Omega Seamaster - Refurb Or Leave Alone?

[Elwick]

My everyday watch - bought new in 1999 as a special gift to myself. The wavy blue dial really swung it for me.

 

Being worn pretty much 24/7 since, including gardening, dodgy DIY, the lot it has had something of a hard life and picked up a lot of dings to the bezel as well as a million scuffs and scratches on the bracelet.  There are some very light scratches on the crystal but barely noticable.  Comparing it with mint examples it is noticeable that the bezel has faded significantly and that the second hand has lost its red colouration at the end.

 

I'm wondering whether at some stage to bite the bullet and have it refurbished, or whether to just continue to enjoy the 'patina'.

 

What would you do?

 

Elwick

[Geo]

I have mixed views about re-finishing watches. In the case of your Omega I would ask myself a couple of questions.

(1) Will I continue to wear it as before, i.e. Doing the garden, cage fighting etc.

(2) Will I wear it on special occasions and keep for posterity.

If the answer to (1) is yes the leave it as is, and if (2) is yes then replace the bezel and second hand with original parts and refinish the case and strap.

Here's my take on re-finishing watches:

If a watch is a valuable high quality or very rare vintage piece, I would give the parts a good clean and polish the case. I would only do this if it was a polished finish originally and without any engraving or plated finish. Neither would I re-finish the dial unless it was in a real mess with corrosion, in which case I would look for a replacement original dial. The same goes for the hands.

If the watch is not a rare or high value item, I would have no problem with refinishing anything that is in a poor state. This is why I will possibly re-finish the Lanco bumper that I have bought but wouldn't consider touching the finish on my 1946 Omega bumper.

The bottom line is if it's your own watch, do what makes you happy...............regardless!

Edited May 2, 2014 by WatchRepairGuy

[WillFly]

I'm with Geo on this - there's a fine line between restoration from poor condition and losing the qualities that make the watch what it is - a piece of history.

Edited May 2, 2014 by WillFly

[Mark]

On this occasion I slightly disagree (sorry folks).

 

This is a relatively modern watch. The bracelet is still available to buy as are pretty much all the case parts.

 

I service the Seamaster Pro's (James Bond's etc) on a regular basis and part of my quote will be for a refinish and the customer can decide either way. This bracelet is quite a time consuming job as you have two thin strips of highly polished links surrounded by the rest being brushed. The finish is achieved by using refinishing tape to mask the high polished links whilst brushing the others with a graining wheel.

 

The end result is usually quite impressive - but not exactly the same as factory finish (if we are being picky) :)

 

This particular watch - I would go for a refinish if it is done properly.

 

By the way - I am not promoting my service with this post - I have way much more work than I can handle at this time - this is merely my opinion about this particular watch :)

 

One word of advice - DO NOT be tempted to buy the cheap bezel inserts off ebay - they are not made by Omega and they look crap compared to the genuine article. If the bezel insert is badly scratched then it is possible to buy a complete bezel from, say, Cousins which will come with a new tension ring and click.

 

Here is one I replaced recently which was really quite bad:

 

 

I hope this helps  :thumbsu:

[WillFly]

Mark, I bow to your superior knowledge! :bow:

[Mark]

Not at all will - its all subjective :)

[Blacklab]

Quite agree Mark. Keep something like this well cared for. Use something good, basic & probably quartz for your everyday beater, I have a Seiko 7N36-6A40 sapphire crystal that I knock the hell out of but still looks good & keeps excellent time. At the weekends and days out I use one of my decent watches, that way they stay decent.