Would appreciate opinions on this inherited Omega (?)

Larry S · Sep 23, 2024

Archer
The only customer profiling most watchmakers do is to weed out the people who have demonstrated that they might be a pain in the arse to deal with.

All the projecting of potential evils being done by watchmakers in this thread is something that we don't have time for, because we have far more work being offered to us than we could ever actually do. This means that if I don't reject your watch outright and give you a price (meaning I have a spot for your watch in my schedule), if it's more than you want to pay, so be it - there are 5 others lined up behind you who are grateful to take your spot right away.

So you can employ all these strategies you have listed in this thread all you want, but other than making you feel better it's not going to change anything when it comes down to actually getting the work done you need done. No one cares what car you drive, what you wear, what watches you own, or where you bought the watch you want serviced (or inherited it from).

Thank you Mr Archer, for injecting sanity back into this thread. What a hijack! Now @FitzpatrickRN you have also just been given guidance by an expert Omega specialist on your odds of a successful local service. Looks like Omega will need to handle this. It is an interesting dresser with a family provenance that merits some investment.

mseamaster · Sep 23, 2024

Archer
The only customer profiling most watchmakers do is to weed out the people who have demonstrated that they might be a pain in the arse to deal with.

All the projecting of potential evils being done by watchmakers in this thread is something that we don't have time for, because we have far more work being offered to us than we could ever actually do. This means that if I don't reject your watch outright and give you a price (meaning I have a spot for your watch in my schedule), if it's more than you want to pay, so be it - there are 5 others lined up behind you who are grateful to take your spot right away.

So you can employ all these strategies you have listed in this thread all you want, but other than making you feel better it's not going to change anything when it comes down to actually getting the work done you need done. No one cares what car you drive, what you wear, what watches you own, or where you bought the watch you want serviced (or inherited it from).

This was never written specifically for you, so I don't understand why you're taking offense here.

You should understand that while you can be a professional ethical master watchmaker, there's a whole spectrum of watchmakers some of which don't even care much about watches. Recently a acquaintance showed my his quartz Casio(generic quartz watch but a pretty nice dial with hour markers reminding me of a much higher end Seiko, sapphire glass, stainless steel) with a scratched back. I asked him how the f it got so scratched - answer was a mere battery change a few years ago. The watchmaker who changed it certainly didn't care about it. To him it was just money to change a battery on a lowly Casio. Maybe that's how he justified it. Or maybe he wouldn't have cared even if it were an Omega or a Grand Seiko. I am not saying it to criticize anyone else though.

I don't think it's reasonable to generalize watchmakers as a whole. Or customers. I am sure there's tons of shitty unreasonable customers.

So of course as a watchmaker you have to pick your customers just like customers have to pick their watchmaker. It's a mutual vetting process.

And if I can't find a decent ethical watchmaker like you locally who wouldn't overcharge me, I would rather mind my clothes, wording, etc.

sheepdoll · Sep 23, 2024

I have been finding that these odd calibers tend to show up in the 'bulk' assortments. In some ways these odd ducks (cats?) have not had the materials picked over. Or the seller includes them just to dump them.

Conversely, high volume sellers what list by the part tend to up the prices hoping to catch a fish or two. Which we know cats are quite fond of.

Archer · Sep 23, 2024

mseamaster
This was never written specifically for you, so I don't understand why you're taking offense here.

I snipped the rest because you will believe what you want to believe and that's fine. My reply really wasn't for you, even though I replied to you.

No offense taken by me - you are not the first and surely not the last to propose such things, and I pretty regularly see people claim that watchmakers will swap out your movement for a lesser one, steal the jewels from your movement, etc. who generally have no idea what either of those things would actually involve in terms of work for such a meagre return.

This is all an extension of the same mindset, and my reply is meant to let people know that these things you are coming up with are just not important to any watchmaker I've ever known. My #1 rule is that I do not want to work with people if there's no trust, and all the watchmakers I know feel the same. In most cases what you wear or what you drive means nothing, because you are only driving to a place to drop off the package to ship, not to visit the watchmaker in person. Getting work via mailed or shipped in watches is pretty much the norm now for most independents.

As with most things dealing with trades that I have dealt with in my life (both when working as an engineer, or in my personal life), my advice is to find the person or company you are comfortable with, and if they do a good job, do all you can to keep them as someone to work with. If they do crappy work like the example you shared, move on to someone else. But planning your wardrobe choices is not likely a good use of your time.

Cheers, Al

Archer · Sep 23, 2024

padders
How about if we turn up carrying several cats?

Triple the prices, right off the bat! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Dan S · Sep 23, 2024

Archer
This is a "Bienne only" caliber, so if you send this to Omega it will not be serviced in your local service center - it will go to Switzerland for service.

Which makes me wonder, do they even have parts in Bienne for this movement, or will they just send it back? Just a rhetorical question. I certainly would not want to pay for fabrication.

DON · Sep 23, 2024

mseamaster
Interesting. This makes me very curious. Would you admit to having an Omega collection(or whatever collection you are building) to watchmakers? Would that drive the price up or maybe pull it down?

Would you tell a watchmaker that you have more of the same watch for example? I was thinking logically there should be a discount if you are servicing lots of similar watches. But it could be the opposite, the watchmaker thinking since you have the funds to buy lots of watches he might as well rip you.

My comments are aimed at members that don't have trusted watchmakers.

Here's some examples of what found early on when I started.

Watch repair company I found early on - Sweep second pinion replacement for a Omega - $150 and 6 weeks to repair - someone mentioned Perrins to me and bought it for $20.00

Another wanted $125 to make me a balance staff - told him to buy it at Perrins (I just wanted to get into his place to see what he had to sell or trade). Turns out he bought it at Perrins for $15

Honesty and dishonesty applies to any business. Mechanic, home improvement, etc. If you have honest people you trust. That's great, but I'm just telling new members to be careful, get estimates and report back and members will tell them if fair or not which many have. if the prices were fair. Why say anything at all and just let them pay it

mseamaster · Sep 23, 2024

Archer
Triple the prices, right off the bat! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

What if the watches are covered in cat hair? And the customer's t-shirt too? 😂 And some more stuck inside the segments of the watch bracelet?

Anyway, appreciate the mature response to mine. Hopefully I will find trusted local watchmakers one day.

Meanwhile back to the topic of the 511 cal, maybe it would be a good idea to buy a donor watch on eBay or elsewhere. I wonder if it would be cheaper to buy one for parts and service locally as opposed to sending the watch to Switzerland. Of course it's also risky since there's no guarantee if the donor would have the right parts in good condition. But it just sounds wildly expensive to ship to Switzerland and back.

I wonder if this would be of use to the OP:
https://www.cousinsuk.com/PDF/categories/4030_Omega 511.pdf

https://www.cousinsuk.com/PDF/categories/4029_Omega 510.pdf

Archer · Sep 23, 2024

Dan S
Which makes me wonder, do they even have parts in Bienne for this movement, or will they just send it back? Just a rhetorical question. I certainly would not want to pay for fabrication.

I think they do, but like other Bienne only watches, they just don’t sell them to anyone, even their own service centres.

Pvt-Public · Sep 24, 2024

padders
How about if we turn up carrying several cats?

They will be vacuum sealed for freshness and easier shipping. 😂

Would appreciate opinions on this inherited Omega (?)

Larry S

mseamaster

sheepdoll

Archer

Archer

Dan S

DON

mseamaster

Archer

Pvt-Public

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