Seamaster 200m - Couple of questions

Hello!

Been browsing the forum for a couple weeks and thought someone might be able to help. I have inherited an 80s Seamaster 200m ('pre bond') and it's in quite good physical condition. An automatic 36mm
It's been in a suitcase in a loft for possibly 30 years and has no service record. Knowing my old man he would have never bothered anyway.

It works but runs about 4 minutes fast a day. Spoke to the local Omega service centre and will probably send it in this year for a service (ouch, £600 and 18 week turnaround). It sort of looks like the hands have marked the dial, there's a very light circle around the centre.
The guy at the service centre said this was dust from the hands crumbling off but don't think I've seen that mentioned before? I was worried the hour hand was scraping the face so I'm reluctant to wear it if it might damage further before the service.

What can I expect from the service? Will they change anything physical? I quite like the patina of it and while the lume is completely shot I wouldn't want just the hands glowing if they change those. The guy at the service centre was quite busy so didn't want to waste his time, he did say a new set of hands would be another £70 (or close).

Second question is I have made some adapters for an 18mm nato strap (my hands are very big and I have skinny wrists so can't get the bracelet comfortable without not being able to slide it over my mitts lol). I wired them out at work, I saw another post where someone took a 20-18mm adapter and milled the sides off to fit the 8mm gap. I've done the same but with an EDM machine instead.

How do I get the bracelet off? I managed to take a couple of links out without issue but don't want to damage it if there's a special way to remove the pins for the case-bracelet interface.

Thanks in advance for you time!

Mike

Those are nice adapters. How did you make them? To answer your questions, first i would advise against sending the watch to Omega. I did it once and i regretted it. They did excellent work (replaced half the components of the movement) but they over-polished the case ( I forgot to tell them not to polish it). They will also change the hands which they should not replace as yours are original to the watch. If i were you I would find a small watch shop next to you to get it serviced and replace the gaskets. It will be cheaper and do tell them exactly what you want done.
To remove the bracelet it is the same process as for a link. There is a pin inside that you need to push out.

Thanks, my pin vice doesn't line up well for pushing that out so I'll have to try tapping it out with a longer pin. Do you have to push it out a certain direction? Some of the bracelet links had an arrow indicating as such.

I bought something similar to this: 20-18mm spring bar adapter
then used a 'wire erosion' machine to cut the 20mm side down to 8mm. The machine works by creating a spark that erodes metal and can do very accurate and detailed work. A bit overkill for the job, really, but it didn't cost me anything to use. I could make one from scratch but the drilling is very tricky on a small part like that.

Either way works. i unusually use a long pin with a hammer while the watch rests on a towel, works well.
Thanks for the tip on the bracket. If i were you i would keep the factory bracelet and use the diver extension to put it on your wrist.

Thanks for the advice everyone. That bracelet drawing is very helpful too!

I've requested a quote from The Watch Doctor who has good reviews and might be more sympathetic to my aim of keeping it original.