Hi Guys, Brand new to the Forum. My Dad bought this Watch in New York in the 70's, and wore it for many years, he gave it to me when I was 19 and its been on many dive trips with me, and seen many hours on the sunny beaches of S Florida growing up. As you can see the Sun has taken its toll on the dial , and the color is pretty faded. I retired it to my safe when I stopped scuba diving , and I was thinking about getting it freshened up a bit. While searching for reputable Watch refinishing centers I stumbled across this Omega Forum, so I figured what better place to get the best information for my precious Omega. I would like to get the original Blue Color back on the Face, the Hands re lumed, the orange color back on the stop watch minute hand ,and Bezel freshened up. If anyone knows of a reputable person or service center the information would be greatly appreciated. Or maybe I should just appreciate how she has aged with me over the years, and accept her as is. She has not skipped a beat since I was 19, never failed me. Last photo is one I got from the internet how my baby use to look when I first received her.
Thanks for the help.

 

This is a tough one, for me I would get it serviced and leave the dial and hands as is, but it does look pretty tired. If you are not happy with the way it looks then get a new dial and second marker if you are going to keep it for yourself and wear it. Make sure you keep the original dial. On the one hand, It has a long history with you and your familly and each dink and scratch is a part of that history, but a replacement dial and a bit of a freshen up might mean that you will wear it agian or maybe pass it on to your own children so they can enjoy it.

 

Yeah this Watch shares many memories with me , its seen the depths of the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. Hopefully someone here can let me know which parts are still available for this Watch. I really don't want to do too much to it, the Dial and the elapsed time Marker with the orange tip would be nice to freshen up. This watch mainly spends a lot of time in my Safe I wear it once in a while. It will be passed on to my oldest son.

 

Omega still makes service hands and dials for the watch, but they are luminova rather than tritium. I think I remember reading that they stopped making bezels some time ago. From a collector's standpoint, your watch as it is right now is much more valuable than it would be with service replacements. So as lillatroll mentioned if you do get the dial and hands replaced, hang on to the originals parts.

 

Wow, no wonder the number markers still glow in my safe, the Hands do not glow at all. Knowing that I would just switch out the Hands for new ones, and leave the original dial alone. Thanks for that info.
I knew you guys here could help me out with a lot of good info which will help me decide on if I should refinish or not.

 

Wonder why the Hands don't glow anymore , and the number markers glow.

 

You might get different opinions regarding what should be done.
As I understand it, you want to bring it back as close as possible to original condition and care less whether it remains all original since you are not a collector and plan to hang on to the watch? If this is the case I would recommend sending it to an authorized Omega service center (not Omega directly) such as Nesbit's in Seattle (http://www.nesbitswatchservice.com/index.html). As an authorized service center they will have access to the parts that are still available and they have a good reputation. The one thing I found out with them is you can't really pick and choose what you want to have done. They either do the whole service or not. Of course, you should ask for all the original parts, in case you ever want to go back. Be prepared for sticker shock when you get the quote.....

 

Thanks for the Nesbit's link.
Any Forum member ever did a refinish on one of these ? I would love to see pics.

 

I found the Dial on the bay along with the Arms brand new.

 

These parts may cost less than eBay if obtained directly from Omega by a certified watchmaker. The hands on your watch don't glow anymore because the phosphor has degraded, while that on the dial has not. They certainly look different in the pictures.

Your watch as is has its own attractiveness along with the history and memory that is specifically intimate to you - this is the thing that most collectors don't have. I wouldn't change a thing, except get the movement serviced by a an Omega certified watchmaker with a good reputation. And buy another watch with shiny new parts if you like to wear one - this way you can enjoy both.

 

Does it glow without bright light source shone on it? Or after it was exposed to some light? Would be interesting if it still glows on its own.

 

The original dial doesn't have the T's so I don't think it has tritium lume, for these reasons: 1-It was either a standard or a requirement to disclose radioactive materials in use. 2-There are more than one way to produce those luminous compounds, even during the tritium period. 3-After some 40 years, the tritium strength left is about 1/16 of its original power, not enough to ignite the luminous indices. But they still glow!

 

That's a gorgeous watch and I agree with most of the comments, service and clean it, don't swap dial, bezel or hands. The watch will have much more character with all the original kit than with replacement parts, even original ones. IMHO, and that's me, I'd have much better memories around it with all the original parts, not a mix of original and replacement.

If you were finally inclined to swap parts, DO KEEP the originals, as they're much more valuable than whatever NOS replacements you might use.

Sent from my MI PAD using Tapatalk

 

I've always wondered why there were no Ts, and this explanation makes perfect sense. AJTT describes the dial as having "Over-dimensioned tritium hour markers" but this may be another example of an inaccuracy or poor translation in the text.

 

You are right. I am not a collector I just love this Watch because it has a lot of sentimental value to it. I will just have the movement serviced and leave it as is. I do have other Watches I wear, and always buying new pieces.

 

No it does not glow on its own, it must capture the light from inside my safe when the door is opened. I just double checked it by putting it under direct light and it glows like crazy, so its not Tritium. I know on my Guns once the Tritium goes that's it, the sights have to be replaced.

 

A lot of people that see this watch love the way it looks, even after I show them a pic of how it looked when it was new. They like the worn look. What I might do is try to get the new parts and save them for later just for repair purposes if need be. Those prices on e bay are outrageous the Dial and replacement hands would be over $500, way too much.

 

I damaged two Rados before my Dad gave this one to me. I love this thing.

 

Full light charge.

 

Personally I love the look of the current dial. I would wear that proudly