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Sea master 300 pro Restore questions!

  1. Cam100 Mar 14, 2019

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    I have a Quartz SMP 300 36mm Ive had for awhile now and It is clearly in need of some love, So I am looking at a re-lume and new dial insert to breath new life into this lil guy
    1) Am I going to hurt the re-sale value if I have a new bezel insert in or relume done?
    2) Where should I take it to have to work done? mail or hand deliver
    3) How much ball park should I expect to pay?

    *any and all help is greatly appreciated!
     
    SMP300.jpg
  2. Mouse_at_Large still immune to Speedmaster attraction Mar 14, 2019

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    It has obviously a place in your affections and has clearly had a "beater" lifestyle. That having been said, 36mm quartz Seamasters of various iterations can be picked up for around the $1000 mark or less with a bit of searching. I don't know where you live, but I'm willing to bet that a full/semi resto treatment plus service will be a significant percentage of the cost of a decent second-hand one. You should phone/ask around for indicative prices, possible via email enclosing photos and explaining what you are considering having done.

    Personally speaking, I think any resto work is going to increase the value, but not to the extent that you will be guaranteed to recoup the cost if you sell. It's not really old enough to be classed a vintage with all the emphasis on originality that brings.
     
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  3. rcs914 Mar 14, 2019

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    The lume on your watch looks great - I wouldn't touch that, but the hands definitely seem to have seen better days. I would consider having those re-lumed to match the beautiful creamy lume on the dial. But as indicated, the overall value isn't high, and doing the work you want to do will be a significant portion of the overall value.
     
  4. Mouse_at_Large still immune to Speedmaster attraction Mar 14, 2019

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    Horses for courses - personally speaking the "fried egg" lume degradation does nothing for me ::bleh::
     
  5. padders Oooo subtitles! Mar 14, 2019

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    Fitting a new dial, bezel and hands is an option, just not a cheap one at circa £400/$550 for the parts alone at a guess. The replacement dial would have Superluminova lume so wont go burnt beige like that and will actually glow strongly indefinitely. On many watches heavy lume patina is hugely desirable, on SMPs not so much, particularly since the hands rarely match. As noted above you won't recoup your outlay if you sell it in future since the mid sized watches aren't as desirable as the 41mm version, but a tidy SMP would be worth double a tatty one IMO and if you want it fresh, it can be done.