Comments:
So I thought that you would all like to hear a story. My grandfather recently passed away. When clearing out his possession's we discovered this early 60's Omega Seamaster. As his vision started deteriorating many years previous he had stopped wearing it (gold hands on gold face is tough to see). It had not run a single second in just over 20 years! Without any service or even opening the back I wound the watch and left it to run, winding every couple of days. In the last couple of months it has lost no more than 4 seconds a day. Says something about Omega's of the 60's and that it is not always necessary to keep a watch constantly wound.
A testament to quality?
So I thought that you would all like to hear a story. My grandfather recently passed away. When clearing out his possession's we discovered this early 60's Omega Seamaster. As his vision started deteriorating many years previous he had stopped wearing it (gold hands on gold face is tough to see). It had not run a single second in just over 20 years! Without any service or even opening the back I wound the watch and left it to run, winding every couple of days. In the last couple of months it has lost no more than 4 seconds a day. Says something about Omega's of the 60's and that it is not always necessary to keep a watch constantly wound.
For sure but ...
If the watch is not maintained (oiling and cleaning) for 20 years as you stated, I would rush to a good watchmaker for this maintenance.
In this way you can have it in great shape for your ... grandchildren.
Congratulations,
Nilo
.
In this way you can have it in great shape for your ... grandchildren.
Congratulations,
Nilo
.
A legacy ..
that you will keep. Love the story. I would recommend the same, despite it running flawlessly as it seems to be, do have it service soon and ensure its quality remains tip top. Treasure like this, especially from your loved one, must be cared for with upmost attention. /W72
The good and the bad
The good is that it's a wonderful memento of your grandfather - I have a Zenith pocket watch from mine which I truly love.
The bad is that as we speak you are damaging it - the dried oil will not work and the parts are running metal on metal. The parts will deteriorate (and may then need changing) and the metal dust will spoil the movement. It would be a shame to ruin in a few weeks what was kept so pristine for decades.
The bad is that as we speak you are damaging it - the dried oil will not work and the parts are running metal on metal. The parts will deteriorate (and may then need changing) and the metal dust will spoil the movement. It would be a shame to ruin in a few weeks what was kept so pristine for decades.
Failed to mention
What I did fail to mention in this post is that the watch has now been sent to Omega primarily for a quote to have a few things fixed like the perspex which as the picture might show has quite a few scratches on it as well as whether the damage to the top left lug can be fixed (you can just see it on the picture). They will provide a report on the state of the watch and I will report back.
Exhibit 'A' in the case for respecting Omega . . .
. . . is their willingness to service any watch they've ever made at reasonable cost, and their conscientiousness in following their customer's desires.
They even send back all parts . . .
. . . that were replaced. You'll notice the original hands were sent back; here's the watch . . .
. . . that was serviced by Omega in Bienne. Notice the state of the dial: it was not restored, at the owner's request.
Cordially,
Art
They even send back all parts . . .
. . . that were replaced. You'll notice the original hands were sent back; here's the watch . . .
. . . that was serviced by Omega in Bienne. Notice the state of the dial: it was not restored, at the owner's request.
Cordially,
Art
Omega
Don't worry, Omega will do a superb job of restoring the watch. Yes, they will charge for it, but it will be worth it in the long run. I made the same decision for my grandfathers Constellation and never regretted it. BTW, they will replace the hands and many parts inside but all will be returned to you along with the watch, which comes in a nice leather travelling case. With my watch they informed me beforehand that the dial would not be touched and that they recommended no one else touch it too!
It reminds me of my Uncle's watch.....
Left to me in 1976 when I had no interest in watches (yes, I'm an old fart).
It is an unknown make of Swiss watch from the days when there were so many individual watchmakers in Switzerland - but it has a quality Peseux 320 manual wind movement. My uncle obviously valued this watch and said that it was the best he'd ever had. Well, it went into storage and ended up in the loft of my house for 34 years (subjected to all the temperature and humidity variations) until I re-discovered it. I wound it up and away it went, keeping a very respectable time. I wonder how many 'modern' watches would be capable of that?
Cheers
Andrew
Stunning
Stunning! I love the numeral style. It great to think of all these little watch companies in Switzerland in the 60's all working away in the hills to produce top quality watches.
There is lots of talk on this thread about maintenance. I have my own take which is that if it ain't broke don't fix it. These movements are built to extremely tight standards and are usually in better shape than their owners.
Great watch. Hope you enjoy it often.
There is lots of talk on this thread about maintenance. I have my own take which is that if it ain't broke don't fix it. These movements are built to extremely tight standards and are usually in better shape than their owners.
Great watch. Hope you enjoy it often.
Disagree
You say: "These movements are built to extremely tight standards and are usually in better shape than their owners. "
I totally disagree. And to use the same parallel you do with human health, I would say that you do not have to wait for somebody
to get a myocardial infarction, before advising that a healthy diet and exercise can prevent that.
In vintage watches, if you let something to deteriorate for lack of mantainance, you may find it impossible to find the correct replacement parts.
I would say definitely better to prevent - by keeping parts oiled, in minimal friction and clean of all dust/humid/abrasion products.
I totally disagree. And to use the same parallel you do with human health, I would say that you do not have to wait for somebody
to get a myocardial infarction, before advising that a healthy diet and exercise can prevent that.
In vintage watches, if you let something to deteriorate for lack of mantainance, you may find it impossible to find the correct replacement parts.
I would say definitely better to prevent - by keeping parts oiled, in minimal friction and clean of all dust/humid/abrasion products.
Omega made superb quality movements up until the early 70's
quality at its best in my very biased, but experienced opinion. that could be why i have owned more vintage Omegas than any other brand.
Nilo gave very good advice. this is a piece of family history, but it needs servicing before anyone should consider wearing it.
if you are in UK and want to know a very good, reputable and cheap watchmaker just pm me for details.
best
Graham
Nilo gave very good advice. this is a piece of family history, but it needs servicing before anyone should consider wearing it.
if you are in UK and want to know a very good, reputable and cheap watchmaker just pm me for details.
best
Graham
**Update**
I got my report back from Omega...finally. Turns out the nick on the top left lug is going to be ridiculously expensive to fix and it not necessary as it is only a cosmetic detail and not one I am concerned about as it is part of the watches history. The next thing was the perspex which is scratched. Although they polished it while it was with them some of the scratches are too deep. Again, I am not going to bother about a few scratches on the perspex as none of them really detract from the look of the watch and with just a quick run under the polisher it already looks miles better.
As for the movement. It was flawless. The time keeping was within the original parameters with no work done to the movement. There was nothing to fix or replace and there was almost no dirt. They think that it was most likely serviced shortly before it was put into hibernation from where I found it. They re-did the oil points just to be on the safe side.
They commented that the strap is not original, but then I knew that as it has been replaced at least 3 times in its life.
All in all a tank of a watch for durability, and I am afraid to say, despite the protests on here, that I am unlikely to get it serviced any time soon staying with my "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. I have had far too many headaches from freshly serviced watches in the past (and yes all at authorised service centers).
As for the movement. It was flawless. The time keeping was within the original parameters with no work done to the movement. There was nothing to fix or replace and there was almost no dirt. They think that it was most likely serviced shortly before it was put into hibernation from where I found it. They re-did the oil points just to be on the safe side.
They commented that the strap is not original, but then I knew that as it has been replaced at least 3 times in its life.
All in all a tank of a watch for durability, and I am afraid to say, despite the protests on here, that I am unlikely to get it serviced any time soon staying with my "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. I have had far too many headaches from freshly serviced watches in the past (and yes all at authorised service centers).