Greetings Omega Fans!

I think I would like to get this watch repaired.

My mom bought this watch for my dad for Christmas back in the mid 70s. I remember the gift well. Very shortly after my dad started wearing the watch, the crystal cracked at around the 6:00 position. It wasn't a spider crack like in a car windshield. It was a half-circle crack. If you looked close it appeared similar to a flaw you might see in a cheap diamond.
They took it to be repaired.

Very shortly after it was returned, the same crack appeared at the same place. I remember my parents calling the crystal "sapphire" and they were distressed because it was expensive to repair and nobody seemed to know why it kept cracking at the same place.
It was around that time I left home for school. I recall it being repaired at least one more time after that. I know my mom was sick about it, because she never spent money unnecessarily and I know she felt bad for my dad. I don't recall seeing my dad wear the watch past this time period.

Fast forward many years...

My parents have passed and I have had the watch for a few years now. I want to repair it, maybe wear it a while, then give it to my nephew who idolizes his grandfather and has the kind of job now where you might want to wear something like this from time to time.
Currently the watch has what feels like a plastic cover over the dial; perhaps put on the last time it was taken in? The strap doesn't feel high quality either but I don't know much about watch straps. It doesn't work in this condition.

Questions:

1. Is there a known flaw with the design of this particular watch/year that causes the crystal to keep cracking in the same place?
2. Is it worth repairing, beyond the sentimental value?
3. If I decide to get it repaired, where would I take it? I am in the USA - Minnesota - though I travel to both Las Vegas and Seattle frequently. Do I need to take it in to one of the official stores (as shown on the Omega website) or is there a reputable way to do this by mail?

I would appreciate any help you can give.

Regards.

 

Hi. There isn't a reason why the crystal would crack in the same place, other than co-incidence and perhaps being knocked quite hard in the same place, twice. I don't know if this watch would have been made with an acrylic crystal or a glass one but the way the case interacts with the crystal would be completely different. Others may chip in with when sapphire was first used but I suspect that the original would have been mineral glass (if it was glass rather than a plastic one) especially if it chipped. A mineral glass would either have been glued in place or fitted with a hard plastic gasket.

From a collector's point of view, a quartz watch is not particularly collectible but as your dad's watch, it is priceless - and your cat seems to like it.

As for a service, I'll let others say - I'm the other side of the pond.

 

Thank you, Stewart. I was wondering about the Quartz bit myself.

I will see what others might offer re: service. I might just do it anyway and give the watch to my nephew.

 

You have to do it. Grandad's watch is something extra special and something he will look after all of his life.