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STANDY
··schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector
The koala might look cuddly but the koala has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws
Edited:
What Bienne used to do:
The koala might look cuddly but the koala has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws
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mondodec
·For those who couldn't tell the difference between a Speedmaster and a Mixmaster I agree they don't know what they don't know and probably couldn't care less, but you miss the point. Almost everyone on this forum who refers to themselves as a collector would indeed care. The myriad of threads where contributors make their assessment of vintage watches show a general consensus of caring for the details and caring much about originality.
Almost no one looks at the movement and could care less about what is engraved on that bridge. I get that YOU care about it but the vast majority of the planet doesn't care.
As long as Grandpa's watch keeps time, that's all that matters.
Tom
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incabloc
·I have heard Omega in Switzerland is more sympathetic to older watches now, but I still would not feel comfortable sending to them until I see more sympathetic treatment of vintage watches.
my last watch in Biel was the 2998-62, the requirement was clear to just servicing the movement and do nothing else. Some weeks ago Biel has called me, the watchmaker want to ask if i agree with a replacement of the crystal, a slightly polish of the case back and change of the sub hands because they are overpainted. That was ok for me, so i'm really happy now with my 2998 and the 321 works perfect.
bevor:
after:
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dsio
··Ash @ ΩF
Less damage than running over the baby kangaroos at Sanctuary Cove as they're low to the ground but still like hitting a bowling ball.
We have many beautiful animals here, and most of them like running in front of cars when it gets dark.
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Stewart H
·Ouch
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ulackfocus
·Oh no, not again. Who's got the holy hand grenade this time?
One, two, five!
Three sir.
Three!
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ChrisN
·Right. Hope Watchtinker will ignore the inappropriate comments and stick around.....
Maurice has been here for a while and, I might be wrong but I think he's Italian.
The best thing about this forum is that everyone seems to give their opinion without discussions sliding into arguments. Recently, I joined timezone in UK (yes, the SeaSpeedMaster prototype thread took me there). They really do speak their mind and I seem to recall one comment of "Don't bother discussing with that guy, he's an idiot". I don't see anything like that from the regulars here ( hoping no-one calls me out on my idiot status😀).
Chris
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Tjmmartin
·I would appreciate it if the service center let you know what was to be replaced. Many times people get watches from their relatives and start to get into the watch hobby. At first they are excited and quickly send it off for a service which Omega restores to new with new parts. The owner is happy for a quick moment and wears it. Then upon reading more and more on the internet realizes the horrible mistake. Now I'm not saying Omega is at fault because they have a protocol and need to ensure a two year warranty.
Secondly I've noticed on a few threads recently things seem to get a little personal!!....I've got skin thicker than a rhino but am surprised at some comments recently.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerMaurice and I have had this discussion by PM already, and we have agreed to disagree. While I fully support getting the movement running back within specs when possible, I don't support the automatic replacement of parts that affect the looks of the watch. If the tritium lume in the hands and dial are no longer glowing, that means they are not up to original specifications - I don't agree that this means they should be replaced if the owner of the watch decides not to. Lume can be stabilized if someone wants to take the time to do so, and this eliminates any possible hazard to the watch, but the factory still won't do this. Not sure if it's related to the numbers they have to meet each day to keep their jobs or earn their bonus, but to me it's not doing the job right if you just start replacing parts all over the place.
I just shipped back a vintage Speedmaster from 1971 to an owner this past week who had originally taken it to Omega. They told him the case would not seal and had to be replaced, and of course he was not happy with that. They also insisted that the tritium hands had to be replaced. He contacted me and after we discussed it, he got the watch back from Omega and sent it to me. I serviced the watch, and yes the case back was pitted, and there was one small pit in the case itself where the seal sat. However Omega could not have known this, since the case back gasket had turned to black goop and I had to scrape it out and then clean the groove with alcohol. The pitting there was only visible after the case was cleaned up.
In addition to fully servicing the movement, I replaced the crystal, crown, pushers, and case back gasket, and despite the pitting the case sealed fine. The hands were in perfect shape - no reason at all to change them. My customer is very happy, and there was no reason to change the case or hands as Omega had said was required...
Again - whoever owns the watch decides what gets done - not sure why the Swiss don't seem to understand this concept. It's not that difficult.
