A question for those that have had your vintage watches serviced multiple times -

Every time I speak with a watchmaker (including the Omega boutique and multiple highly reputable private watch stores), they always say the same thing - "We will do our best to save the hands, but sometimes they cannot be saved."

Do you just take a gamble every time you take your watch in for service? How often can the hands not be saved?

 

In some cases the lume is flaking out or has the potential to do so, and watchmakers don't want to see a watch they just worked on come back with lume in the movement.

However, I think many watchmakers can stabilize or recreate the lume if necessary to save the hands? I'll defer to @Archer on that

 

I imagine that there's always the potential that a hand will get damaged when it is being removed, either by bending or separating from the pipe. A watchmaker is probably just being realistic when he warns of such a possibility occurring.

 

Hands can get damaged when removing them, although in most cases it's not a common problem really. On chronographs in particular, the hands have to be installed tightly in order to not have the move out of position when the chronograph is reset. There is a greater risk of a chronograph hand failing generally than a non-chronograph hand, but it can vary a lot depending on the watch, the age and condition of the hands, and even sometimes the practices of the watch manufacturer. If you tap you chronograph hand on with a hammer (as this particular manufacturer likes to do) then they are going to be more likely to fail:



I know that if there is going to be a very tight hand on any manual wind Speedmaster I'm removing the hands from, it's likely to be the minute recorder hand. For whatever reason the fit on this hand is tighter than the other hands. If it's a shiny metal hand, I know the chances of the rivet failing as I remove is greater than if it's a white painted hand...

Vintage hands have fewer issues with being too tight, because often they have been removed and reset several times, and often it's the opposite problem. They are stretched out and too loose, so they either go down too far on the post, or won't stay located after installation. In some instances the pipe can be tightened, or if that can't be done say if the pipe is cracked, it can be replaced if it's worth doing so.

The issue of lume is less of a problem IMO - lume can either be stabilized if there is enough to do so, or it can be removed, or replaced.

So I think in many cases people are just covering themselves in case something happens...

Cheers, Al

 

Original hands are such a crucial part of a vintage watch, especially if the tritium patina matches the tritium patina on the hour markers. The Omega boutique in NYC told me they would insist on replacing the original hands and keeping them if I wanted Omega to service my '67 Speedy, which is a deal breaker for me. Who wants brand new white super luminova hands on a pre-moon Speedy? The style is different too, on at least the big seconds hand. One thing I was thinking is I could get new Speedy hands myself, have an indy watchmaker swap them out, keep my original hands safe, have Omega service the Speedy, then afterward have an indy watchmaker re-install the original hands. But what a hassle.

 

They should be returning the hands to you, as Omega policy is to return all replaced parts. Makes me wonder if someone at the boutique has a side business selling old tritium hands...

Although you can have the old hands put back on after service, this of course voids the Omega warranty on the repairs. As you say it's a solution, but not a good one.

 

Always best not to have vintage watches serviced at Omega if possible - try finding another independent watchmaker. Use the search function here and you'll see a few members' recommendations. My watchmaker hasn't had any trouble with my old hands - he's repaired them when necessary but mostly leaves them alone.

 

Yes, the rep at the Omega boutique mentioned that they usually return old parts, but pre-moon Speedys need to go back to Switzerland for service, and the tritium hands that must be swapped per policy can't be returned to the U.S. because they are slightly radioactive. I know it sounds silly, but that's what I was told. When I responded that the dial also has radioactive tritium on it and that the dial would be returning to the U.S. inside the watch, he just said that's the Omega policy, no matter how illogical it sounds.

 

Thanks for the info, as always, good stuff.

Agree on the comments re: Omega boutique. I had them take a look at a 145,022-69 - they wanted to replace the bezel, hands, pushers, crowns and possibly the case if the new bezel wouldn't fit properly. The person acted like I was crazy for wanting to retain the hands and bezel. The really do want to make the watches look brand new.

 

They generally have zero regard for vintage. The only value they see in their heritage is if it helps them sell more new watches...

 

I was under the impression that, with speedmasters anyway (and chronographs generally), it's usually the subdial hands that can be damaged while being removed, as Archer mentions above. I've had no issues with the main hour and minute hand, and I think replacing subdial hands if necessary is not a huge disservice to the vintage character of the watch - at least not as big a deal as the hour, minute and main chrono seconds hand.