I took my Seamaster ...



to a local Jewlers to have a crystal replacement. They said they had a watchmaker that worked on Omegas. I do not doubt any of what they told me, but.....
Today, 3 days later, I get a call with a price of $190 for an acrylic crystal. (No idea if that is good or high). What turned me off was the comment "You said you did not want him to buff or change anything on the watch, but he thinks it needs a service. He SHOOK THE WATCH and it sounds like something is loose". The watch was running just fine and no sound of anything loose as I am sure the PO will chime in here too and back that up. BTW........its a bumper.........

So, I will be sending this watch to NJ and a hand wind to Canada to start the service of all of my watches and be patient about it, even my 3523.30 will be shipped out for service.

 

Go get that watch before those putzes screw it up. There's no way a crystal replacement should cost $190. Contact Steve / member N2FHL about servicing it. (unless that's what you already meant by 'NJ')

 

Yes.
Both of the watchmakers I will now use will take a month or two, but there is a reason why. My biggest problem is my , lack of, patience! I tend to go full steam ahead with any new interest of mine until I learn enough to get comfortable about walking away from it for a while.
Not sure if that makes sense to anyone, but I really have to back away from this a bit and let what I have get put into good working order. I only have one out of 7 now that I plan to sell. The other 6 are long term keepers.
Maybe I'll work on getting my old XL350 going again.

 

Generic crystals run $5-10. I'd say a fair price for a crystal change is ~$30 at a jewelry store.

Compare that to the DIY cost:
1) Vintage vigor crystal lift $30 ebay
2) Cheap digital micrometer $15 amazon
3) New crystal x2 (since you're going to mess up the sizing the first few go rounds) $15 ebay or local material house

So for the price of two crystal changes, you can get some new tools and never have to wait on a jeweler nor wonder what he's doing to your watch ever again.

Throw in an $8 tube of polywatch and you might not even need to replace the crystal.

For a huge investment of $80-100 you can buy an assortment of crystals covering most of the popular sizes, then you don't even have to wait for the crystals to come in or worry about getting the measurements just right. I bought an assortment several years ago and have barely put a dent in it. You still order compression ring and signed crystals, but for the basic vintage watch, you're good to go.

 

Thank you. I had no idea of price for crystals.
They also gave a price of $320 (I think) for an Omega crystal. And I think that was just part price. I will not get it for 3 days. Not sure where it is, but they sent if off to the watchmaker. I am disappointed to say the least!

 

As for crystals?
I thought this watch would be a DD, but I have changed my mind on that and still looking for a DD. So , as to this watch above, what difference does it make about crystal for this watch? Omega? After market? Mineral or Acrylic?

 

I can't tell if it has a compression ring or if the silver ring you're seeing is just the inside part of the bezel. If it doesn't have a compression ring, that generic assortment would fit the bill.

If it does have a compression ring, you'd have an option: Generic for $5-10 or Signed Omega for $45-80.

 

None of these vintage watches take mineral/sapphire crystal unless modified to accept one. If you find a vintage piece that does not have an acrylic crystal, then it's probably really old, and is fitted with real glass.

The advantage to acrylic is that you can literally buff out scratches in five minutes at home. The advantage to modern sapphire crystals is that you really have to whack it to get the scratch in the first place... but then it's going to cost you ~$150 to change it.

 

What an enabler!!!!

Great post

 

I am all up for that....I think. I need to read up on the compression ring as I have no idea what that does. lol
I would be very afraid of any old dirt or parts falling into the watch. Have to think about that, but I might as well have it done when having the watch serviced.

 

Do read up and learn how to do this. DO NOT learn this on any watch costing more than ~$25, or on a signed crystal that you plan on re-using.

Yes, there is the possibility of getting dirt on the dial and into the movement, if you give it a quick cleaning before taking the crystal off, you can avoid the worst of it.

 

These sizes
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acrylic-pla...Accessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item2c6d74b97fPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

Or these large sizes

http://www.ebay.com/itm/250x-28mm-3...Accessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item2c7c07bd31Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

Or both?

 

I plan to buy some bad beaters to play with.

 

Do a quick survey of your watches, but for me, an assortment similar to the latter has served me well.

 

Throw in one of those squeezey air blower/dusters with a plastic tip, and a few lint free photography grade cleaning cloths.

You'll want to clean/dust the inside of the crystal before installing it.

 

XL350 Honda ?
I had a late 60's, beware of a "dirt" bike with an electric starter!
That sled felt like it weighed 500lbs. I thought it looked cool though.