My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend "The Omega Collector's Experience" sponsored by Omega and my local Omega AD tonight. It was held at the beautiful Ritz Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay, CA. I've never been to one of these before and I didn't really know what to expect, but it was fantastic! The evening started with cocktails and an opportunity to mingle with other local watch enthusiasts and a rep from Omega USA. He showed off some Omega rarities like the 'MD's Watch' and the '1932 Marine's Watch' from the Museum Collection. There was also a DSOTM and a selection of other cool watches on hand. Also in attendance were three watchmakers from Omega's Seattle service center which is attached to the Seattle Tourbillon boutique. One was Mackenzie Nesbit, son of Tom Nesbit of Nesbit's watch repair in Seattle who gave a presentation on mechanical watch basics and gave an in-depth introduction to Omega's Master Coaxial movement. The presentations were given while a terrific four-course dinner was served (mmmm, lobster). Dinner and the presentations were awesome, but the icing on the cake was to come next. Everyone in attendance was given an Omega watchmakers coat, a set of Swiss watchmakers tools and a head-mounted loupe and led into a room full of watchmakers stations. Each station contained an Omega Seamaster Professional watch. Mackenzie Nesbit led the group through the full disassembly of the watch's movement. Each person had an opportunity to disassemble the movement with his/her own two hands. Such a unique opportunity that was a ton of fun. Once the watches were fully disassembled we were given one last treat - we were told that the set of watchmakers tools, loupe and watchmakers coat were ours to keep! In addition, we were given Omega carrying bags that contained a leather Omega credit card holder and a leather valet tray. Omega gives good swag! Thanks go out to Omega and CH Premiere Jewelers in Santa Clara, CA for an awesome evening. I'm hoping I can wrangle my way back onto the invitee list next year. The pics:
We just had dinner with Mackenzie and heard about the event details. We are very happy that he is able to be part of this program. Very cool that you were able to attend!
Funny, because they were joking at the event that it's not the years of training that makes a watchmaker, it's the white coat After fumbling around for close to an hour to disassemble the SM I can most assuredly say that the white coat is the least of it.
Is it just me, or is that a 2254 with Planet Ocean 2500 hands? It looks like a hybrid of the 2254 and new SM300, which I've never seen done before. Looks like a good time was had by all, the event looks fantastic.
You're right, I think it's a bit of a Franken. Some clumsy amateur watchmaker like myself probably dropped the original hands somewhere when disassembling the watch at one of these events
Don't worry Al, all of those toolkits in the hands of amateurs are bound to generate significant business for qualified watchmakers.
Yes, some of them do keep me in business, but there are some very good ones out there - how they fit into the watchmaking world is an interesting discussion...but for another thread. Thankfully the photos aren't close enough to show a lot of damage...but the photo that really bothers me is the one with the watch in the Bergeon 4040 holder with the dial still on...yikes!
I stuck the movement in the holder just to give the holder a try. Don't fret, I doubt any of us from the event will ever actually try and work on our own watches. Now a friend's watch, that's a different story
Not fretting at all mate...I like that people attend these things actually. That way they might gain some understanding of what it takes to service a movement. I am very glad to hear you were not instructed to do that though. Cheers, Al
Hey Alf! Wouldn't hurt to contact the boutique and ask about their event on Dec 16th. I don't believe it will be the same type of hands on event but very interesting all the same. Tom and I are honored to have gotten an invitation from Mac and we're looking forward to it. If you are downtown this Friday, stop by our place. We're hosting an open house at 5pm. Tom will be demonstrating an 861 service.
