I know that lately Omega seem to be taking more interest in their vintage watches - but do they have the in-house expertise to equal the collective expertise on this forum? My question is based on my own experience in 2011 which I detail below. When searching for a Ploprof I particularly wanted the squared off hour hand or 'blunt' hour hand as it is sometimes called. Having found an example I sent it Omega........................ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Jun 2011 Dear Mr. G, Regarding the repair 1079016 we would like to inform you that the hour hand which is fitted on your watch is not the original one. The hand which is fitted is for another Ploprof model. The original hand looks as follows: We shall therefore fix you the original hour hand. Thanking you in advance for taking note, we remain, With kind regards, INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER CARE Ω OMEGA SA _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Jun 2011 Hello Omega and thank you for email. I really do like the square hour hand on my Ploprof. It was one of the reasons I bought this watch and in Jon Wallis's excellent Ploprof book it is described as being originally fitted to some Ploprof watches. In fact a number of watches illustrated in the book have this square hour hand. Is there any reason why the original hands including the square hour cannot be refitted to my watch? Best regards, Jack _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 June 2011 Hello Omega, I have now spoken to Jon Wallis (acknowledged world expert on the Ploprof watch) who assures me that these square hour hands were fitted into many Ploprof watches just like mine. Neither he nor I are aware of any 'other' Ploprof models. As mentioned in my previous email I am just asking for these hands to be replaced which I really hope you can do. Best regards, Jack _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Jun 2011 Dear Mr. G, Thank you for your reply. Yes, the square hands have been used for other Ploprof watches but apparently not for the one with the case 055ST1660077. I will check this with my manager and will inform you accordingly as soon as possible. Best regards, INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER CARE Ω OMEGA SA _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 July 2011 Hello Omega, Hope you are keeping well. Just wondering if you had an answer yet regarding the Poprof hands. Also is waiting for the answer delaying the service of the Ploprof? Best regards, Jack _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Jul 2011 Dear Mr. G, Thank you for your e-mail. I had the chance to talk to Thomas Brandon of our Museum and he confirmed that the hands which currently are fixed are not the original hands for the case reference 055ST1660077. However, he informed me that it was possible that in the past there might have been a special edition where those hands were fitted. You have now two options: Keep the hands which are currently on the watch Fix the original hands Please let us know how you would like to proceed. Regarding the delivery date we shall send you back your Ploprof watch within approximately 2 weeks after your confirmation. Awaiting your further news, we remain, With kind regards, INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER CARE Ω OMEGA SA _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 July 2011 Hello Omega and thank you for your email detailing the two options for the hands. I would like to keep the minute, second and square hour hand which are currently on my watch. Please let me know when you are ready to despatch the watch in order that I can arrange insurance. Best regards, Jack _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 July 2011 Dear Mr. G, Thank you for your reply. We shall keep the existing hands. Once the watch is ready we will inform you accordingly. Best regards, INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER CARE Ω OMEGA SA _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Has anyone else experienced something similar?
Just reread my post and have updated it as I didn't initially explain that the hour hand in question was a 'blunt' hour hand. As the last email from Omega to me dated 6 July 2011 confirms Omega did eventually refit my original blunt hour hand.
Ok. I'm a bit thick. I took: "We shall keep the existing hands." to mean they kept them, choosing to return your watch to you with replaced hands. Do you have any "before and after" photos?
Must be the Swiss/English translation - Omega meant they would refit (keep) my original hands as I originally instructed. No before pics but this was the finished result. Watch no longer with me.
As stated in my opening to the post........... I know that lately Omega seem to be taking more interest in their vintage watches - but do they have the in-house expertise to equal the collective expertise on this forum?
All the brands see a business case in the vintage market... the way they address it differs. If you consider them all as they, the answer is no. And it is certainly nothing we can expect from them. Meanwhile they have incredible people working for the brand and they have a goldmine : the Archives. For sure, the random after sales support guy who had to deal with your vintage watch in 2011 had certainly different concerns, motivation, knowledge about it as you might have had. And he also had different in-house instructions. You're on a good way to your 200, 16 to go
I thought I was raising a point worth discussing and used my personal experience as an illustration. I have been on the forum for over 3 years so I am hardly racing to get to 200!
I am a little confused but not to worry that’s me, I am also a bit of a new boy 7 years ago you got the wrong hour hand and since then you sold the watch that you liked so much but the only thing you kept was this memory of someone in a service center not giving you your hour hand back And that’s the reason the museum are wrong ...not that they regarded Mr Wallis as an expert who wrote a whole book on the wrong information which they should have seen given that the Tsolo site has their own documents showing the right order I think this guy Kov seems to have grip .. the museum has got some new guys or some new collectors doing the work now who are now really getting deep into it in the museum and that’s what we hope is the new order Maybe mr Sohne has a better view than me but that seems to be right
I believe I have pinpointed the moment you messed up. I doubt too many others will be able to share similar experiences because virtually no one here sends vintage watches to Omega for service.
