Speedy repair advice

Duckie · Nov 27, 2019

3 300e
Enjoying the responses. It has been a bit of a disappointment. It always makes me laugh when people reference the toughness of their Speedmaster with the “my watch has been to the moon” thing. It may have gone to the moon but god only knows what happened at splashdown.

Would seem ol Speedy is more of a show queen than a workhorse.

You probably need to review the full suite of tests the watch passed back in the day where no other contenders got through to the end.
Keep in mind the assumption is made that any test is with a watch in top condition.

The guidelines across the industry are fairly clear but conservative for good reason.
50 m is really only good for swimming.
Omega used to make this recommendation themselves on their chart.

Also remember that NASA owned the watches and assumed full responsibility for maintenance and servicing in-house.
After splashdown the watches were not expected to go swimming anyway but some very limited imersion or splashing of water was no doubt expected.
But for all intents and purposes any moon mission was fraught with extreme risk and at any time it could've been a one way mission for the watches anyway.
They just had to be fit for purpose until re-entry. After that who would care less?

IMO, the moon watch is no show queen but it certainly deserves all due respect as an example of a type that had it's origins as it stands in the 50's and remains a benchmark of it's type to this day.

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
It depends on the set-up in a specific country. Typically coverage of the cost for sales warranties work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of the products. In some cases the distributor is also a retailer.

I've no idea what part the world you are talking about, but in my part of the world new Omega watches come with an international warranty and watches can either be sent back directly to Omega or they will send out a returns package which is sent directly to Omega, but either way here at least your comment that the retailer stands the cost of warranties is not right.

Wooden_spoon · Nov 27, 2019

Assuming it had been pressure tested, would you guys be confident enough to wear a vintage (40-50 year old) speedy in an environment with water exposure? Like washing hands, rain shower, maybe even hanging out in the pool, etc.? Not snorkeling of course. Assume that with proper service, gaskets, etc., there's absolutely no reason a 105.012 or 145.012 should be babied, water wise?

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

W Wooden_spoon
Assuming it had been pressure tested, would you guys be confident enough to wear a vintage (40-50 year old) speedy in an environment with water exposure? Like washing hands, rain shower, maybe even hanging out in the pool, etc.? Not snorkeling of course. Assume that with proper service, gaskets, etc., there's absolutely no reason a 105.012 or 145.012 should be babied, water wise?

When the value of a 40 year old vintage Speedmaster is taken in to consideration you would have to question the wisdom of taking the risk.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
I've no idea what part the world you are talking about, but in my part of the world new Omega watches come with an international warranty and watches can either be sent back directly to Omega or they will send out a returns package which is sent directly to Omega, but either way here at least your comment that the retailer stands the cost of warranties is not right.

How you send the watch back and who you send it to has nothing to do with who pays for the repairs...

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
How you send the watch back and who you send it to has nothing to do with who pays for the repairs...

Direct sales via authorised AD's come with an International warranty, offered and covered by Omega themselves, they offer the warranty, they stand by and pay for the warranty on their own, what you are peddling as fact does not make sense in any world.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
Direct sales via authorised AD's come with an International warranty, offered and covered by Omega themselves, they offer the warranty, they stand by and pay for the warranty on their own, what you are peddling as fact does not make sense in any world.

To quote the Omega CS policy, on page 10:

"Sales Warranty

OMEGA watches are warranted by OMEGA SA for a period of 24 months, 36 months for watches with Co-Axial Escapement, 48 months for watches with Co-Axial Escapement and SI14 balance spring as well as for watches with the calibre 8500 or 8501, from the date of purchase under the terms and conditions of the warranty.

The sales warranty of a watch undergoing a corrective intervention during the sales warranty period is not extended. The intervention is covered by a 2-year service warranty as long as performed by an authorized OMEGA service centre.

Coverage of the cost for sales warranties’ work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of OMEGA products. In sales warranty cases, the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or country Customer Service will correct the defect of the OMEGA watch free of charge. It is up to the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or Country Customer Service whether or not to bill postage and insurance charges for work carried out under sales warranty."

Bold added by me...

Albe100 · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
If you understand that the cost of warranty repairs are covered from the money the AD makes on the initial sale, you will understand why they give advice that is contrary to all the technical documentation that Omega has published. Better to tell the customer not to get it wet on the off chance they have to pay for the repairs under warranty.

Omega is clear that 50m is what the watch can go down to, no matter what other people on the internet might tell you who are pushing their own agendas.

