Hi,
I have tried to find a thread about this but failed so am asking for any advice (or direction to relevant thread). I recently sent my Omega Speedmaster 176.0014 TV dial to a reputable and long established Omega accredited watch repairer in the UK- the 4 o'clock pusher had fallen off and i lost it, so i wanted it replaced.

They are sending the watch back to me unrepaired as they said that recently Omega has changed the rules and any accredited agent has to be able to guarantee repairs for 2 years instead of 1 year ( think they said this started in September). Due to the age of the watch they couldn't do that and recommended i send the watch to Omega for repair.

I am fairly new to this forum, but i have read enough to know that any mention of sending something vintage to Omega is not advisable unless you want a 'different' watch back.

So, my questions- does this response from the repairer chime with recent experience?
And, what would you experts do in my shoes? I think with some help here, i could probably identify the missing pusher part number and try and find on the world wide interweb? Or would you recommend another repairer who might be able to help me and source it and then repair it outside of the Omega system (i am London based)?
Or can i send it to Omega and get them to only do the repair that i want and not shine my watch up- it is a bit beat up but i love it like that.

thanks in advance.

A

 

Unclear what you asked them to do - was it just to repair the pusher, or to fully service the watch?

Many watchmakers will not do partial repairs, because if anything goes wrong after such a repair, they will get the blame even if they didn't cause the problem. But that has nothing to do with rules from Omega.

Also not sure what you mean by an Omega accredited watch repairer? Is this an official Omega service center, or an independent watchmaker with a parts account?

Any Omega official service center will offer a 2 year warranty, but that's nothing new and it has been that way for years, so this idea that some new rule was implemented makes no sense to me. If it's an independent watchmaker, it means what it says - they are fully independent to set their own pricing, rules, and warranty period, so again this doesn't add up.

BTW the pusher you need is part #086ST0039.

Cheers, Al

 

Thank you very much @Archer
I asked them to repair the pusher
They are an omega approved service centre (but independent of Omega and repair other watches and did good work on another watch i sent there). I am not mentioning their name so that i don't inadvertently say something that sounds bad about them- on the contrary, they have been lovely on another watch.
I have just double checked with them and even if i asked for a service, they cannot do that and the repair because of the age of the watch (1975). TBH if the service was what was needed to get the repair done, i would probably do it. I just want my watch working!
Do you think i should try another independent repairer? Any recommendations would be gratefully received.
Thanks so much for the part number- very kind of you.

Alge

 

Still unclear what this means. If they are an official Omega service center, then this is just like sending the watch to Omega, so their advice to send it to Omega doesn't make any sense. My guess is that this business is like me - an independent watchmaker that has a parts account with Omega, and offers their own warranty. if they were a true Omega service center they would offer an Omega warranty that is transferrable to any other Omega service center.

There are certain movements that due to age and availability of spare parts, must be sent back to Bienne for service, but the 1045 in your watch is not such a caliber, so there's no rule that says this watch is so old that they can't service it. IMO they are choosing not to take your business (which is up to them so not a problem for me) but are giving you lame excuses that don't match any official Omega policies that I can see.

So if you want the watch serviced or the pusher repaired, you will have to find someone who has access to the parts and is willing to do the work. As you already know, sending a vintage watch back to Omega is not a good idea, so finding another independent with a parts account is likely your only choice.

If you search for UK watch repairers here, I'm sure you will find recommendations.

Cheers, Al

 

Try contacting

Simon Freese, Swiss time services or ChrisN

 

Thanks again @Archer and also @Mr Blond. I will try the recommendations. I was starting to panic that it would never get repaired! In the scheme of things, it felt like a pusher couldn't be the worst damage in the world. Owning a watch is never straight forward.

 

Just received my watch back from Swiss Time who were really good. Needed a fair amount of TLC which they did and returned the watch quicker than expected. Great communications all the way through. Appreciate the recommendation

 

Let's see a pic then.

 

Good point!

 

So they serviced and offered to replace the hands which are a bit grubby but I like the ageing so my choice to keep. The bracelet was a bit tight and they managed to source two extra links which I am really pleased about. They also basically rebuilt whole bracelet. It was never a perfect piece but I love its age and imperfections.

 

Looks great. STS do work wonders.