zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: The reason for my post probably comes more from
: the watchuseek forum vs. this one, although
: I seem to remember the same "Why pay
: more more money for a Rolex when they are
: arrogant, have more knockoffs than any other
: watch, have been using the same movement for
: 30-odd years, are just a watch for those
: that want to make others think they have
: made it, are just all about the marketing,
: etc." in this forum.

Well, I would guess that these particular items are legitimate gripes that some do have with the Rolex machine, so why should they not be able to express those here? I agree, some do get out of hand, but this has been going on for many years and doubtful it will stop any time soon

People seem to get "married" to a particular brand, and the Omega owners are pretty fierce in
their loyalty.

Umm, and Rolex owners aren't? Omega bashing goes on daily at other Rolex forums, and this is an Omega forum. Undoubtedly folks that own Omega over Rolex like the brand and will defend it.

I am blessed to own several
: brands of watches, and love them all, and
: get amused when people start in with blanket
: statements on why they think a brand is
: "better" than another, or why
: another brand isn't worth it.

Well, its good for you that you have expanded your collection to several brands. I have not yet. I have and will continue to defend my Omega's against comparable Rolex offerings. I don't ever recall saying that Omega as a brand is better than Rolex. However, in my personal experience, my first Omega Seamaster cost me (purchase price, not retail) about $1200. The comparable Rolex offering was $3800 at the time. I only point this out to say that I don't believe the Submariner is 3x the watch that the Seamaster is, so forgive me for bashing Rolex on this one.

So, what I was
: trying to do is to make an imprint in folks'
: minds (and your service story confirms this
: as well) that there is more to a watch's
: price than just it's features.

Of course, but 3x the price just so you can have a great service experience?? Come on, if I tell the average joe that product A and product B are virtually identical, but product B cost 3x the price and the reason that the price is different is that 10 years from now when you need a service, it will be top notch (not free, mind you, but top notch). You think he will give a rats butt that he will have a latte on the couch type service experience, when he can throw the old one in the trash and get a new one and still have money left over. This is the kind of kool aid drinking stuff that gets the flame wars started.

One factor is
: service excellence, and my experience with
: Rolex was night and day better than it was
: with Omega. I believe my experience isn't
: the exception, so I was curious to see if
: others had similar positive experiences (or
: negative) with Rolex service (watches coming
: back scratched, etc.).

I am happy for you that you had a great service experience. Many Omega owners have had similar experience with watches 30+ years old. There also have been negative experiences as well, and Im sure that Rolex has its fair share of service problems, but by your one experience, they are the best in the world, and justify the price of the watch by the service.

: The service I got was actually a
: "routine" servicing, i.e.,
: mechanical watch that had never been
: cleaned, lubed, re-calibrated, etc. It cost
: me around $500 and took 4 weeks. As I said,
: it came back looking STRICKINGLY new, kept
: good time, etc. No issues whatsoever.

Like I said, thats great service and seemed to exceed your expectations

: As far as dials go, this was actually an issue
: for me, but I WANTED them to replace a
: tritium dial on the Sub with a Superluminova
: one. They left the old dial / hands as I had
: originally specified, but replaced the bezel
: insert which I also specified. The bezel
: marker now glows 10x brighter than the other
: markers on the watch, and I was having
: trouble even seeing the tritium markers at
: night at all, so I sent it back to them to
: get the dial / hands replaced. I do not plan
: on giving up this watch or selling it as it
: is extremely sentimental to me. So, there is
: an example where they left the dial alone.
: What they do is give you a list of thing
: they would like to do to the watch, and
: offer you the option of declining or
: accepting which things you want done.

One of the gripes of Rolex service is that although they may do what you want, you cannot get the original parts back. Question, did you get the old hands and Dial back? Does this bother you, even though to a collector, this may have significantly depreciated the value of the watch? Although it may not bother you, it bothers many who may like the new look, but would like to have the old parts in case it does affect later resale value.

You know, if you want feedback on Rolex service, post it over on the Rolex forums. Im sure you will get some dissenters as well. I don't own any Rolex watches, and will never. 5 years from now when I send my Seamaster in for routine service, ill let you know how it goes, or maybe ill save myself the trouble and go ahead and buy a new one.