Hi all,

We were cleaning out my dad's closet and I came across my grandfather's vintage Seamaster 300 from the 60s. I know it was serviced by a watchmaker in 2001 or around then. The watch still seems to be running fine.

I had a question regarding the crystal though: is it acrylic or sapphire? I think it's acrylic, but I wanted to confirm since there are some pretty nasty scratches and/or cracks in it. I wasn't sure if this was something that could just be buffed out with polywatch or I needed to get it replaced? I ran my fingers along the crystal and I can't feel any of the scratches so I am leaning towards cracks. I have attached pictures if that helps.


Thank you for your input!

 

First of all, beautiful piece. What nice even and colorful lume on the hands and dial.

The crystal is acrylic. I would probably say it's worth replacing, but on the off chance that is the original crystal I would not get rid of it should you ever plan to sell the watch.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

Thank you for your response. I don't know if it's the original crystal; checking with my aunt. While I definitely will not be selling it since it is now 3 generations passed, I would love to keep the original parts in tact. From the pictures do you think it cracked or scratched?

 

Son of a ..............
My dad only had Timex
AWESOME PIECE!
I'll let the forum experts help you where to find a good place to have it serviced. Where are you located?
Looks like the acrylic crystal is oxidizing so no way to polish it out. Easy swap out for the watchmaker. DON'T let him polish the case or jack with the hands/dial. Leave everything. Simply beautiful.

 

What a great watch, love it

 

.............my boys are going to have a blast going through my stuff when I'm gone

 

Thanks, I am based in NYC.

Thank you.

 

Beautiful piece. My Dad only ever wore Seiko's. Too bad for me ey.

 

Congrats , very nice patina.

 

Thanks. Not sure what possessed my granddad to buy this, but glad he did.

Thanks. I only recently started appreciating the history behind the coloring once I started collecting my own watches.

Just wanted to follow up if anyone could input whether these were cracks or scratches that could be buffed out? Also, if anyone knows reliable Omega watchmakers in the NYC area who could either just service the internals or restore the crystal that would be much appreciated.

 

We have a few members from the NYC area. Hopefully they'll chime in shortly with a watchmaker recommendation

 

There was a thread about watchmakers in NYC, but I'm not sure wether it helps... you may get some hints via pm though...

Here's the old thread: https://omegaforums.net/threads/looking-for-a-watchmaker-in-nyc.34706/

 

Thanks for the tip. I recall Archer posts quite a bit on this forum about his watch knowledge and repairs. He is in Canada though, right?

 

I have a great watchmaker in NC that is Omega trained, has an account and knows not to replace ANY patinated parts or polish the watch.

He is great and very fair. Let me know if you want his contact info.

Congrats on a killer piece!

 

Your acrylic/plexi/Hesalite crystal is simply showing it's age with fissures in the body which have weakened the structure of the crystal. This can be the result of UV breakdown (sunlight), chemical effects etc. Best not to try polishing as it could collapse onto the hands/dial if you rub too hard.

Get it replaced when you get a service, keep the old one for provenance if you want, although replacement crystals are like wiper blades on a car. It doesn't really matter if they didn't come at delivery, just as long as they're correct for the model.

Beatiful watch!

 

same advice. replace the crystal but always keep old parts aside! That's really a gorgeous watch. The bracelet alone is worth 800 bucks.

 

Congrats ! Awesome piece

 

Thanks. Definitely if you could send me a PM with his contact info, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the feedback. It was definitely weird because the "scratches" didn't appear to be on the surface. Fissures is exactly how I would describe it. Can watchmakers source the crystal without taking parts from another watch in the same era? That was my major concern about trying to "replace" the crystal.

Thanks. Again, sort of had the same question above. Since I don't think (?) Omega still makes the crystals for this model, how does the watchmaker actually source a replacement crystal? Is it a custom-made aftermarket job or do they need to source parts from other SM300s?

Thank you!

 

Crystals are still available from Omega.

Cheers, Al

 

just wanted to say, what a gorgeous vintage sm300 with baton hands...hands aged same with the hour markers, remarkable. (in mine, the hour and minute hands are little more worn out than the hour markers..still love it to death, of course)
I know you'll never sell this beauty, but DIBS anyway!