I have a Omega Speedmaster Professional which I inherited from my father who I believe bought it in the late 1960's. He wore it every day of his life and I have started wearing it now. I notice now though it is in need of some repair as I have trouble winding it. I took it to a local jewellery shop that sells and repairs Omegas. The guy had a look at it and said it would have to be sent to Switzerland to be repaired as this model is not repaired in Canada. Said it would cost at least about C$1500 not including any parts that may need replacing and take a few months. The history that I can recall is that my father bought it new in the US and had it repaired at least once by Omega in Switzerland when he was there. It's been a quite reliable watch, but like anything with moving pieces I assume it needs some lubrication and replacement of worn parts. The strap is not the original and the original box and purchase receipt are long gone. The bezel has taken a few knocks over the years but that to me is part of its history. I guess they could replace it with a new one if it improved the resale value, but at this point I have no plans to sell. So I am looking for advice if it is worth fixing and do I need to insure this watch and if so for how much. Would you replace the bezel too? I will post some pictures. I haven't had the back opened up. Would that help in making a decision, if so, is that some thing I would take to a watch shop to open the back and take a few pictures? I live in the Toronto area, any place people would recommend to get a repair or appraisal. Thanks for any advice.
Killer watch!!! The price seems high even for a 321 movement repair, perhaps someone here can recommend a Canadian watchmaker. Although I am pretty sure it is an 861 movement which is easier to repair. DO NOT SEND THIS TO OMEGA, they will replace the hands and dial, which will kill its value. The chrono second hand looks like it might have been replaced but perhaps not... Hard to tell from these pictures, and if it was replaced it might be an earlier model, as I will mention below. You could put a new bezel on it, but that again would ruin the value, this has a version of the Bezel that is in high demand the so called Dot over 90 bezel. A new bezel will fit the watch but would not be correct. I say leave it as it is. This appears to be a 145.022 transitional http://speedmaster101.com/145-022-transitional/ or perhaps an earlier model.. I am not an expert on the pre 1970 models.
Outstanding specimen. WOW!!! Here's an example of what could happen if you're not careful when sending your watch to Omega for service. I sent back my 73 MKIII to Omega for it's first ever service in 40+ years. While the work they did was impeccable, hindsight being 20/20, I would have only had them replace the crystal and service the movement. Instead I got new hands which are not the same shape as the originals. The originals were quite unique and don't appear on any other models to my knowledge. Also, the original chrono and minute accumulator hands have patina and Tritium while the new hour/minute hands are straight baton type with Superluminova. The combo looks odd. A new bezel and a new back were also installed. Now I still have all the original parts and theoretically could have them put back in. However, trying to find a watchmaker that will do that has been impossible to date. Maybe because the MKIII is an odd duck. I don't know. I know it sounds silly, but to me it seems like Omega sent enforcers and put a MIB/Mafia like scare in to the jewelers in the Philly area because they won't open up my Omega to do ANYTHING. Default response, "needs to go back to Omega". I think somebody here mentioned one guy on Sansom St that may do it. But I digress...... The finished watch is in my avatar on the left. It really doesn't look bad but I made a rookie mistake by not noting these things with Omega when I sent it in for service so they remained intact. My MKIII is nowhere near the value of your piece so I invite you to learn from my mistake and take the advice of the learned people on the forum. I wish you good luck in your quest and again, great watch you got there !!
I have had a recent Omega service by a very nice watchmaker in downtown Toronto. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone. He recently replaced two batteries in a pair of vintage Piaget watches that every other place in Toronto was afraid to open !!!
I had jb Hudson in Minneapolis do my 145.022-68 transitional for 600ish... Turn around time was 3 weeks....
It's okay, I'm used to it - no harm done by anyone who calls me that. I think it started when people initially typed Al/Archer, and then someone left out the slash, and now people think it's my last name. Again no biggie.
Long indices dial, wide T's so 145.012 or 145.022-68. Calibre 861's can be repaired locally but 321's have to be sent to Switzerland under Omega service protocols. So I was making a guided guess.
So what is your preferred name? If someone wanted to enlist your services what would we google? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Haha. I got quite the enjoyment out of that. Sounds good! Thank you!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk