Good to see the watch being used as intended. I used mine during my original Open Water course around 2005, and continued to wear it even after getting a computer, all the way through to DM.

 

That is pretty surprising. I will post the quote from the rep at the closest Omega Boutique:
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So the service cost would be $550 and the dial replacement would be $439 making the required cost $989. If you wanted to have the bezel replaced as well for aesthetics then it would be $269 additional.
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The dial alone would have added $439 to my service.

Michael

 

New dials are not typically included. I can't say what the reason was that yours was covered, but this is certainly not normal anywhere that I am aware of.

 

Well, I was quoted a price for the service, which is what I paid, and when I collected the watch, Omega returned the replaced parts, which included the dial and hands. To be honest, I have no idea why they were replaced as they seemed fine to me. My understanding is it's the same with Rolex - in the UK at least - as I've had my Sub and SD serviced and paid a set fee. Interestingly, I've always taken my Omegas to the AD who has sent them to Swatch / Omega for servicing, but there's been little consistency over the what comes back: this was the first time the replaced parts were returned, and in the past, the new guarantee has been a plastic card, but this time was just a paper invoice with the warranty details on it.

 

Excited to see the results, I would personally only replace parts if they cant be rescued, bezel, hands and dial would try to keep as it adds to the watches history! nice to hear of somebody wearing it for what it was made for.

My 2008 300M has only been on 2 dives, hoping to do another 1/2 this year.

 

Short update. USPS texted me that the watch arrived at their international distribution center in Miami early this morning. It tickles me that the watch went almost as far south as you can go here in the lower 48 before heading to Canada.

Michael

 

I wasn't expecting it myself, but since this was the first time I'd received replaced parts, I have no idea if Omega did the same of not with the others I had serviced.

 

I learned to dive using mine, from Open Water up to DM. I use a Suunto D6 now, but still wear a watch as well.

 

I guess there was a bit of rust in there. Archer hard at work.
He says appears that the stem seal failed. Neato.

 

Thanks for sharing these; was looking forward to seeing Archer's photos.

 

Any updates to this?

 

Watch is back with the owner now for a couple of weeks. Leak was through the crown:



Some parts required of course...some for obvious rust, like the pallet fork (no amount of cleaning is going to fix this):



And some were just pain worn out, in addition to being rusted:

 

@Archer any photos of the finished product ?

 

No cosmetic changes made, so dial, hands, and bezel were all kept as is...

Sure:

 

Good question, and, yes!

@Archer initially told me that he was busy until the end of August. I sent it to him in early August, hoping perhaps he would get to it sooner.

The watch was returned to me a couple weeks ago, so he had it just a bit over 2 months. He did a complete service, but I asked that he not polish or renew to case or band.

The watch looks exactly as it did when I went it in, except cleaner. Not polished, just cleaned. The watch was running and the date was correct when I unwrapped it. I have been wearing it daily, and I have not had a need to wind it manually.

Many, many, MANY parts were replaced due to wear/rust, as expected. The watch seems to be keeping accurate time, but I am not obsessive about this and have not tested it. It's good enough. I was worried that the dial and hands would require replacement, but that was not that case, the original ones were retained.

The price he quoted for the service was what he charged me, but the cost of the parts replaced totaled quite a bit more than the labor. He sent me all parts that he replaced. He also sent me a CD with what I assume are pics taken during the service, but I have not had time to review that, he also sent a printout detailing the pressure testing. I requested that he do a full pressure test, as I actually dive with this watch.

No doubt, I could have saved many hundreds of dollars if I had had the watch serviced as soon as I saw fog in the crystal, but that's on me. I'm just happy that he brought it back to its original self.

Overall, I am satisfied with what I got, there were no unhappy surprises and I would recommend him if you find yourself in need of a watch service.

And now some pics...

View attachment 869576
View attachment 869577

If I've missed something, I'm happy too answer any questions.

Michael

 

WOW great job Al!

 

Great job and you did the right thing not replacing parts for cosmetic reasons. It would have felt like a different watch. Now it keep's it's character.

 

Quick note OP, you might want to crop the photo to take out your home address

 

@madmanmike You have yours and @Archer s address on a public forum. I would cover or remove them