Respectable Members
Has anyone sent in, his or her vintage Omega watch for repair or service at an Omega Boutique, whether in Sydney or elsewhere.
Please share the experience, encountered - good, bad or ugly.
Thank-you.
Vintage Omegas go back to Bienne. They'll replace parts with whatever they have around that fits. I've seen mid-60's Constellations come back with hands that are too long, service replacement dials with the wrong fonts (more modern) on the date-at-6 bumpers from the 50's, and redials on Cosmic moonphases that looked less than stellar. Better to find a private watchmaker who specializes in vintage Omega.
Additionally it is not advisable to any vintage watch you were concerned about repairing or finding replacement parts. Certainly c.861 based watches are safe as they remain in production and spares are plentiful, but it would be unwise to wear a c.321 or a Valjoux c.72 because of the increased difficulty of obtaining proper repair parts since they have not been in production since the late 1960's. The same would apply to a Tuning Fork watch even though they are tough watches, because they are uncommon, have not been in production for many years and finding parts is increasingly difficult.
I've visited the Brisbane one a few times but never put a watch in, which piece are you looking at servicing?
Vintage Omegas go back to Bienne. They'll replace parts with whatever they have around that fits. I've seen mid-60's Constellations come back with hands that are too long, service replacement dials with the wrong fonts (more modern) on the date-at-6 bumpers from the 50's, and redials on Cosmic moonphases that looked less than stellar. Better to find a private watchmaker who specializes in vintage Omega.
I have visited the local boutique here in Sydney and they have on display only the new watches and spanking new re-editions - this lot does not arouse me, at all. Casually I suggested, they should include a small display of vintage Omega watches in their boutique. Apparently, there was no response to my little suggestion and I think, they are becoming just like Rolex, interested to sell only their new watches.
After a visit to Bienne, then call it factory-original frankenwatch, if I may.
... I think, they are becoming just like Rolex, interested to sell only their new watches.
I can smell the difference between the Omega then, when it was on its own and Omega today, under the Swatch banner. Something is amiss.
On a global scale, trading in vintage Omega pieces would be very small, niche market.
I might debate that. There's probably 2 or 3 million full rotor vintage Omegas from the late 50's into the early 70's. There's very little difference in any of the 500 series, especially the 55x/56x/75x. All use many interchangeable parts like the rotor, some bridges, etc. Might be worth it to try to offer total service and full restoration to original specs. JLC has all the original dies and can redo a dial to near mint as if it was put in a time machine.
I might debate that. There's probably 2 or 3 million full rotor vintage Omegas from the late 50's into the early 70's. There's very little difference in any of the 500 series, especially the 55x/56x/75x. All use many interchangeable parts like the rotor, some bridges, etc. Might be worth it to try to offer total service and full restoration to original specs. JLC has all the original dies and can redo a dial to near mint as if it was put in a time machine.
I think you are being a bit harsh here. I had a very good experience with sourcing a crystal for a vintage Omega. The Boutique called me to meet one of their watchmakers from New York when he was in town. They ordered the necessary part from Bienne and then I had the watch shipped to NY and returned through the local Boutique. No muss and no fuss. Even came back in one of those nice red zip up cases.
The problem that Omega has is that there is no good business case in manufacturing parts for watch movements that have been out of production for decades. It will cost hundreds of dollars per part when you take into account the tooling necessary against the small batches required. When it comes to dials, many of the companies that originally made those dials for Omega are long out of business. There was a point, some years ago, where Omega had some new dials made up to use in vintage watch restorations. However, these service dials generally had different fonts and markers than the originals.
Since the original parts production has long been used up and some collectors are not happy with "factory-original frankenwatches", what is Omega to do?
I can understand why Omega has no interest in selling vintage watches outside of the privately owned store in London. It makes no sense to undercut the sale of new product by selling vintage watches at fair market prices that are well under what is charged for a new Omega. IMO, the prices in London on those "official Omega" vintage pieces are artificially high for a reason.
My guess is that the vintage restoration section at Swatch Group is not a huge profit center for the company,
gatorcpa
JLC has all the original dies and can redo a dial to near mint as if it was put in a time machine.
On the topic of numbers...
According to Desmond's 4 .pdfs on movements, there were:
Is that including movements that never made it into a case, or are there really 8 million + of these things floating around?
- 1.3 Million (1,300,000) Omega watches featuring the Cal 300 series bumper movements
- 1.0 Million (1,000,000) Omega watches featuring the Cal 50x series automatic movements
- 5.8 Million (5,800,000) Omega watches featuring the Cal 55x 56x and 75x series automatic movements
IIRC, despite the fact that you paid double the cost of an Omega restoration, JLC made an error when refinishing your dial. I guess my point is that for what these factories are charging, it better be perfect. In your case, it certainly wasn't.
