A short lived love affair

The Theo&Harris vintage online watch shop , I heard that they have good service and reliable vintage watches. They also have a YouTube channel

Nothing wrong with your taste in watches. That's a gorgeous model. Just need a better seller with impeccable feedback even if it's a few more bucks.

That’s a beautiful watch, how much did they say the service would be?

Thanks! Yeah I fell in love with this dial especially! Good advice. I don’t even think I got scammed necessarily - the watchmaker I took it to in Dallas used to work for Omega and said the watch looked legit and overall was in great shape for its age. I just think the seller’s watchmaker put the wrong replacement crystal on, and their standards for a servicing didn’t match up with my guy’s 😅but I didn’t want to keep it and have to pay $2k for servicing, especially when it didn’t feel like the seller was 100% honest with me.

Vintagewatchservices.eu Stian is a YouTubing watchmaker & while I've not bought a watch from him, I feel like he's reliable

Personally, anytimeI buy from eBay I’m assuming it will need service and factor it into the price of purchase.

$2k to service? I do not know if that is a competitive price, but it does strike me as unreasonable.

To be fair, that was his quote for new crystal, mainspring, rubber gasket, and clean/oil/adjustment

That was the suggestion of the watchmaker I took it to! Smart thinking. Do you have a local watchmaker you trust & take these purchases to everytime?

Yes, but I don’t take every watch to them. You just gotta do your research before you buy and make sure you know what you’re potentially getting into.

$2k - but that was to replace the crystal, mainspring, and gasket, as well as clean/oil/adjust

Check out Tim Mackrain. He has his own website but I found him on eBay some years back. (On eBay as “OmegaAddict”) He restores old Omegas from the ground up. As long as you’re ok with mostly repolished cases, his pieces seem to look pretty good. The inventory revolves pretty regularly so I suppose they’re good products. (I haven’t bought any personally) OmegaAddict.com

I’ve been stalking his site for months 😂really want to buy one from him. Saw a similar comment about him typically polishing cases, but I’m buying a watch to wear and enjoy, not as investment, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

Those crystals are probably just glued in with UV glue. The same stuff they glue tooth fillings in with.

TBH.

I rarely buy vintage watches, but when i do, i absolutely calculate that it needs a service. No matter how the watch is described.

Maybe that would change, if i bought a 2000€ vintage Omega from a real respectable dealer ....

$2K for a service? No bloody way. The mainspring might cost a bit, but that alone will add a few dozen bucks to the bill, not a few hundred. As for the crystal, this case most likely takes just about any crystal, as long as it's the right size. $10-$20. If it was a Unishell case, like in a Seamaster De Ville, that could require an Omega crystal intended for a particular case, but even in these, some generic ones will fit - it's a pain to find one that does, but it's possible. Yours is not a Unishell.

Gaskets also won't add much to the bill. An ordinary watertight case like that takes two - one on the case back, one in the crown. Generic gaskets come in so many shapes and sizes that watchmakers buy large quantities of them, and there usually will be something that'll fit.

Really great to hear the seller refunded you!

Interesting.. good to know. I do think the guy was quoting me for original or at least Omega produced parts, not generic ones. Would that make the cost more sensible? This was Kevin Monaghan at Time Tech in Dallas - maybe I need to look for another repair shop 😬

As I've said, even with an Omega mainspring and crystal, the cost of servicing shouldn't be that high. The gaskets don't need to be ordered from Omega, they're just rubber O-rings without any structural peculiarities.

Omegas with bumper auto movements (3XX series) and some rotor automatics (49X and 50X series) can generate high servicing costs, because parts of the automatic winding works tend to be worn in them, and spares are hard to come by. But the parts you've been told need to be replaced are nowhere near generating a bill that high. Omega factory service could possibly quote you something like $1K.

However, the way I see it, in this case the only Omega-made part that's needed is the mainspring. And even that costs well below $100.

So, that estimate is basically the guy taking you for a 2-grand ride.

It is my belief that with vintage watches that stuff just happens. They are not sturdy, they keep relatively poor time and occasionally just fall apart. That is not because they are intrinsically bad but because they weren't maintained properly, be it through neglect or in order to "keep it original".

May I suggest instead the DeVille prestige? These are fairly modern. Sapphire, Omega 1120 (ETA 2892) and such. I have one with a dark dial in rose gold, it's nice. It doesn't have numerals but you get a date, which is a number 😉

I recently had a great experience through Danny at https://dannysvintagewatches.com/. I met and purchased through him in person in NYC but he ships anywhere as well. Most of his listing are also on eBay if you need that added protection of authenticity but I’ve noticed they are listed higher to offset the fees. Check out his instagram too. Happy hunting!

Good sites to buy vintage Omega:

• https://www.omegaenthusiastltd.com

• https://theoandharris.com

• https://secondtimearoundwatchco.com

• https://www.bobswatches.com

Thanks for the lead!

Thank you! Super helpful.

Buying true vintage automatic watches are for the brave, hard pass.

Not sure if the gold case applies here, but I would check out the new Nivada Grenchen Antarctic 35mm or the Longines Heritage Conquest, also in 35mm. I’ve had very good experiences with Nivada and Longines speaks for itself. I believe both of these watches encapsulate that vintage’s charm/sizing of the time period of that Omega, while having modern specs and being brand new!

Awesome suggestions - someone else rec’d that Nivada and I think it’s the closest modern equivalent I’ve seen!

I had looked at the vintage model before Re-issue was released and was stunned upon seeing the similarities! Been seriously considering one as a neat dress/office piece.

Although no suitable options come to mind, the best solution for you is to possibly take up watch repair yourself. I fell down that rabbit one last year and hope to never go to another watch repair shop again and spend a ludicrous amount of money for service costs. Now I do them myself and love dedicating my time to my hobby.

I was going to suggest the 'OmegaAddict' too. His watches aren't 'cheap,' but are very, very well done. Seems he lives & breathes vintage Omega's. I like that also.