I'm wondering if/where I might be able to find broad arrow replacement hands for a 50/60's era Seamaster. Not a 300 and not a Railmaster, but just a regular Seamaster from that time period. If you see below, it looks like they were offered on certain Seamasters of that time period. Just wondering if anywhere sells replacement hands for a 33-34mm watch. As I'm also a noob learning, does movement make a difference with replacement hands? I found Harold (Yobokies), and he said his hands only fit Seiko movements. Realistically this is exactly what I'm looking for (not necessarily the lollipop second hand, but I do like that look): I also know Otto Frei offers replacement hands, but I can't seem to find any broad arrow ones. Here are other examples: Seamaster http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/vintage-omega-seamaster-broad-arrow-strap-suggestions-795561.html Seamaster 300 Railmaster Thank you! Matt
Another example from the forum showing a Seamaster w/ broad arrow https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-paf-2996-with-broad-arrow-hands.27970/
Hi, in fact the last one you posted is not really a "Seamaster", it is a peculiar watch - a Pakistani Air Force Issued railmaster, but which apparently the pakistani military could not bear to call by its real name and asked Omega to relabel "seamaster". (another member here recently sold a couple magnificent ones). Anyhow, it's hard for people to give advice without seeing pictures of your watch to understand what you're trying to achieve. Are the original hands damaged? If the original hands are in good condition, no one here would advise changing them. Purists believe a watch is most valuable when it is entirely original. (and yes, in principle hands are specificly sized to go with a particular movement - although I can't tell you about those specific Omega movements). Regards, S
Most hands being sold are for larger sized cases like the Railmaster and Ranchero. I bought 7 vintage pairs off a watchmaker (in gold finish) for the Seamaster Ranchero version and tried what you want to do Didn't work. Minute hand is too long for the smaller dial Seiko hands might work if the holes are smaller than the hands of the Omega. You can then have someone ream the holes to fit if only a touch smaller. Too small and you will remove too much material (mainly the hour hand). If holes too large. No fix to get them to fit. Minute hand will need to be small enough to fit to look right DON
Syrte, good to know the history of the watch I posted, thank you for clarifying that for me. Regarding the watch, I don't actually have one yet. I'm considering a few (posted about a couple last week) examples, each of which had refinished dials so I know members here may not agree with the watch at all. Figured this would be a bit of a frankenwatch due to a refinished dial which is why I was asking about the Yobokies hands. Don, according to Harold, he has a set of broad arrow hands like the Railmaster above with the minute hand being 12mm. The length should fit inside an older case, but you raise an excellent point about the size of the holes and that is a question I'll have to look into. He mentioned the second hand wouldn't work, but the minute and hour hands should.
Thanks oddboy, I'll reach out to Harold and see if he can confirm the size of his holes. *edit* He sent me the following link which appears as though you can swap hands made for Seiko onto ETA movements, but not the other way around. This excludes the second hand. http://forums.watchuseek.com/f21/hands-seiko-eta-interchangeable-745171.html If that's true, his hands may indeed work.
Careful with redials / frankens.... there's no real "market" price for those as collectors avoid them. So if some day you want to resell, you have no guarantee you'll recoup as much as you maid.