Servicing a rare Speedy limited edition?

Hypothetical question, should you ever service a rarer limited edition such as the Alaska Project, Japan Racing, ST1 or ST2 as long as it is still working? If yes, should I trust Omega with this? Should you specify to not replace hands, crystal, not polish, etc? Does it devalue the watch if certain components are replaced? Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

These are not rare.
A 145.022-69 racing is rare, a black racing dialed Speedy is rare, a soleil-dialed Speedy is rare, an Ultraman is rare, an Apollo-Soyuz is rare.
Servicing these watches would need to trust fully the watchmaker.
Concerning Omega, the service instructions are mandatory to avoid a potential disaster...

Hypothetically speaking they are just each a watch, why would you not service it when it needs it? At least with these, parts are available (even cosmetic parts - and shouldn’t affect the value should they be replaced as they are still quite ‘new’), so if you have an Omega certified watchmaker with an Omega parts account there should be no cause for concern.

No argument that the ones you listed are ultra rare, but I think a watch that there are only a couple thousand world-wide would still be classified as rare. Maybe just not ultra rare. Point taken though and I appreciate your response.

I appreciate your responses! Helpful. Thanks

I have an Alask aProject too... would just give it to a service where I can personally talk to the watchmaker to avoid to many renewed parts!

Thank you. I've seen serviced watches where they kept the hands original, but the paint chips around the pivot point once they're removed and reinstalled. My preference is obviously to avoid this and keep the watching looking nice and newish. I'll try to find someone who can answer those questions regarding service.

I have an emotional rollercoaster of a story to share regarding getting a Speedy Tuesday ST1 serviced, which I have since let go............ Also, for the record, I am on the hunt for another.

I knocked the bezel against something quite light, and it got a deep nick in the bezel. Worst than what I tend to see from normal wear. Other than this, the watch was MINT. I even had other bezels that I could potentially swap on myself, but as you may know, the Speedy Tuesday bezel is brushed, and actually has a slightly different shape than a normal Speedy from 2017. So I went to my Omega AD in town. They insisted that the watch MUST be sent in for service because its a special edition. I agreed, but only if they noted that I wanted nothing else done. I didn't even want them to open the caseback. I had them show me the note! I must have sounded insane. Anyway, they agreed, showed me the note and I proceeded to allow it to be sent in.
I believe it took 1 month for a call. They called me and said that they opened the caseback and inspected the gaskets and recommend I change the gaskets. I could not believe they opened it, but there we were. So they said, IF you change the gaskets then you can get a 1 or 2 year service warranty from Omega. As this was 2019 the 2 year warranty on the 2017 model had nearly run up. So I begrudgingly agreed. They replaced the gaskets and the bezel. I received it another month later.

When I got it back, there were scratches on the back lug and bezel, as if they used a screwdriver to pop off the bezel to realign it after replacement. I immediately went to my AD and showed them. They said they couldn't do a thing, because I had accepted it from them... Yeah.

I ended up reaching out to Omega via Instagram. They put me in touch with a representative that helped me set up another service. This time they would refinish the case. I sent it away. 1 month later I receive the watch and it has been "refinished" on the back lug with a grit of brushing that did not match the rest of the case.... I imagine that most of us are detail oriented...I could not believe my eyes. I reached out to the same rep and showed photos. She said they couldn't do mush. I pleaded. Eventually, she agreed to send the watch to Switzerland and they would have a new case made and the serial number engraved on the new case. So 2 months after that I received my ST1 back to how it should have been....

Oof! That’s awful. I also have had 2 service experiences with former Omegas that required being sent back in because something didn’t work as it should. One was a co-axial Seamaster that just stopped running not long after a service and the other was a Speedy that the second hand sub dial stopped working (even though the watch still kept time). So I’ve probably used Omega for 4 services with half of them requiring do-overs. You’d think they’d be better.