The bottom line is that everyone has to decide for themselves what level of risk they want to take with a watch.

Omega also recommends that you have the watches pressure tested once per year to ensure that the seals are still working as they should, so if you plan to get any watch wet, no matter what the depth rating is, this is good advice.

Cheers, Al

Al,
If it is recommended, will the OB/AD do the testing for free?

I took my 300 MC to my beach vacations this year and was a bit worried, but it worked great and thanks to the open caseback, I was able to see if any water was getting in. The watch was still under warranty though.

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
To quote the Omega CS policy, on page 10:

"Sales Warranty

OMEGA watches are warranted by OMEGA SA for a period of 24 months, 36 months for watches with Co-Axial Escapement, 48 months for watches with Co-Axial Escapement and SI14 balance spring as well as for watches with the calibre 8500 or 8501, from the date of purchase under the terms and conditions of the warranty.

The sales warranty of a watch undergoing a corrective intervention during the sales warranty period is not extended. The intervention is covered by a 2-year service warranty as long as performed by an authorized OMEGA service centre.

Coverage of the cost for sales warranties’ work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of OMEGA products. In sales warranty cases, the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or country Customer Service will correct the defect of the OMEGA watch free of charge. It is up to the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or Country Customer Service whether or not to bill postage and insurance charges for work carried out under sales warranty."

Bold added by me...

Bold is added by you lol.
You have made an incorrect statement and want to back it up with your own words, you can't make it up.

Also you appear to be quoting out of date warranty info.
OMEGA has continuously been able to raise the boundaries of watchmaking quality through revolutionary innovation. Only watches having successfully passed the most stringent quality control earn the right to reach your wrist.

Our quest for excellence has allowed us to extend the international warranty to 5 years, on all of our new timepieces purchased as of July 1st 2018.
Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO of OMEGA

PEACE OF MIND
The international warranty covers material and manufacturing defects existing at the time of purchase of your OMEGA watch.

If you face any issue with your timepiece during the warranty period, you can trust that we will provide you with the customer care you deserve and resolve it free of charge.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
Bold is added by you lol.
You have made an incorrect statement and want to back it up with your own words, you can't make it up.

I made the text bold to highlight it...I didn't write it...

This policy was last updated in 2017, so the length of term of the warranty has changed. This is a separate thing from policy about who pays for the service.

Cheers, Al

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Albe100
Al,
If it is recommended, will the OB/AD do the testing for free?

I took my 300 MC to my beach vacations this year and was a bit worried, but it worked great and thanks to the open caseback, I was able to see if any water was getting in. The watch was still under warranty though.

If equipped I'm sure an OB would do it for free. An AD - that would be up to them, but unless they are servicing watches on the premises, they probably won't have the equipment to do this, since it's quite expensive.

Cheers, Al

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
I made the text bold to highlight it...I didn't write it...

This policy was last updated in 2017, so the length of term of the warranty has changed. This is a separate thing from policy about who pays for the service.

Cheers, Al

Omega offers the international warranty, it's down to them to repair the watch and pay for it, not some retailer who may still be in business or may have had his AD status removed.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
Omega offers the international warranty, it's down to them to repair the watch and pay for it, not some retailer who may still be in business or may have had his AD status removed.

That's not how it works based on what Omega says, but in the end I don't really care if you believe it or not.

For what it's worth, I find this to be an odd arrangement as well. Why the AD or distributor should pay to fix factory generated defects is beyond me, but this is common practice in the watch industry.

What it does indicate is that being an AD is no cake walk. They get it from both sides, so customers beating them down on price every change they get, bringing watches back for the very smallest things and making out like you killed one of their family members, and then being made to pay for the fix by the company who made the watch and the defect.

Sweet deal...not. But I guess there's enough money in it for them to make it worth their while...

Cheers, Al

Mouse_at_Large · Nov 27, 2019

I may be pointing out something that may be relevant. If you read the exact wording of the policy quoted by @Archer above, "Coverage of the cost for sales warranties’ work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of OMEGA products. In sales warranty cases, the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or country Customer Service will correct the defect of the OMEGA watch free of charge" (my italics)

The authorised distributor and the authorised retailer may or may not be the same entity. If Omega do not see any difference then why call them different names? I'd venture to suggest that in the case of a AD, they are more than likely not the same entity.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Mouse_at_Large
I may be pointing out something that may be relevant. If you read the exact wording of the policy quoted by @Archer above, "Coverage of the cost for sales warranties’ work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of OMEGA products. In sales warranty cases, the authorized retailer of OMEGA products or country Customer Service will correct the defect of the OMEGA watch free of charge" (my italics)

The authorised distributor and the authorised retailer may or may not be the same entity. If Omega do not see any difference then why call them different names? I'd venture to suggest that in the case of a AD, they are more than likely not the same entity.

