Hi all, I was really looking for some advice here, I was given by my brother an old pie pan from our Grandfather. It had a perfect dial and hands albiet dirty, original strap (needed replacing), but was missing the original crown. I took it to a local dealer were I was living at the time and they took ages servicing it. It needed a new weight (not sure what this is called, the part that moves around inside to wind the watch automatically). Photos bellow... The dial came back with circular scratches around the centre and I am pretty sure they are new because theres no dirt in them or aging like the rest of the dial, also the only photo I do have pre service the dial has no scratches in it. Also the hands look like they were bent and then straightened leaving a warping effect. Im guessing someone will know if this is a common error to make when servicing an old watch? They claimed to do the work they did not touch the front side of the watch, which sounds like BS. Any feedback appreciated as I want to take this up with them again. Thank you
If they serviced the watch, then they had to remove the dial and strip the whole movement down to clean and lubricate it so, they definitely had to remove the hands. This looks like they slipped when removing the hands and damaged the dial, plus from what you're saying, the hands as well, although I can't see that in the photo. It is usually caused by poor procedures which brings into question all the work they did. As a watchmaker, I can say that there are some people who don't work as carefully as I (and many others) try to - you need to do that as everyone will make the occasional mistake. It's very unusual to need a complete rotor and this looks like a 550 series so it probably needed the bush replacing which is a quick job. Can we see the receipt (redact your address and so on) to see what they said they did? Was it really an Omega dealer or just a jewellery shop? Cheers, Chris
For sure they doesn't use protection for dial,when they extract the hours hand and damaged him....with this tool!
Bad news - a botched job by a clearly unqualified and/or careless shop. For starters, a watch simply cannot be properly serviced without removing the dial & hands, so your BS meter is reading this situation accurately. Damage is done. You should certainly pursue a claim with the shop - good luck with that. I’d want a full refund & wouldn’t trust ANY of the work they’ve done inside the movement.
Has the background colour of the dial changed also? It's much brighter and lighter in the post-service photo, so if it is then I wonder if they "cleaned" the dial and damaged the finish as a result. As Chris noted, to service the watch properly, the hands and dial would have to be removed, so even if they are telling you the truth (they aren't) they are a shop to be avoided at all costs if they told you that the serviced it without removing the hands and dial.
I had something extremely similar happen to me. The jeweler fought me at 1st, but I was eventually able to get the to buy me a replacement watch so I could canabalize the dial. Was a long and painful process. PM me if you'd like some help. Sorry to hear this and best of luck. Sadly, it takes many of us to encounter a lousy situation like this before we understand that many "experts" out there have no clue what they're doing.
They have savaged your dial. As everyone else suggested, the dealer has done a terrible job. Personally, I would seek a replacement watch from them im equivalent condition as well as a full refund of service. Might not be easy, but their incompetency should not be your problem.
Was the crystal replaced? It could be lighting, but everything about the dial and markers are much “cleaner/brighter” - maybe it’s hard to compare because there were a ton of scratches on the crystal? It kind of looks like they tried to clean the whole dial after scratching it up.
Hi everyone thanks for all the feedback, Ill have to hunt around for the receipt as it was a almost a year ago, I had put the irritation to sleep after they said they did not remove the front thinking that perhaps I had not noticed the scratches before.... then I saw the old photo my brother had sent me before he gave me the watch and I thought I better take it up with them again this time with the pre work photo... On why it looks brighter - the first photo is with a different phone so image quality calls for the differences there I believe. Such a shame as I was 3rd generation in my family to own this watch and I as I see around rare to have one that is completely original
Repair was done about one year ago? Expect the shop to tell you they are not responsible because you have likely taken it somewhere else, and that was when the damage occurred! I suspect you will have a battle on your hands. Do NOT leave your watch with them again, as it may come back even worse! Let us know how you do in getting this mess sorted out.
I did actually take it up with them right after they did it but they said they did not touch the dial side... I had a new baby at the time and honestly had very little sleep so it was forgotten about. I think the fact that I just found the before photo with the file date it should be fairly easy to prove the damage plus the manager will clearly remember my prior questioning of the job. Anyways let’s see... It was a big help to get all feedback here, it’s such a specialist art hard to know without the expert advice - thanks very much everyone