vintage omega maintenance cost

Actually that has been said quite often on this forum, not necessarily in this thread, and that is the only position on
this issue that I disagree.
I have read what Archer had to say about this both today and in his prior posts. And as stated already, I agree completely with essentially all of what he says. Most importantly, his answer to whether or not a watch needs routine service: "It depends". And one of the things on which it should depend is the relative cost of the service vs the value of the watch.
Your approach to collecting is probably very different than mine. I have purchased at least 100, maybe 200 watches over the past ~ 30 years, most vintage Omegas in the $500 to $2500 range. I keep around 40 or 50, and ~everything I have is for sale at the right price (except my wife. My kids I would give away). So I buy and sell frequently. With few exceptions, I have not routinely serviced any of them. The ill consequences of this approach have been, as far as I can recall, ~ nil. Maybe ten or so have had a problem. I've sent them to my watch repairman and they have always been fixed for the cost of a service or at most a few hundred bucks more.
Given the cost of service cited here, and by my rough calculations, that puts me $30,000 or so ahead. Which of course allows me to buy more watches 😀
You are probably right that most collectors follow your path, and I of course have no problem with that.

I completely agree.

If that works for you, I have nothing to say against your way!

By the way, I do not disagree, it is more that I feel differently. And as I service my watches myself, my situation is probably quite different.

My quartz citizen Aqualand II has reached the 15th year of life. Worn almost everyday. Regular change of batteries every 4 years 😀

I think the underlying problem, is the lack of care. Meaning, to my mind, there is no reason we don't have third party companies churning out the "discontinued" parts as they become scarce, and watchmaker like archer more prevalent. The thing is, when you go into a omega(rolex, breitling, etc.) you get the feeling you are buying something to pass down generations.. And they sell us on this, but the truth is far from it, and the buying public just kinda accepts it. I feel omega should care enough to keep its watches going, as a pillar of their principals, and the owner should care enough to pay what it cost to keep it going as well. If these two points fall apart over time, then there can be no more flippers/collector's anyway.

Also, the 50's/60's were omegas golden age of watchmaking..are we really ok with losing these historic pieces to profit? So the 70's tv dials will be the "vintage" watch to own? I'm not.. We all have a duty to keep these going or how much do we really love our omega?

One problem is the lack of good watchmakers! There are so many dilettantes around who destroy watches instead of servicing or repairing them.

I don't know. It's very easy to criticize other watchmakers without knowing what they are doing. It doesn't take much research to see that some people are unhappy to pay more than €100ish for a service of any watch so, some watchmakers are going for that market. It's not a business model that works for me but, there is a perception among some people that the work is trivial and is just a few hours at poor rates.

That guy can't invest in the latest equipment as he's never making any money so, for example, he's not using a decent 3 or 4 jar cleaner with at least two rinses. There is a school of thought that a lot of wear on pivots is due to cleaning fluid that's not been rinsed off so, he might be doing more harm than good unintentionally.

Of course, he can't replace any parts as the customer is not going to pay for that so, he puts the parts back in even though they're worn. And, he needs to economize on oils to make any money so ignores shelf life and can't afford a separate fridge to keep them in so his shelf life is short anyway.

Then, he's got no time so, he tests the watch in one position - dial up is what you see the most. Don't have time to check the lift angle so, appears to be running high 200s amplitude and in reality it's low 200s but, what do you expect with worn parts? Anyway, proclaims it all fine and running at +0 seconds/day! Great, except in the other positions, it's running all over the place and people then get used to watches that run +/- a minute a day or with low power reserve so, their expectations become even lower - heck, it's a vintage watch so has poor accuracy and reserve and what's the point of paying someone a decent amount to service it?

I'm sure there are bad watchmakers as in any other field but part of the problem is the perception from some that it's an easy job and not worth paying for. I have some sympathy for the theoretical guy mentioned above but agree he can be doing more harm than good. I don't think there is a solution though.🙁

I also like the idea of preserving some heritage as mentioned above and it's such a shame to see watch movements destroyed because of lack of mechanical sympathy but anyone is free to do whatever they want with their possessions so that's up to them.

Cheers, Chris

well, the world is not black and white but has many shades of grey 😉
I am not a watchmaker but my experiences are very bad until I found my current watchmaker.
One destroyed the repetition of a pocket watch. Another one disassembled a watch and was unable to put all parts together again. A third one told me that he has serviced the watch but he didn't. You can see the result in one of my posts above. Just a few examples.
Certainly, one problem is that many people don't value the work of watchmakers. Another one is that many watchmakers are only "battery changers". If they are not used to complicated watches, how can they service them? I don't blame these watchmakers. But I expect them to tell if they are not able to service a watch. Then, they should point me to a skilled watchmaker.

Big brands like Omega, Roley, Patek try to solve the problem by supplying parts only to authorized watchmakers. I understand this because it guarantees a certain quality. But that is not a solution. Then, servicing a watch becomes even more expensive.
Let us hope that there will be some skilled watchmakers like those we know still in the future!

I think we're in agreement on virtually everything😁. I was just trying to put across the point of view that some guys are just trying to put bread on the table and are perhaps not able to access a market where people are willing to pay for their skills. And sorry, from your posts on this thread I thought you were a Watchmaker.🥰

I'm sorry to hear that you had some bad experiences as well. In the codes of practice that I use, you aren't allowed to take on work you can't do so one of those guys shouldn't have stripped your watch. I hope you got it sorted👍. Battery changers are usually called technicians so that should give you an idea but, it sounds like you're sorted out anyway with someone you can trust.

I can understand the way Omega, Rolex etc are working but can also see the other side. It's a difficult line to draw and I think that Omega would charge $1000 for a 330 service so can understand why it puts people off. They are not quick to do though and parts are expensive and in short supply so they have some justification.

On the other hand, as you say, there are people out there doing more harm than good so, a cheap service might not be the way to go either.

Cheers, Chris

yes, everything is fine now with my watches. Thanks!

At the end, we need some pics: