Speedmaster ref. 145.022-69 is in need of a service, what are my options?

Okay

Reading the UK government guidance on this, the UK doesn't seem to be one of what Archer calls "most countries" (although, as usual, the guidance is not exactly written in clear language). The gist seemed to be that you don't pay duty when goods are reimported at all, as long as the repair hasn't upgraded them but has simply maintained them in good working order, but it seemed to me like you had to jump through a load of hoops.

Find and independent as many have already said.
If you can't find someone let me know as I have a friend whose a dealer in Switzerland.
He does not do service but I can always ask him if he has a suggestion if someone here hasn't already found you someone.
Do NOT send it to Omega unless you want it all replaced.

Liable for Norwegian VAT or UK VAT? In either case, I think the answer is yes, because Norway is not in the EU, and is not a part of the EU customs union either, although there is some tariff free movement that arises out of its membership of the EEA in certain areas. Do we have any accountants out there?

Oh dear.....too many informations......and not helpful. You choose the honest, VAT paying way. Shipped via DHL to the UK as watch for repair, I guess? If you are unlucky, Simon has to pay VAT on the declared value, if customs stops it. In this case my advice is, not to have him pay that and send your watch back to you. You are down pounds 100. Nothing has happened, but DHL made money. If Simon pays 20% UK vat , repairs it and send back to you, there is a lot of paperwork involved, to get Simon's paid vat back to him. He will not be happy to invest that extra time....do the following, once you have it back: send again for a fraction of the price and declare : old steel part for repair. Broken staff. Insure for euro 110 to get special handling. Simon pays Vat for euro 110. You reimburse him for that later. Then you subscribe to Secursus, a French 3.party insurer for the full value, which cost you 0.8% of the full value without written on the package. Take photos from the package and the postal label for them . They need proof of the replacement value or invoices for your watch. Which can be obtained.....Simon repairs and send it back to you with the packaging from Norway included in the box for your customs as proof not to pay another 25% . Same low value stated by Simon, now maybe euro 187. you insure with secursus again. All done online and easy. Or: you find a good watchmaker in Norway. Which will be possible for a mvmt. Service. Or give the watch to one of the oil rig Scottish/UK workers, you know , and have them send from England..... Kind regards. Achim

Again Simon Freese or Duncan Hewitt (WebWatchMaker) Simon serviced my Ed White prior to my ownership and it runs lovely, Duncan has serviced a 861 71 Speedmaster, again very good service and very good price..

The watch is sent to Simon using DHL and is fully insured. It is declared as a watch sent for repair, and that the reason for export is a "repair/return", so that Simon shouldn't have to pay any customs fees or VAT.
Simon will service it, and said that I don't have to pay UK VAT as Norway is not part of the EU (if it turns out I need to pay I'll do it).
Simon will ship it back fully insured, with documentation that it is a repair job that is being returned so I don't have to pay VAT on the value of the watch itself.
I do however need to pay norwegian VAT upon return of the watch on the value of the service as well as shipping fees both ways.

I'll update this thread with the total costs and pictures for posterity when the watch is returned.

The watch has been serviced by Simon Freese and is on its way back to me now. He took some flattering photos of it for my approval.
The movement has been serviced, the luminous material in the hour and minute hands has been stabilized and the white paint around the centers of the hands has been delicately retouched.
(He forgot to reset the chrono hand before taking the picture of the dial).

Wow. That looks great! Congratulations.

I was in touch with Kent Parks in the US about re-luming my Omega Speedmaster and felt very positive that he could do a nice job of re-luming but I have not heard back from him after emailing him several times this month so not sure if he is accepting work now.

I would really prefer to deal with a US-based person to do this work even though SImon Freese sounds very impressive!

Can anyone suggest another US-based person if I don't hear back from Kent Parks soon?

Good info here. But, Secursus does not insure watches that have no purchase receipt. Or how does it work?

Hi Folks, me again 😀 I need some advice on servicing my Omega Speedmaster. I have been living over in Thailand for several years and while here, I left the watch with my sister in the States for safekeeping.

She kept it in her safe deposit box, and I didn't realize how important it was to periodically wind the watch...so it has sat in storage for several years now without being wound.

When I asked her to get the watch out of the bank and wind it up and check how it's keeping time, she said that the chronometer sweep second hand (the large hand) goes around once or twice and then stops. Otherwise, it resets back to the top precisely and the watch keep perfect time.

I am thinking perhaps the lubrication may have dried out?? She is winding it daily now and trying the chronometer function each time. I am hoping maybe the large "seconds" hand will eventually unstick itself...otherwise I may need to get servicing.

I guess I could have her send to Omega for servicing but I wonder if anyone might be able to suggest a well qualified independent service person as an alternative?

Richard Luts was the person who restored the watch for me, and was highly recommended here on this forum back in 2017, but I'm having trouble reaching him since he moved from Florida and I have no idea where to.

Anyway, any suggestions for a qualified independent service person would certainly be appreciated...or if you happen to know where Rick Luts is now located, that would be great to know😀

BTW, I had not seen the watch since it overhauled back in 2017 and sent directly to my sister. She sent me a picture of it after taking it out of the safe deposit box and it looks a lot nicer than my previous pictures so I thought I'd show it off here. It has a new replacement crystal (genuine Omega with the symbol in center...the red bar is from the protective film over the crystal. The old crystal and all the old parts were included but were so heavily scratched or damaged they seems worthless):

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. As it turns you, you are correct. I talked with her on the phone, and indeed, she had not wound it enough. She was afraid to over-wind it. When she did wind it sufficiently, the sweep second hand acted normally and seems to be running fine.

Thank you for clarifying about the lubrication probably not being an issue. Reassuring to know that.