Speedy back from questionable service... thoughts?

Hi OF,

I seem to be having a hard time with my 3572.50 Speedy after getting it back from my local independent watchmaker and would love to hear your thoughts. Sorry in advance for the long post.

Before I go any further, I want to just state that I have no intention on dragging anyone (ie. the watchmaker) through the dirt and have had many positive experiences with him in the past. I would just appreciate some opinions on whether y'all think I am overreacting, and if my concerns are indeed legitimate, what you think a reasonable resolution might look like. I have deliberately left the watchmaker's name/shop out of this conversation.

Long story short, I dropped off the Speedy for a full service in Jan 2023 and received it back in July. Shortly after, I noticed the chrono minute hand was damaged near the pinion and paint was flaking off and collecting inside the crystal. It was also noticeably misaligned with the minute markers:



I brought the watch back a couple weeks later and after some back-and-forth, the watchmaker agreed to replace the hand. I’m not a stickler for all-original parts, just so long as they are correct for the reference and genuine Omega parts. As this is not exactly a vintage piece, that seemed like an acceptable solution to me.

6 weeks later, I got the watch back with the hand replaced. All seemed well but on closer inspection (and under loupe/magnification) the new hand appeared noticeably different from the other subdial hands. First of all, it’s a shade or two whiter than the other subdial hands. Now, that could easily be due to the fact that the other hands have faded in colour over the years (this watch is from ‘98). However, if you look at the finish on the replacement subdial hand, it’s completely different and rough in texture compared to the other two, in addition to being just a hair thicker.

Is it possible that this is a non-genuine part or did Omega simply change their manufacturing process for the hands over the years?





I don’t want to make any accusations without being fully informed, so my question is: Did the watchmaker try and save a penny and install a non-genuine Omega hand to save on costs?

The watchmaker definitely has an Omega parts account and is the only watchmaker in my town who has direct access to Swatch parts that I know of (short of sending it to the AD). But he also told me he can only order hands as a complete set (not individual hands), which is very costly, so it's plausible to me he found a cheap replacement instead of tracking down a genuine Omega part.

Unfortunately it’s one of those things where “once you see it you can’t unsee it” and the asymmetry of the dial/hands drives me mad every time I look down at my watch now.

To add salt to the wound, there is a noticeable gash in the dial since having the hand replaced that wasn’t there before. I have plenty of macro photos of the watch without the gash before it being dropped off.




Furthermore, the chronograph occasionally jams up and halts the watch entirely upon engaging it. This happens maybe only 2% of the time, but nevertheless it is concerning and did not happen before dropping the watch off for service.

Anyways, I would love to hear what you all think. Are these problems worth taking up again with the watchmaker? Am I overreacting and just need to forget about it? If not, what do you think a reasonable resolution looks like?

I'm aware that a complete handset/dial replacement could be costly and perhaps unreasonable to expect. Nonetheless, I can't help but notice the imperfections every time I glance at my watch, and it's affecting my overall enjoyment of it. It’s hard for me to accept that after spending $650CAD on a service, I get it back in a worse state than it was beforehand.

Apologies again for the long post. If you made it this far, thank you and I appreciate your opinions!

TLDR - sent watch to watchmaker for service, came back with damaged chrono minute hand, so watchmaker subsequently replaced it.

New hand looks considerably different (note colour and paint finish of replacement hand)... is it a genuine Omega part?

You're being too nice by not revealing who this watchmaker is. He should be mentioned so other members can avoid him. You are definitely not overreacting, and I'm sorry to hear what happened. If I were in your shoes, I would demand a full refund. Take the money and take the watch to Omega/Swatch and have them fix your watchmaker's shoddy job

I couldn't accept this....

So sorry to see that happen to your Speedy!
Ultimately, a reputable watchmaker will prioritize customer satisfaction and strive to make amends for any mistakes. Open communication, professionalism, and a commitment to quality work are all crucial aspects of standing out as a reliable and trustworthy watchmaker. I don't like the fact that it would appear he lied to you about having to order a full handset as Archer stated they can be ordered individually. The sub hands retail at $28 each and the dial $370. In my opinion he should be replacing those free of charge or refunding you that amount plus labor and have it done somewhere else. I would lean towards the latter.

Cheers

This is unacceptable. Sorry to hear you have to go through this experience.

I definitely would not be happy. I personally send my watches back to the manufacturer for services but that’s just me.

Thank you all for your input! I am not a very confrontational person so it is very reassuring to know that my concerns are legitimate and I feel much better about bringing up the issues with the watchmaker again.

If you talk to my family/friends, they will say I am crazy for obsessing over these little details, but of course, fellow watch enthusiasts "get it".


