Service
G99 shares the story of his 1964 Omega Constellation, detailing the process of having its redial corrected after discovering a misspelling. This post illustrates the dedication of collectors to achieving accuracy in their vintage pieces and the value of community connections in finding expert restoration services.
i bought this Constellation about 4 years ago. its a 1964 561 calibre with semi hidden crown, one of the only models the 561 went into. i have always found the case design a little boring with straight lugs, but thats something you have to live with if you want this movement from this period. after i added a beads of rice bracelet it improved the look considerably and i was very proud of it until last year when someone on the forum mentioned that it was a redial, a good one in looks, but with a simple error. the Chronometer was spelt Chronometre.
after that i was a bit ashamed of the watch and spent a long time looking for NOS dials without any success until our good friend Hoi informed me that a friend of his in far off distance lands was an expert redialler and could make the dial look perfect and correct. Hoi even promised to inform him exactly which font to use for the correct period so every detail would be covered.
so in late november i sent the watch to my watchmaker to get the dial removed and sent it to Hoi. 2 weeks ago the dial came back looking absolutely minty. also included was a new second hand as mine had been broken at some stage in its life.
after a quick service i got the watch back this morning and it looks fabulous. yes, its still a redial, but it would take an expert to notice. it still has the slightly scratched plexi, but thats just part and parcel of wearing it.
anyway, without the aid of botox i present the before and after pics of my 1964 561 calibre constellation.
Before.
i'm not a fan of redials, but this is one case when it was worth every cent and it didnt cost many of those 
my thanks again to Hoi and his friend. Hoi is a true purist and helpful in every respect.
Graham
would call themselves a fan of redials, but if you choose to go down that path, then this is a pretty good result. The after version certainly is a lot a lot more faithful to the original dials than the before. And always nice to hear of one purist helping out another like this. Thanks for sharing. grumio This message has been edited by grumio on 2012-02-11 03:19:16
i fully agree with you Grumio, i wouldnt choose a redial if i were buying (and knew about it), but once redialled incorrectly all i could was improve it. a replacement dial was an impossibility so i'm very happy with what i've got. still looking for a pie pan from 1964 though G
I am not as opposed as many to the concept of the redial. Probably because I like old cars and sometimes they need to be totally redone to give them a second life. I feel that giving a second life to an object is kind of important. Best regards, George
I would not knowingly buy a re-dial but hey, that one of yours is so good that I doubt many would know it had been painted. It's just a shame that there is no one locally who could do this and that you had to send it to the other side of the world. Yes, a it's a great job - well done!! Cheers Andrew
thanks Andrew, hopefully you'll get to see it soon. the real thanks should go to Hoi though. he put in a lot of effort to do this for me. best Graham
i know what you mean George. sometimes things like dials are past the point of no return and a redial is the only way to go. with Hoi's mate being so good i might start buying more tatty dialled pieces best G
This thread is active on the Omega forum with 30 replies. Share your knowledge with fellow collectors.
Join the Discussion →