If you read my post on page 1...

"It depends on the set-up in a specific country. Typically coverage of the cost for sales warranties work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of the products. In some cases the distributor is also a retailer."

Cheers, Al

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
That's not how it works based on what Omega says, but in the end I don't really care if you believe it or not.

For what it's worth, I find this to be an odd arrangement as well. Why the AD or distributor should pay to fix factory generated defects is beyond me, but this is common practice in the watch industry.

What it does indicate is that being an AD is no cake walk. They get it from both sides, so customers beating them down on price every change they get, bringing watches back for the very smallest things and making out like you killed one of their family members, and then being made to pay for the fix by the company who made the watch and the defect.

Sweet deal...not. But I guess there's enough money in it for them to make it worth their while...

Cheers, Al

I agree it doesn't make sense, but I fail to see that Omega would chase an AD for payment for a warranty claim that was sent directly to Omega.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
I agree it doesn't make sense, but I fail to see that Omega would chase an AD for payment for a warranty claim that was sent directly to Omega.

They know what serial numbers were sold to what AD's or sent to distributors- it would be a simple process to add that to the bills they already send them...

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
They know what serial numbers were sold to what AD's or sent to distributors- it would be a simple process to add that to the bills they already send them...

Do you have any first hand evidence to go on where this has actually happened?

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
Do you have any first hand evidence to go on where this has actually happened?

I’m not an AD, distributor, or Omega employee. Therefore I’m not privy to the financial documents of any of these businesses. As I’ve already stated, what I have posted is Omega policy.

What I can say is that I do know of another situation with another watch company where this arrangement has caused some problems for watch owners. In North America the German brand Sinn is distributed by a company called WatchBuys. They are not only the distributor, but also the primary retailer for the US and Canada. They have made arrangements with RGM watch company in Pennsylvania to perform warranty repairs for their customers.

However it some people have purchased watches while on vacation in Germany, and brought them back to the US. When warranty issues have come up with the watches bought overseas, WatchBuys will not get involved, because they pay for the warranty repairs done at RGM for the watches they have sold, and those costs come from their margins. Watches bought outside their distribution channel must be sent back to the factory in Germany for warranty repairs.

Again I understand you won’t believe any of this, but this sort of arrangement is not in uncommon in the industry...

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
I’m not an AD, distributor, or Omega employee. Therefore I’m not privy to the financial documents of any of these businesses. As I’ve already stated, what I have posted is Omega policy.

What I can say is that I do know of another situation with another watch company where this arrangement has caused some problems for watch owners. In North America the German brand Sinn is distributed by a company called WatchBuys. They are not only the distributor, but also the primary retailer for the US and Canada. They have made arrangements with RGM watch company in Pennsylvania to perform warranty repairs for their customers.

However it some people have purchased watches while on vacation in Germany, and brought them back to the US. When warranty issues have come up with the watches bought overseas, WatchBuys will not get involved, because they pay for the warranty repairs done at RGM for the watches they have sold, and those costs come from their margins. Watches bought outside their distribution channel must be sent back to the factory in Germany for warranty repairs.

Again I understand you won’t believe any of this, but this sort of arrangement is not in uncommon in the industry...

It's not my experience and an international warranty offered by the manufacturer is just that, otherwise why would they include an Omega warranty card when bought through a official AD.
Ashford and Jomoshop have their own warranties but that's a watch supplied outside of the AD chain and comes with their warranty which some have said is worthless.

Speedy repair advice

Duckie

Stufflers Mom

Wooden_spoon

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Albe100

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Archer

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Mouse_at_Large

Archer

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Stufflers Mom

Archer

Stufflers Mom

Similar threads

My Dad's Constellation - repair advice please

Water damage - repair advice for 1973 Omega Speedmaster Mark 4.5 with severe corrosion and rust

Help identifying year, original band type and repair advice

Is 3rd time a charm (repair thread)?

Need Constellation Advice

Seamaster Polaris - are they repairable?