Archer, I cannot thank you enough for the info/pictures. This is exactly what I needed to know - I would hate to go into my watchmaker guns blazing and accusing him of using fake parts. It does indeed look like there is just some variation in how the parts are finished. The paint texture on the ones you photographed do seem in line with my replacement hand. It is also very eye-opening to know that you can indeed order individual hands. It did seem absurd to me when he said you could not.

I'm not keen on dragging anyone through the dirt at this point. I get that mistakes happen, and hopefully we can find a resolution where the value of my watch hasn't decreased significantly as the result of a service that I paid good money for.

I will speak with the watchmaker and post any updates.

Thank you all again!

The texture on the minute-hand looks like similar to the texture I have on my 2020 Speedmaster Pro handset.
It's probably an original hand, but of a different generation than your reference.

I would cut your losses and move on if the watchmaker doesn’t immediately apologize and own up to what’s happened. Those are sloppy and egregious mistakes. The dial scratches are gut-wrenching to see. The possible dishonesty is also appalling.

This is one of the reason why I’m afraid to get a service for my watches that has pristine hands, dial, lume etc. I’m afraid that the watchmaker will damage it one way or another.

Keep it in a Safe. What is it about that Watchmaker bashing lately ? They service/ repair/ prolong mechanical life .... A handful of bad experiences on an International Forum ? Imagine that was an International Forum for Vintage Cars and repair experiences ....

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important and normal to service a watch but it just the idea of finding a trustworthy watchmaker scared me. I had a few of my watches ruined before that’s way.

Alright, just got back from a LONG conversation with the watchmaker. Relieved to say that the conversation was overall pretty positive, though no specific resolution was decided on (I'll explain why as it gets a bit more complicated). We both agreed to sleep on it and not rush into anything.

Anyway, the watchmaker owned up to the mistakes and offered to correct them. He said he was willing to replace the dial with a new service dial at no cost to me (more on that later), and the other subdial hands so that they all matched. He would take another look at the chronograph to see why it was jamming, citing an issue with the coupling wheel.

Now my main reservation is the fact that my specific watch has the rather unique quirk of being a 1998 3572.50, and therefore on the vveerrrrrryyy cusp of T-Dial Speedys. Interestingly, it does have T-SWISS MADE-T printed on the dial, however it is actually a luminova dial. It is NOT however a relume and is original to the watch. If you're confused, here is a link to a thread that discussed this quirk:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/tra...-made-t-dial-luminova-legit-after-all.152802/

Long story short, there was a VERY brief serial range/period of time only in 97/98 when tritium was being phased out, where dials were receiving luminova lume but T-SWISS MADE-T was still printed on the dial:

This, while perhaps not being particularly collectible, is a unique quirk to the watch that I have actually come to appreciate, and of course would not be printed on a replacement dial.

Of course it would be unreasonable to expect the watchmaker to track down a perfect dial from 1998 with this exact, extremely rare quirk/misprint. (Interesting side note: if you read the forum post above you'll see a translated post from a French watch forum where the authors of Moonwatch Only have noted the quirk and state it will be added to MWO 4th edition)

Now, if I had the dial replaced with a new service dial and all other issues fixed, I would probably be happy with it - after all it would ultimately be the correct dial for the reference and 99.999% of people would not bat an eye. But of course that 0.001% of people (and now you all reading this) might object to it being a replacement dial and not original to the watch. We all know that in the Rolex (and Omega) world there are guys who obsess over the tiniest little quirks (abnormal fonts, etc) when it comes to watches. See: this video.

When I brought this up to the watchmaker, he was a bit confused by all this (naturally), but ultimately understood. At that point he offered to buy me out for what I have into the watch, but I'm not quite sure I'm there yet. The watch does have some sentimental value to me as it was my first "luxury" watch (after owning countless Seikos and the like), and I bought it for myself after a fairly significant achievement at work.

Anyway, we agreed to give it some thought. I don't know which way I'm leaning at this point, but perhaps maybe some of you could chime in. Do I forget about losing the quirky dial and just enjoy the watch? Or move on and look for another Speedy? Modern 3861 Speedies are looking pretty appealing to me right now, but the I love the combination of heslaite front/sapphire back on my 3572.

Again, thanks for all your opinions and thank you for reading this far!

Again - TLDR:

- Watchmaker owned up to mistakes, offered to fix them, replace the dial, etc.

- However, my watch has a rather unique/quirky "transitional" T-SWISS-T dial from 1998 which of course cannot be replaced exactly. Read about it: here

- Watchmaker offered to buy me out for what I have into the watch...

Decisions, decisions....