Curious to hear people's opinions here. I've read lots of posts recently, where watches are seen as undesirable, because the case has been polished/refinished/cleaned up... Is the general view that all case refinishing is a bad thing? In my personal case, my Speedmaster MKiii is at STS for a service right now, and will be having work, to return the starburst finish, and fill in a couple dinks... For me this is a positive. Views from the floor?
The point is, whereas the the reapplication of a starburst finish might be seen as a return to the former self, many case polishing is not a return but a further removal from the former self, albeit more shiny and without scratches.
It's a risk. An incompetent polisher can do real damage, both aesthetically and even to the extent of affecting a case's structural integrity. However, if you find a competent polisher, in my opinion, the process can breath new life into tired/unattractive cases. It's a fine line. In your case, you have a clear idea of what you want done, and I hope it turns out just the way you want it. If so, I imagine that for you own purposes, you will have increased the appeal of the watch. In the end, and leaving aside questions of how this might affect the resale value, that's what matters.
The only time I think a refinish is ok, is when you have a poor case to start with (badly worn/refinished in the past) and you manage to find a good workshop, familiar with the original finish. I've had a 68 Speedmaster refinished at STS because they know what they're doing and the case was a dog when I got it. As already mentioned, the problem is when people incorrectly refinish a case, or even when a case has had multiple 'good' refinishes, which removes metal each time and takes away the thickness of the lugs/facets etc.
That's collectively where my thinking is... It seems there's been a lot of "bling the pants off it, make it shine like tin foil" out there... Vs. Sympathetic refinishing by competent people. And that's not good. :/
My default setting is still to not refinish and I avoid watches that either need it, or look like they've had it. It would need to be a rare reference or a potential beater, as even a good refinish is not spot on and you can almost always tell. Furthermore, I certainly wouldn't make refinishing a habit, at each service etc. on my 68 transitional, it's been done once and it won't be done again.
Re STS - here is an example of their work https://omegaforums.net/threads/my-fathers-watches-final-part.30488/
Feeling your pain there... But Simon at STS inspires a level of quiet confidence (plus from what I've seen of their work it's fantastic). This went in 4 weeks ago... It's well worn and needed some TLC. Cheap as the MKiii goes... And I could have found a better condition one... But I'd have been at over twice the purchase price, and probably scared to wear it. Interested to see how it ends up, and reassured that they won't go too far.
I'm dropping this off this afternoon... Tempted with a re application of the starburst, as it's pretty scruffy.