Cheers, Al
I just shipped back a vintage Speedmaster from 1971 to an owner this past week who had originally taken it to Omega. They told him the case would not seal and had to be replaced, and of course he was not happy with that. They also insisted that the tritium hands had to be replaced. He contacted me and after we discussed it, he got the watch back from Omega and sent it to me. I serviced the watch, and yes the case back was pitted, and there was one small pit in the case itself where the seal sat. However Omega could not have known this, since the case back gasket had turned to black goop and I had to scrape it out and then clean the groove with alcohol. The pitting there was only visible after the case was cleaned up.
In addition to fully servicing the movement, I replaced the crystal, crown, pushers, and case back gasket, and despite the pitting the case sealed fine. The hands were in perfect shape - no reason at all to change them. My customer is very happy, and there was no reason to change the case or hands as Omega had said was required...
Again - whoever owns the watch decides what gets done - not sure why the Swiss don't seem to understand this concept. It's not that difficult.
Cheers, Al
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michaelmc
·Thanks for comments Maurice. I remember when a full "factory" service added value 😀. It still does except to many of us who have the "vintage" bug. Being mostly a Rolex 50's-70's collector I see no difference than Rolex North America's service as compared to Omega or any other mark. The manufacturer wants the watch to be as close to what's available now with updated parts and specs. and to be able to function with same efficiency as possible. Regards, m
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI had a watch to the service center in toronto. They examined it and came back with a recommendation for an overhaul and some other parts, dial, hands, etc. I declined and they crossed them off the list and marked it as 'customer declined' - after trying hard to convince me they should be replaced.
I don't know what would happen if the watch had to go to Bienne, but in the local shop, they seemed ok with not replacing parts if the customer doesn't want them replaced...
This was clearly not a Cal. 321 Speedmaster though, right? Not likely since these are Cat. 4 watches that must be sent to Bienne from any Omega service center as I understand it.
I think service centers will give you options to replace things or not, and let you decline certain items being replaced. It's the things that they declare "not optional" that are the problem. I don't think your example is addressing the same issues talked about in this thread, but maybe if we knew what model it was and what you declined, we would be able to judge that better. If it was a modern SMP for example and they wanted to replace the crystal due to scratched up AR, and you declined, that is not the same thing as replacing tritium hands and dial for no reason other than they do not glow anymore...
Cheers, Al
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oddboy
·It was my Holy Grail.. not a 321, but not a modern watch either. They wanted to replace the dial because some lume on some of the hour markers is gone and the hands because the tritium was gone.
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VetPsychWars
·For those who couldn't tell the difference between a Speedmaster and a Mixmaster I agree they don't know what they don't know and probably couldn't care less, but you miss the point. Almost everyone on this forum who refers to themselves as a collector would indeed care. The myriad of threads where contributors make their assessment of vintage watches show a general consensus of caring for the details and caring much about originality.
Yes, that's true. People on this forum care. But because the vast majority of the public would never see the movement, that Omega doesn't use the same bridge (or make more) doesn't matter to them.
That was my point.
Tom
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerWe have many beautiful animals here, and most of them like running in front of cars when it gets dark.
The most road kill that I have ever seen was during a trip to Tasmania - we drove all around the island over a period of 5 days and there were more dead things on the road there than I have ever seen in one place...
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bill5959
·my last watch in Biel was the 2998-62, the requirement was clear to just servicing the movement and do nothing else. Some weeks ago Biel has called me, the watchmaker want to ask if i agree with a replacement of the crystal, a slightly polish of the case back and change of the sub hands because they are overpainted. That was ok for me, so i'm really happy now with my 2998 and the 321 works perfect.
bevor:
after:
On the other hand, I was privileged to speak with Petros Protopapas about the museum watches. They have a watch gifted to JFK that so far has not been touched. He said they would conserve it by opening the back and correcting any possibility for degradation. If parts were broken they would not be replaced. I don't get why the museum and Bienne can't meet halfway.
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gatorcpa
··ΩF InvestiGatorI don't get why the museum and Bienne can't meet halfway.
If something goes wrong with JFK's watch, they just send it to the watchmakers in the back.
Chances are that JFK's watch is never run, to minimize the possibility of damage.
gatorcpa
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