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Martin Sivertsen
·Hello all, this is my first post here.
I recently bought a 145.022-69 Omega Speedmaster with caliber 861 movement (picture below) from the son of a watchmaker who got it as a gift 25 years ago and hasn't used it much in the last 20. The watch has mostly been in a drawer. It hasn't been to a service in those 25 years though, so at least the movement needs a clean-up and re-oiling. The watch runs fine as is, but I'd like to get it serviced to be able to wear it in good conscience.
I'd like to keep the dial and bezel as they are, the hands are a bit grimy, it looks like someone has tried to fix the enamel around the center pivot of most of the hands. And the hand on the bottom sub dial has the enamel missing on the circle around the pivot point (not clearly visible on the photo). NOS, or used in good condition hands with tritium lume would be good if the price is right, would gladly take tips regarding this.
I asked my local AD (in Norway) about service options and cost and was given two options:
- Send to Swatch Group for a standard service, but be prepared to have servicable parts replaced and I'm not to keen on getting updated hands, bezel and dial. I was under the impression that one could request to keep certain parts, but that the service center ultimately replaced parts at their discretion.
Cost: 790 USD
- Send to a local watchmaker that specializes in vintage movements for a service, and he'll keep the original external parts intact and change what needs to be changed for the movement to work as well. Perhaps change the hesalite crystal.
Cost: 813 to 867 USD, parts included.
So that's where I'm at now.
Do you feel the price is fair for the local service?
Are there other options that I should explore?
Thanks for looking.
I recently bought a 145.022-69 Omega Speedmaster with caliber 861 movement (picture below) from the son of a watchmaker who got it as a gift 25 years ago and hasn't used it much in the last 20. The watch has mostly been in a drawer. It hasn't been to a service in those 25 years though, so at least the movement needs a clean-up and re-oiling. The watch runs fine as is, but I'd like to get it serviced to be able to wear it in good conscience.
I'd like to keep the dial and bezel as they are, the hands are a bit grimy, it looks like someone has tried to fix the enamel around the center pivot of most of the hands. And the hand on the bottom sub dial has the enamel missing on the circle around the pivot point (not clearly visible on the photo). NOS, or used in good condition hands with tritium lume would be good if the price is right, would gladly take tips regarding this.
I asked my local AD (in Norway) about service options and cost and was given two options:
- Send to Swatch Group for a standard service, but be prepared to have servicable parts replaced and I'm not to keen on getting updated hands, bezel and dial. I was under the impression that one could request to keep certain parts, but that the service center ultimately replaced parts at their discretion.
Cost: 790 USD
- Send to a local watchmaker that specializes in vintage movements for a service, and he'll keep the original external parts intact and change what needs to be changed for the movement to work as well. Perhaps change the hesalite crystal.
Cost: 813 to 867 USD, parts included.
So that's where I'm at now.
Do you feel the price is fair for the local service?
Are there other options that I should explore?
Thanks for looking.
