UK Anyone recommend someone to service a omega watch.

lillatroll · Feb 19, 2015

I am soon about to finalise the purchase of a omega watch, that I am buying from this site,and it looks like it will need a bit of attention. (Omega Seamaster Chronostop.) Can anybody recommend someone in the UK who will be able to look at the watch. From the pictures it looks like it needs a new crystal and the leather strap needs some attention. I don't want it to look new or be over polished, just a sympathetic TLC job and whatever needs to be done to keep it running smoothly. The seller says it works fine but I think its best to get it checked over.
The key word here is quality workmanship from someone I can trust and send my other watches to as well. Cost might be an issue if it is going to be stupid money, I have seen a site called watchguy.co.uk which quoted 185 pound for a service and I suppose parts are on top of this?

thank you

Nick H · Feb 19, 2015

Bite the bullet and send it to Swiss Time Services in Essex. They are the UK Omega Official Repairers/Servicers and will give you a comprehensive Guarantee. They are not cheap-I have my 38 year old 176 0012 4.5 Speedmaster with them at the moment, and it is costing me £936.00 to fully restore it. It has 4 more weeks (of 6) before I get it back, but I will get a full 2 Year Omega Warranty with
If you want it maintained properly-send it there...

ChrisN · Feb 20, 2015

You can contact STS for a quote but the figure quoted above of £936 must be for much more than a service and crystal as requested by the OP. This probably exceeds the value of his watch. A professional independent can also provide a service/crystal and much more at a price you may be happy with.

I believe (no experience myself) that Christian at watchguy and Stefan (who posts here as @stefan, I think) are both well respected UK based professional Watchmakers. You can search this site for "watchguy" and "Stefan" and should see plenty of feedback.

I have a Chronostop as well but never used yet as it needs a service. This year, definitely!

Cheers, Chris

Steve1haggart · Feb 20, 2015

just had my speedmaster serviced by Swiss time services in essex cost me £550 for a full strip down , but well worth every penny .the only downside is it took the 9 weeks to complete the job.

lillatroll · Feb 20, 2015

I contacted STS and they quoted 415 pounds for a service, and new crystal and bezel. The money doesn t really bother me, what I want is a quality job and a watch that is properly fixed and done correctly.

Liam1288 · Feb 20, 2015

Duncan at genesis watches gets a lot of good feedback from other forum members and his prices are around £300. He can even take pictures of your watch as he does the work and send you them for updates and proof.
Also another guy called john senior at http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com

I've never dealt with them personally but emailed both about servicing.
John is cheaper and I think mainly does vintage pieces but worth asking both 😀

lillatroll · Feb 20, 2015

L Liam1288
Duncan at genesis watches gets a lot of good feedback from other forum members and his prices are around £300. He can even take pictures of your watch as he does the work and send you them for updates and proof.
Also another guy called john senior at http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com

I've never dealt with them personally but emailed both about servicing.
John is cheaper and I think mainly does vintage pieces but worth asking both 😀

I will send them an email, thanks for the tip.
.

lillatroll · Feb 20, 2015

L Liam1288
Duncan at genesis watches gets a lot of good feedback from other forum members and his prices are around £300. He can even take pictures of your watch as he does the work and send you them for updates and proof.
Also another guy called john senior at http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com

I've never dealt with them personally but emailed both about servicing.
John is cheaper and I think mainly does vintage pieces but worth asking both 😀

I will send them an email, thanks for the tip

Psych · Feb 20, 2015

Speaking from recent personal experience, I can't recommend STS too highly. They'll do exactly what you want, take your watch immediately and will change/fix anything that you ask when you come to collect it. There are some very particular (I mean demanding) Forum members who use STS and Simon and his colleagues always seem to satisfy them. I'm sure Duncan at Genesis does great work, but my experience was of being very politely held on a waiting list for more than 6 months and I didn't have sufficient patience to go on waiting.

lillatroll · Feb 20, 2015

Psych
Speaking from recent personal experience, I can't recommend STS too highly. They'll do exactly what you want, take your watch immediately and will change/fix anything that you ask when you come to collect it. There are some very particular (I mean demanding) Forum members who use STS and Simon and his colleagues always seem to satisfy them. I'm sure Duncan at Genesis does great work, but my experience was of being very politely held on a waiting list for more than 6 months and I didn't have sufficient patience to go on waiting.

I am getting the watch sent to the UK but I live in the middle east and wont be in the UK until August at the very earliest so time is not really an issue for me.

tyrantlizardrex · Feb 20, 2015

STS are fantastic to deal with.

The quality of work is awesome, and they set an expectation on time scale once they've given the watch a checking over.

They're my go-to-guys for Omega.

Tom Dick · Feb 21, 2015

I use STS for virtually all my work omega and non omega (Swiss tec division) their works is excellent, but I will let the pics do the talking

lillatroll · Feb 21, 2015

Tom Dick
I use STS for virtually all my work omega and non omega (Swiss tec division) their works is excellent, but I will let the pics do the talking

I like the porno watch on the left. I have contacted STS. I have no doubt they are good, they get a lot of recomendations on here, my only niggle now is that they will not refurbish the leather strap that is on the watch, but can replace it with another strap, not original to the watch becuase they are not available. The watch I am buying is a chronstop jumbo, it is on this forum in the private watch sales. I want to salvage the strap too if I can.

pascs · Feb 21, 2015

IMO its far more important to have the watch serviced by a 100% professional company, the strap you could get refurbished by someone else if required.
I recently had watches serviced by a watchmaker and I'm less than happy with the quality. In the future I'm going to be using STS as I feel I've just wasted the money I've spent on the previous service.

Sherbie · Feb 21, 2015

I recomend Steve at rytetime in Leistershire for a complete strip down service - not affiliated, just a happy repeat customer - should come in around £130 ish

Just search google

Cheers, paul

ChrisN · Feb 21, 2015

lillatroll
I like the porno watch on the left. I have contacted STS. I have no doubt they are good, they get a lot of recomendations on here, my only niggle now is that they will not refurbish the leather strap that is on the watch, but can replace it with another strap, not original to the watch becuase they are not available. The watch I am buying is a chronstop jumbo, it is on this forum in the private watch sales. I want to salvage the strap too if I can.

Good luck whichever way you choose to go. Mine came with (what I believe is) an Omega clasp marked "No 27" and "Modele dépose" attached to two pieces of leather strap. These taper from 22mm at the lugs to 14mm at the clasp. Is this what you are trying to have renovated? I am looking instead for a replacement for these pieces.

Quick shot. I have a nice new Omega crystal for when I service it which should remove the horrid distortion on the tachymetre ring (the crystal today is generic)

These house an 865 which is about two thirds of an 861 so, it makes sense that the service charges are up there close to Speedmasters.

Edit: Just noticed that I seem to have engaged the chrono in that picture. Off to reset it as it is just in storage at the moment.
Cheers, Chris

lillatroll · Feb 21, 2015

Yes that is the strap I need. I one on the watch I am buying is blue, but from pictures I have seen the straps are black. If I can t find one then I might get a new one made. Are you going to keep yours or sell it?

lillatroll · Feb 21, 2015

it also has the same clasp with the same description, so I believe this is original to the watch. Its the same one I have on my chronostop driver

ChrisN · Feb 21, 2015

Yes, mine are black but are not marked Omega so, I suspect are replacement parts. To be honest, I've had the watch for at least six months but have done nothing to it and not even sourced straps. It needs a service and I am working up to that although have already bought a mainspring, crystal and case seal months ago.... Later this year, I will service it as it looks very dry. The straps on mine are fine but I like the idea of new ones.

I don't intend to sell it at the moment and am on the lookout for a Driver (amongst others) as they are quite quirky watches. Sounds like you have the bug for these.

Which one are you buying on this forum?

Edit: You encouraged me to see what I have. These are the, quite dirty, pieces that make up the strap and it is clear that they are stitched specifically for this so, definitely not just cut down from something else. There is also some glue in evidence to attach the end pieces even though they should not need it....

Cheers, Chris

lillatroll · Feb 21, 2015

I am buying the jumbo chronograph from modest proposal, page 2 of private watchsales.It needs abit of TLC but its a fair price and looks like it needs just a service, new crystal and something done with the strap. I like many of the omega watches from the late60s and early 70s. I plan to acquire a dynamic, a flightmaster a menomic and a bullhead. My wife says I can buy one watch a year so it might take some time or blackmail.

UK Anyone recommend someone to service a omega watch.

lillatroll

Nick H

ChrisN

Steve1haggart

lillatroll

Liam1288

lillatroll

lillatroll

Psych

lillatroll

tyrantlizardrex

Tom Dick

lillatroll

pascs

Sherbie

ChrisN

lillatroll

lillatroll

ChrisN

lillatroll

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