Dear fellow Omega fans, I would have like to present the wrist watch I have inherited and ask four your opinion as well.
My late Dad left me his Omega Seamaster Memomatic, first generation 166.072 case, with famous calibre 980 movement. He bought it as a birthday present for himself in 1975. I believe, and wore it till the end in 2005.
Watch was serviced one or twice and had the original leather bracelet replaced.
It wasn't used for 12 years and when I decided to give it a go this year, after some rewinding, it actually started! It was working for a day and half and then stopped completely.
It definitely needs a service and a good clean, as 3-position control button is stuck. There is no use having it, if it doesn't work, right?
I would also consider replacing a plexiglass and a bracelet, to improve the appearance.
My question would be - what would you do in my case? Is it financially wise decision to invest in it at all.
Any point of view is welcome!
P.S. I'll upload photos, as soon as my Imageshake account get back in life

 

You can upload directly from a computer or cellphone. No need for third party services.

 

Thank you for the advice! I missed the "add photos" button ...

 

Thank you for your input! You have really answered most of my questions.

Now I have to decide whether to wait for my trip to Switzerland in November, to include a visit to Omega (as that seems to be the closest reliable place to service an old Omega watch with complicated mechanism), or to sell it as-is.
Prices for service on official site are about the same I paid 20 years ago to service my Breitling (with new bracelet included), but if it needs a refurbishment ( a $2000 job...), then it's a whole different story.
Anyway, it's a food for thought.
Any idea what would be a acceptable price for non-working watch? So far I have mostly found Memomatics, albeith rarely this particular model, in good condition on sale, with prices ranging from $ 1000 to $3000.
I do know that aforementioned non-working Breitling Navitimers (with rather less sophisticated mechanism) sell for $ 500-600.

 

Wait.. 2k to service a Breitling, and 806's for 600??? In my world those numbers are inverted.

Edit
Oh missed the new bracelet... still high though. Breitlings use pretty run of mill of the shelf movements.

 

No need to go Omega for service.
Omega did not even make these. The cal 980 is a variant of Lemania 2980.
Depending on where you are located I am sure the community can advise better service alternatives at non-extortionate prices.
Btw: A very cool watch!

 

I may have created slight confussion
Let me try to clarify - recommended service prices quoted on Omega site are CHF 550 for non-chronograph mechanical watch and CHF 750 for chronograph. That should be about 10% less in $.
For full restauration, they quote CHF 2000.

Not-so regular service (it kind of fell on the floor - my mistake...) of my Breitling Navitimer (you're right, it does have rather common ETA Valjoux 7750-based movement ) was about CHF 450-500 in 1995. and bracelet was CHF 132. (I remember that vividly - changed it twice in 20 years).
So, service prices for both non-chrono Omega and chrono Breitling are about the same.
And, judging by those prices on Ebay, non-working examples are expected to fetch about the same price +/- $50 .

I may have neglected the fact that cal. 980 was in fact Lemania 2980. I should look for watchmaker with experience with these and decent stake of replacement parts, in worst-case scenario.

Anyway, thank you all for the suggestions!
I was considering posting the watch on sale here, but having rather limited privileges as a new member, I'll probably go straight to Ebay....if I decide to sell it.

 

...if

 

I am a Libra, and we do take a lot of time to weigh all the options, so anything is possible....

 

We need to see the movement to get a good assessment of the watch. The ebay examples you show were not good for comparison. I was watching those watches and they needed complete rebuilds and the dial on the Argentina watch was poor. Your watch appears to have a good dial and the case is ok.

 

You are right. I should try to make higher-def photos tomorrow, just to clarify this esthetic question.
More importantly, perhaps I should, after all, look for some competent local watchmaker, to ask him to open the watch and check actual condition of the mechanics.

 

My advice would be to get it serviced locally by a competent watchmaker and put a good new blue watch strap on it ( maybe to match the blue of the dial)

I wish my dad had handed me down an old omega to own, but alas

 

Ps mine says "hello"

 

Get it fixed, it is a reel nice watch, here is mine:

 

Actually I have read that Omega has informed some while back that they would not service the 980 caliber any longer due to lack of parts.
No idea if this is true or not, but I would not be surprised.
As for parts, as long as it is not broken, it should be serviceable with relatively generic parts, and the rest you may find on ebay.

Are you in the US, Europe or....

 

Great watches, gentlemen! Well look-after, I have to add.
However, my daily routine really prohibits me from having any valuable watch on my hand, so I decided to sell Omega (as I did for my Breitling Navitimer). I would hate it to have it sitting in some drawer, but I would hate even more having to take it off ten times a day, just to preserve it.

In the side note, local watch seller (by the way, I live close to Belgrade, in Serbia) mentioned exactly the same problem with scarcity of spare parts for 980cal.
He said that if some part that effectively controled the alarm function needed replacing ( symptom usually is a blocked top button...), watch would be beyond repair, due to difficulty of obtaining aforementioned part.

Another source told me that really competent watchmakers were even harder to come by around here. Old guys are retired and "new kids" don't have enough experience..so, I could find somebody to diagnose the problem, but whether he could fix it, is altogether different matter...

It's a conundrum

p.s. I should have payed a visit to Omega during my vacation in Switzerland in 2010. Missed opportunity...

 

Sold to a local Omega fan