Omega should go.

 

What a pity.....

 

This really must be done.

 

values. Well that's my thing, but I am flying in the dark a bit....

45year old watch=1969.

OP led me to believe original caseback was smooth, so let's assume we are starting with a tired, possibly very tired 145.022-69. Calibre 861.

Head only, and assuming all original and complete at that time, then base value is about USD$1800 before adding in the "barn find " premium which could take it to as much as $2500. If the dial was truly awful, unusable, then I would reduce by 300/500. If the dial has aged gracefully and shows attractive patina then the watch was worth much, much more. There is a brown dial in the market now for $3000 - just the dial.

The thing is that the market values original untouched one owner watches far higher than their components.

The opposite is true for assembled watches, the market values them less than the sum of their parts.

So an 861 cal speedmaster made from NOS parts sells for around $1500/1800 the last time I saw Watchco do it in auction (BIN prices much higher at around 3000 from memory). They tend to get premiums, and so I guess that this watch might be bid to $1400.

to sum up:

assuming a 145.022-69 with usable but not special dial, barn find condition, head only, returned from Omega with new hands, dial, bezel and case back.

Original watch $2500
serviced watch. $1500
service costs. $1100

forget the money.

Omega destroyed the watch.

 

There are a few reasons to replace a case, and all of them are "valid" to Omega's service centers. As Ash has stated, Omega does what virtually every other maker does when it comes to service - they try to make the watch look new again. This should not be a surprise to anyone here really. Their goals are not the same as the goals of a very small minority of their customers - the collector group. The general public does not value what this very small group values, and Omega caters to the general public in most cases.

Just off the top of my head, the most common reason to change a case is that the old one is severely pitted where the seals go, and it can't be made water resistant. Omega will replace a case in the instance, although they should let the customer know in advance, and I would expect the old case to be returned.

However knowing what a case costs (in the $950 area), and seeing the cost of this service, I am guessing this specific replacement may be for another reason....

There are some specific cases with specific marks inside the case back that are different than all the others with respect to the bezel mounting area. On these watches, Omega's current replacement bezels will not fit, so if you have one of these cases and need a new bezel (presumably this one as dinged up and "needed" replacing per Omega standards) they will provide a new case at a much reduced price. This is the only scenario that makes sense to me with the service price listed. This is also a case exchange, so I'm guessing this is why the case was not returned.

Now I know all you rabid guys will say none of this matters, and I'm not defending Omega - it's just the reality.

By all means the OP should ask for the parts back, but he may not get them. And if you think he did not authorize all this - read the fine print on their service contracts!

Cheers, Al

 

It is a caliber 861 given to me in about 1970. I can give some more details. Prior to sending it in the watch was running but needed to be wound more than once a day. The reset button needed to be pushed several times to get all hands to reset. The back was severely scratched from a repair shop about 30 yrs ago. The old back had the horse? emblem on it. Omega said the old case and back were corroded and they could not be made waterproof. (I don't think this watch was ever waterproof.)

Thank you very much for the rough estimate of value. My goal is to keep this watch running so that my kids can enjoy it - if they want to. I'm wearing it now and it looks, to me, just like it always has - unless I look at the back. I'll see if Omega will send the old back to me. They're 'in a meeting' now. Even if I could get all the original parts back I would have to deal with another shop. Whether we're talking Ford or Omega, that's usually been a bad experience.

Quibbling with Omega over a couple thousand dollars is not worth it to me. However, I do need to let others know that they probably should not let Omega have a crack at their old or vintage watches. Sounds like collectors already know this. However, there are lots of us out there who enjoy these watches for the memories, not the money.

If there is another forum for me to post my warning, please let me know.