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Omega Seamaster Racing 168.050

SPIGGOTT
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SPIGGOTT Member

SPIGGOTT

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Hi,

Just wanted to show a before and after of a recent project.   I completed Mark’s online courses a few months ago and have done a few small projects.  Mainly servicing and repair of movements.  

I am an Omega collector and wanted to acquire the Seamaster Racing 1974 due to the Cal. 564 movement.

I bought this on eBay for $500 and yes it was as rough as it looks.  Rust, corrosion and badly maintained movement.

67F1D910-A836-4B5D-887A-E7A4560A1AE8.thumb.jpeg.c8c53cce38e66188aa2dfeab0696d40a.jpeg
 

I managed to find a NOS replacement crystal and bezel.   I serviced and repaired the movement back to Chronometer specs.

Unfortunately,  I can not take credit for the dial as I sent it to Bill & Sons.  But I will take credit for saving £200 off the bill by getting the Cliche for the outer race track on the dial done myself.

I never liked the leather strap or the original one from Omega.  Wanted a modern version of a beads of rise look but polished to match the watch.  Also wanted a fully mulled double clasp. 
 

there are the final results today after assembly.

 

6B924F65-D286-4FB8-B16C-962919FBAE76.thumb.jpeg.fe1a4486d4e93dc7587f1682601ba3e8.jpeg
 

B454E2D2-AF3F-43C8-BE48-332C93BE8C55.thumb.jpeg.3b4d857f1fd92958133ab12572029cb5.jpeg
 

58F1301D-9704-451F-9180-F855A925ABD4.thumb.jpeg.c875d0b9a6553556857e4447fa5221a7.jpeg
 

67B15898-FB80-4975-835B-60D94BB7B296.thumb.jpeg.cec4e755cd6a1d31ce329b71d777a2cf.jpeg

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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7 hours ago, PastorChris said:

I am curious as to what was done to the dial. My understanding is that it re-finished? 

Mentioned above:

 I can not take credit for the dial as I sent it to Bill & Sons.  But I will take credit for saving £200 off the bill by getting the Cliche for the outer race track on the dial done myself

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PastorChris WRT Addict

PastorChris

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4 hours ago, jdm said:

Mentioned above:

 I can not take credit for the dial as I sent it to Bill & Sons.  But I will take credit for saving £200 off the bill by getting the Cliche for the outer race track on the dial done myself

I did read that, but being completely new to this area, I was wondering if you knew what exactly they did to get it back to that condition. Was it a full strip and plating? How are the markings replaced/restored?

 I just don't know and was wondering if you had some more information on the process as I find it very interesting. Thanks in advance.

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jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

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36 minutes ago, PastorChris said:

I did read that, but being completely new to this area, I was wondering if you knew what exactly they did to get it back to that condition. Was it a full strip and plating? How are the markings replaced/restored?

 I just don't know and was wondering if you had some more information on the process as I find it very interesting.

Same as making a new dial but reusing new parts when possible. On this one, I think, there is a sunburst brushing before silvering.

 

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SPIGGOTT Member

SPIGGOTT

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The original dial was rusty in places, someone had tried to restore it with black paint.  Painted over indices and botched the outer ring.

 

I could have bought one new from Omega as they have them in stock (£430 + vat).

 

The dial needed stripping back to a blank brass plate.  They had equipment to produce the sunburst brushed effect and also had the original pad plates to produce the text.  The missing part was the outside racetrack design.   I have my own plate made as the cost through B&S was over £240.   It cost me $39 and I designed it myself in Adobe illustrator.

 

I have put it next to an original and the only difference was that the ‘Swiss Made’ at the bottom was not quite the right font and size.  You can only tell with magnification.  
 

The strap was custom made.  I looked through the original catalogue from the period ‘68-74’ and found these...

B837EFE7-5D6B-471A-ADC3-328983B464ED.jpeg.5f77b7869fd793fb7934522dbae8ddb5.jpeg

 

I liked the RG 8230 but wanted it sized to 22mm with milled double clasp and polished to match the watch.  I found a custom strap/jewellery maker in the USA that could make this.  Compared to sourcing the original at £550 which I did not like, it ended up at half the price.  The links are all solid and it feels better quality than the £1500 one on my Breiiling.

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SPIGGOTT Member

SPIGGOTT

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The sunburst is made by placing the blank on a rotating table.  A circular brass wire brush is lowered at a 90deg vertical to plate.  The wire brush is designed to just touch the centre outwards out to the edge.  So just sweeps the radius.

The dial is then rotated while the brush is lowered and rotated.    Go to 2:07 on video below to see the process.

All the indices are original, just polished and painted.  All text and tracks are added using a pad printer.

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