Dear Forum, I am a new member, but a long time Omega fan and have read - with interest - the many threads about servicing vintage Omegas. Being the proud owner of a cal 1040 chronograph, which I bought new in 1975, I have personal experience with a service done in Bienne which I would like to share and have a question about servicing a cal 354 connie. After 30 years daily wear and - unfortunately - also poor service from so-called experts when I lived abroad, my 1040 languished in a drawer until I ended up living in Switzerland and decided to bring it back to its former glory. So last July I went to the Omega store in Geneva and spent an hour talking to their watchmaker there, who patiently explained why they change hands and crowns etc., mainly to ensure everything works and to be able to provide a guarantee. He gave me the option to keep the original hands, but warned that it would void any guarantee. He also told me that - on chronographs - there is a risk that the chrono hands, when re-used, may come loose. Funny, but this explained a major problem I had in the past, namely hands that inexplicably skip a few minutes or flop around. So I guess he wasn't making it up just to make his point... After thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided to keep the original dial (which Omega agreed was still in good condition), accept new hands (the same, but with luminova instead of tritium) and have the case polished. The latter to undo some damage done by a previous - unrequested - service polishing. In the end, I wanted my watch to look and feel the same as what I remembered from when I bought it, to be able to wear it and not keep it as a collectors item. The result to me is very pleasing and although I can see the difference between new hands and original dial, I am satisfied with the result. They gave me the original parts to keep, so could in future put the old hands back on if I want to. Sofar so good and although they are expensive, I would like to think that they do good work on the mechanical side and it will keep running for quite some time to come. I have added a photo below. But now I have a solid gold 50-ies constellation with a 354 movement that needs a service and this makes me more nervous. It has a very nice two-tone yellow (middle) and gold (outside ring) guilloche waffle dial in good condition, with gold arrow head markers and gold (real gold?) dauphine faceted hands. The gold crown is the bigger decagonal one and looks to be original, showing some wear but no discoloration - were these also made in solid gold, or always plated? In this case I want the watch kept in original condition and today spent another hour with their watchmaker. He wrote down my very specific requests to Bienne, eg don't mess with the dial, keep the original hands and keep the original - and irreplaceable - decagonal crown. I categorically told him that if they cannot do that, I want the watch returned as is. He said he would talk to his colleagues in Bienne and let me know. My fear, having read all the other threads about Bienne, is that they may not be interested in the hassle of preserving old parts and damage them in the removal process and thus making it impossible to get it done somewhere else. I do not want to trade off vintage esthetics for a good mechanical revision, assuming that they do a proper job in that respect. Does anyone here have experience with servicing vintage connies or seamasters in Bienne, where they had expressed specific requests about the work to be done/not done?
In general I would advice against using Bienne for two reasons: 1) They DO damage vintage value with their over extensive restorations, and 2) They are 2-3 times (some times even more) the price of even well known independents. If your cal 354 needs a service, and not much more, then send it to a well trained watchmaker that knows his vintage watches. You do not need the wizards in Bienne to work their magic!
Thanks for the replies. I did not take pics before leaving the constellation with Omega (not smart, I agree), but will post when I get the quote (which usually includes pics). Or I may tell them next week I want it back. On independents, you may find this strange, but I have not been able to find one here in the Geneva-Lausanne area. With all the big brands here maybe there is no business for them? If anyone has a recommendation I'd be glad to hear it.
I've used Bienne for my Bullhead restoration. Bienne is interesting for omega specific case restoration,like chronostop,speedmaster Mark series,Flightmaster... just to service a watch,you can make it by an independents.
Those 1950s bumper Constellations are lovely old watches. I have one, and two more cal 354s, also another two 351s (non-Constellation). All yours probably needs is a clean, lubrication and a proper setup. An old-school watchmaker who understands the 3xx series movements should be able to do this and keep all the original parts for 200 to 250 euros.
Thank you John. It was love at first sight when I found it, but it is well worn with years of grime stuck to it. The movement looks very clean and still runs, but there are no markings on the inside case back, so no way to tell if and when it has seen a service. When the Omega guy removed the crown & stem there were traces of rust on the tip, so I guess it needs to be dismantled for a good clean and check for wear. I know these movements are robust and reliable, but if never serviced some parts are probably worn out. I will wait to hear back from Bienne before deciding, but if they come back with the standard "everything needs to be changed" I will decline. In the mean time I will check around here for independent vintage watchmakers.
Archer is one of the best of the best independent watchmakers for servicing vintage watches, and carefully preserving originality and coordinating the service process with you each step of the way. Lots of positive feedback here and on WUS/f20. Get in touch with Al and see what he has to say!
As promised, here are pictures of the two- tone waffle dial constellation after I got it back from Omega Bienne. I asked & looked around for independents, but good ones are scarce around here and over-booked with work, so in the end I decided to take the plunge with Omega, knowing it would cost more (standard rates are on their web site for those who want to know...). I think they did a very nice job, respecting all my wishes, eg put back original hands and crown, no replacement of key components and no polishing. Not easy to take good pictures, especially the script is difficult to capture, but under a loupe it looks in very good - unrestored - condition. First picture is before any work done, second one after Bienne and third one the back. View attachment 56274 View attachment 56275