Hi.
Just wondering how far back in time Omega go with parts supply. I'm thinking I will pick up a 1950's MW, like a cal 284 at some time. Are a full range available for moments this old?

 

That's exactly what I was looking for, gator.
Just needed to know what watchmakers have access to, so as to make an informed decision.

Thank you.

 

If its discontinued. Most likely Omega doesn't have the parts either. Parts suppliers got all their parts from Omega and if one is sold out. I found others also didn't have.

If you check Borel's page and click on a Part. It will tell which other movements also used that part, so don't always have to look for one particular movement to get a replacement part

If you need a discontinued part. WTB ad on forums, Google search or Ebay

DON

 

The oldest movements that are fully stocked in terms of parts would be the 55X/56X series, and the 600 series equivalent in a manual wind. So currently pretty much all parts for these are available from Omega, but it's unclear how much longer this will be the case.

For anything older than that, generally the further in time you go back, the less likely common wear parts will be available - since the common parts that wear will be the first to have remaining stocks used up once they stop producing the parts.

So the answer to your specific question is no, the 284 doesn't have all parts available for it - far from it. For example of the wheel train the only one available from Omega is the fourth wheel, so no great wheel, third wheel, escape wheel, pallet fork, etc. You or your watchmaker may have to search for what's needed on the secondary market, which takes time.

Cheers, Al

 

I also have problems sourcing vintage parts in general. There are a lot of shops out there that have a lot of parts. Here's a list of shops I'm searching:

https://www.cousinsuk.com/
http://cgi.julesborel.com/
https://flume.de/de/index.html
https://boley.de/
http://www.vintagewatchspare.com/
http://www.ebay.com/
http://watchdoc.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.dashto.com/
http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com/
http://www.millsys-watch.co.uk/
http://www.uhren-roemer.de/
http://www.ofrei.com/page_146.html
http://speedtimerkollektion.com/

 

does Omega have a similar rule to rolex where if the watch x amount of years old they wont touch it?/stop producing parts for repairs?

 

Omega will take a watch from any era in for servicing, so they don't have an automatic cut-off date in terms of how old the watch can be. They may not have the parts to service it, but that doesn't mean they won't at least look at the watch to see what's needed.

Omega policy requires that parts are available for any given model for a minimum of 20 years after that model is discontinued and the last watch is sold from the factory.

There are really 2 categories of spare parts in question though - movement parts and case parts. Movement parts tend to be available for a very long time, so if you consider that they haven't made a 55X or 56X movement in 40+ years and all the spare parts are still available, I think that speaks to their level of commitment to keeping watches ticking.

Case parts are a different story, and in general they tend to be discontinued far sooner than movement parts are (they are still subject to the 20 year rule though). This often results in the specific part that is available not being exactly like the original, because Omega policy allows substitution to keep supplying parts for watches. So the crystal, crown, pushers, hands, dial, etc. may be different from the original if they are replaced.

Cheers, Al

 

Thank you for the response! this gives me slightly more confidence when buying omegas, actually just bought a third. its not vintage or true vintage, but it is around 20 years old or so, give or take a bit and has the 1120. It does put me at ease that potential servicing is quite possible with the 564/565 movement seamasters, compared to rolex who wont touch vintage, when I was considering a 1601.