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Ultra Sonic clean can damage your DON

omegasaso12
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Terrible just terrible outcome.

I am sorry for your lost. Hope you did not pay for the service that was preformed on the watch becouse what I see watchmaker doesnt give a shit about vintage or even originalty of it. He didnt even instal you original part now.
 
The_Walrus
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I caught up with him the next morning, my '67 premoon with a good condition DON on my wrist and my Moon Watch Only bible under my arm.
10 minutes later we reached an understanding that I source a bezel and be compensated some way.
A search that I'm not going to enjoy because I have to first justify the expense to a third party.
 
The_Walrus
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omegasaso12 omegasaso12
Terrible just terrible outcome.

I am sorry for your lost. Hope you did not pay for the service that was preformed on the watch becouse what I see watchmaker doesnt give a shit about vintage or even originalty of it. He didnt even instal you original part now.

The watch remains in his possession still and no money has been exchanged as yet
 
noiseboyuk
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I hope you sort out the mess without too much trauma.
The consequences of the ultrasonic cleaning are quite shocking - certainly a lesson to me.
I would not have considered that so much damage could result.
A lesson to me.
 
kreyke
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I'm quite surprised that he doesn't understand the value of DON if he's a watchmaker for decades.

And I think he should have offered to source one for you to make up for the distress he caused you, instead of putting the onus on you to find the replacement.
 
BartH
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kreyke kreyke
I'm quite surprised that he doesn't understand the value of DON if he's a watchmaker for decades.

To be fair, I've encountered capable watchmakers who were not up to speed with current market prices.

Mind, I'm not calling the OP's watchmaker capable.
 
jumpingsecond
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walrus- thanks for posting. I had no idea an ultrasonic could do that. I'm glad you're getting it resolved . Might be good that it's up to you to source the DON though- bc I wouldn't trust him to do so properly.
 
cpl
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Watchmakers know movements and parts. You'll be surprised how clueless they are when it comes to collectibility of certain models or even just reference numbers.

At the authorised service centre an old scratched bezel is a piece of junk to them (I know this didn't happen at the service centre, I'm just using an example).
 
Archer
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cpl cpl
Watchmakers know movements and parts. You'll be surprised how clueless they are when it comes to collectibility of certain models or even just reference numbers.

At the authorised service centre an old scratched bezel is a piece of junk to them (I know this didn't happen at the service centre, I'm just using an example).

As a watchmaker my subject matter expertise is the technical side of watches - the skills and knowledge required to service them properly, troubleshoot, repair, and optimize performance. Although it's impossible for any watchmaker to know everything about all watches they might encounter, describing us all as "clueless" with regards to items related to collectability is over the top. If you even look on this forum, and within the single brand this forum is named after, there are countless experts in different types of Omega watches here - some on pre-WWI watches, some on 30 mm manual wind watches, some on Constellations, some on divers, and of course some on Speedmasters. No one here is a true "expert" in all these models, so expecting a watchmaker (or anyone for that matter) to be such an expert in every watch ever made that might come across the repair bench some day is ridiculous.

I come here to assist collectors with their technical questions, and in turn I learn about the things that are important to collectors (i.e. my clients). There are good and bad actors in every profession, so I would appreciate it if you didn't lump us all together, thanks.

Cheers, Al
 
cpl
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Archer Archer
As a watchmaker my subject matter expertise is the technical side of watches - the skills and knowledge required to service them properly, troubleshoot, repair, and optimize performance. Although it's impossible for any watchmaker to know everything about all watches they might encounter, describing us all as "clueless" with regards to items related to collectability is over the top. If you even look on this forum, and within the single brand this forum is named after, there are countless experts in different types of Omega watches here - some on pre-WWI watches, some on 30 mm manual wind watches, some on Constellations, some on divers, and of course some on Speedmasters. No one here is a true "expert" in all these models, so expecting a watchmaker (or anyone for that matter) to be such an expert in every watch ever made that might come across the repair bench some day is ridiculous.

I come here to assist collectors with their technical questions, and in turn I learn about the things that are important to collectors (i.e. my clients). There are good and bad actors in every profession, so I would appreciate it if you didn't lump us all together, thanks.

Cheers, Al

My apologies Al. I could have used a better choice of words. I know you are one of the experts but you are the exception rather than the norm. As demonstrated by this thread, the average watchmaker does not appreciate the value that small differences in fonts or dots can bring to a watch. And I'm speaking from personal experience as well.
 
The_Walrus
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Thank you all for your words of encouragement.
This really is a great community.

I'm sure (hope) we resolve this amicably.
 
BenBagbag
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The_Walrus The_Walrus
Thank you all for your words of encouragement.
This really is a great community.

I'm sure (hope) we resolve this amicably.
I hope so too. Does the guy understand what a ballpark value of a DON is? This is such an uncomfortable situation to be in... Hope all works out well...
 
Davidt
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cpl cpl
My apologies Al. I could have used a better choice of words. I know you are one of the experts but you are the exception rather than the norm. As demonstrated by this thread, the average watchmaker does not appreciate the value that small differences in fonts or dots can bring to a watch. And I'm speaking from personal experience as well.

I agree that many watchmakers don't know the value of many vintage parts, but playing devils advocate, I also think that most watchmakers and non WIS can't understand and/or think it's crazy that idiot watch collectors (I include myself in this), attribute ridiculous amounts of money to the location of a dot, or general degradation that most people would see as damage.
 
blubarb
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😲 Definitely upsetting to read about and to see. I hope you find a replacement bezel soon. I find it very hard to believe an experienced watchmaker has little or no understanding as to the value of these watches and the DoN bezel. 😵‍💫🙁
 
photo500
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As a watchmaker that works on vintage Omega probably 80% of the time it's hard not to gain an appreciation of just how much vintage parts can cost.

Taking chances with anything vintage is not a good idea. Any breakages or damage is bound to be horribly expensive.

The value of the bezels on the Pre Moon Speedies in my workshop right now would buy a very, very nice car.

Next time George, maybe drop me a PM first I'd be happy to help. A Watchmaker that is also a collector is going to have the same values as you do.
 
dx009
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That sucks. It should be common sense to know that some parts shouldn't be cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner, especially vintage components which might be more prone to damage.
 
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