I think the highlighted word below is key here. The question is a reasonable one and some of the responses seem rather on the harsh side. I don't see that a lapse of seven years invalidates the point. Re the original question, I can't comment on Omega's collective expertise, but if you mean do they have the sympathy for and appreciation of keeping a vintage watch as original as possible, the answer has to be a resounding No.
I think, when you take into account that the heritage team is 4/5 people(not sure on current numbers, but a tiny team) to expect them to have the level of knowledge of the thousands of folks here is maybe a little unfair. Bear in mind that this little team is the part of the business that's focused on vintage. When you send a watch in for service, what that part of Omega is focused on, is returning a watch to you in as good a condition as possible, under warranty. That does not always work well with us vintage collectors, who don't always want cosmetics touched. These two parts of the business (the museum, and the international service centres, or even the Swiss service centre) have nothing to do with each other. When this subject comes up, the conclusion tends to be that if you are a collector of vintage Omega, and want sympathetic service work, there are better options than Omega. Names that come up often are @Archer, Swiss Time Services, Simon Freese... and I'm sure others who I shamefully can't remember.
Hi @JACK G You raised a valid question and worthily of at lest my time... I cant speak or type for others here... I dont know why people would respond in the negative... makes no sense to me... I find it rather sad. "I know that lately Omega seem to be taking more interest in their vintage watches - but do they have the in-house expertise to equal the collective expertise on this forum?" @JACK G , it would be hard to equal the collective expertise on this forum..... A few names come to mind that used to be at Omega years ago... Like John Diethelm He lived it ... he came to work at Omega in 1962 !!! and retired 12/16/2003 . .... I had the chance to spend a day with him at the Museum back in 1997. It was great.... I should repost all the photos of that day here... I post some back in the day on TZ.... I had a long relationship with John... It was great as he would tell stories when they launched the 751 day date chronometre...or the beta 21 quartz... he is a living treasure.... they called him the "computer" --- here is my post about John leaving Omega on chronocentric 12/15/2003 http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?md=read;id=22770 " Tomorrow is his last day !! Please read SCANS By:Bill Sohne <[email protected]> Date: 12/15/03 19:46 GMT Hi all I wanted to bring to everyone's attention that John R. Diethelm after 40 years and 3 months of outstanding service to Omega is retiring !! John started at Omega back in 1962 and held many many positions throughout Omega from product management to Sales manager. John�s last tour of duty was working in Omega�s vintage information department. Many of you who have emailed Omega over the years looking for additional info on an Omega most likely have gotten a reply from John. I first communicated with John in 1992 and have since became good friends, I even had a chance to visit him at the Omega factory back in 1999. Tomorrow is his last day at Omega. I would like to take this time to publicly give him the recognition he deservers and to also let his manager know what an important job he has done for Omega over the years and that he will be missed by Omegans all over the world!!! I just email both John and his manager letting them know what a great job John has done and how he made Omega more then just a brand name. I normally do not post John email on the forum, but this is a special occasion !! Please feel free to email John and his manager Mr. Jean-Claude Monachon and let them know how you feel or if you just want to wish John a happy retirement !! John does not have the time to check the forum please email mail him. Mr. Jean-Claude Monachon (John�s manager) email address is : [email protected] John email address : [email protected] John at his desk John in the records room. Looking up something for me. By the way, the book he is in is the First record book in the archives. John and myself (when I was about 120 lbs heaver ) in the Omega Museum. All I can say is John you will be missed by myself and other Omeagns world wide. I wish you all the best !! Happy Retirement !!. Sincerely Bill Sohne " will see if i can find the photos and repost them here.... But I did stump John a few times once with a DDR that was not in the Omega Saga... ( turns out there was a run of 80 movement and dials shipped to Canada in 1905). My OBS Omega Chronometre DeBord, which at first he thought was modified outside the factory... That took about 5 years to get to the bottom of... As others pointed out. It is about the people working in the group and what the marching orders from management are.... That can change at anytime... So any time you can get access to people in the Omega Vintage Info Department it is a treat.... For me anything that comes from any Brands "Vintage department " should be reviewed and all data not taken blindly.... so you can augment what they provide and compare and contract it with the forums of your choice. Good Hunting Bill Sohne PS a thought for everyone... I like to post or reply to a thread if I can ad value to the topic at hand.... I always ask " does this ad value?" before I hit the "reply" or " Post" button... but that is just me...
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