zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

I had as previous issue with the Lancaster, PA service center with another Omega (a common mid size Bond auto Seamaster), when the bracelet was sent for a refinish. The long and short of it was the bracelet suddenly came apart after about two years of wearing it. My dealer repaired it, but had the wrong size pin, which protruded slightly. It was winter, so I though I would order an Omega blue sharkskin strap, and send the bracelet for a full overhaul and refinishing, which probably was a waste of money to begin with. This dealer had provided such service for my daughter's Ebel in the past, with excellent results. About a week after it was mailed, I received a quote of $75.00 to refinish the bracelet, which was about what I expected, and I gave the go ahead. Three months later, I called to inquire as to the status, as I was about to need to use my watch around water again. My dealer made the inquiry, and two days later I received a call that my bracelet was in. When I went to pick it up, I found a new Omega GMT bracelet, which not only has the wrong clasp, but was obviously too wide for a mid size Bond. My dealer returned the bracelet, and then was informed by someone at Lancater, PA that the one they sent was the only one they listed for my watch, which is absurd.

I do believe that my dealer was doing what it thought best and could, and that I could have worked out the problem myself with a little persistance with Lancaster and/or Bienne However, the Omega Rep decided to replace the entire watch (which was 2 years old) with an identical new one. I decided that my old eyes did not like the smaller size with the skeleton hands and white date window, and that I would prefer the newer style full size black on black with sword hands, which had been introduced after my watch was purchased, so I managed a trade of the new midsize I was getting for the newer style full size with black on black, but still with the Bond braclet I like.

Experiences like mine and worse from others detailed here and on other forums brought me to the conclusion that I would be hard pressed to use the Lancaster, PA Service Center again, or the one on the West Coast or UK for that matter.

When my new watch began performing at less than I thought I would appreciate or expected, I made the reluctant decision to have it serviced under warranty as opposed to having a local watchmaker simply adjust it, a decision I am still not sure of. I contacted Omega CH through their web site, and they advised that I could send my Seamaster either to Lancaster, PA, or Bienne CH. As for the problem, they requested that the watch be monitored for 14 or 15 days, and I recorded the daily time loss and positions before sending to them. It is my understanding that if you bought from and authorized dealer and have a warranty, you are entitled to service at any of the Omega world wide service centers. The Swiss service center has the best reports I have seen (practically no negative), and the factory to support it.

To send a watch from the U.S.A., you must first decide on a carrier. I liked Fed Ex, but they would not fully insure a watch nor ship "jewelry." If the watch isn't "gold" or contain other precious metal or stones, UPS will ship and insure, and that is who I used, although they did not deliver as soon as advertised, and did not honor their money back guarantee. I would not use them again for this job. It seens that the prefered carrier is through the postal service, at least to Switzerland, where there is apparently an insurable and reliable carrier. This is the method Omega CH uses to ship watches. I do not know how much the postal service charges for international priority shipping and insurance, but UPS charge around $60.00 to ship my watch from East Tennessee, and I was quoted more by Fed Ex.

Before you ship to Omega CH from the U.S.A., you need to get a U.S. Customs Form 4457, "Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad," to avoid problems with Customs when the watch is returned. This is free from your nearest U.S. Customs office. Also, you will probably need a "commercial invoice" to ship the watch, which is basicly a paper trail for customs describing the contents of the shipment. UPS took a form I got from Fed Ex, but UPS also has a printable form and description on their web site. You might also inquire at your post office. Whoever you ship with, get a tracking number to assure where the watch is and when it gets to Switzerland. It took mine nearly a week, but could be as little as three days, depending upon Customs glitches. OMEGA's shipping address is: OMEGA LTD, Customer Service, Rue Staempfli 96, 2500 Bienne 4, Switzerland. Obviously, package your watch securely, and I would not send its facory box and papers, as those may not be returned. Also, I sent a photo copy of my warranty registration card with a cover letter describing the problem.

I used e-mail for quick and cheap communication with Omega CH, which was limited in my experience. I inquired 10 days after my watch was received in Switzerland, and got a prompt and friendly reply from muriel.peyer-gaillard with Omega CH. I was not notified when repairs were completed, and the watch was shipped on return.

Overall, it was an interesting and satisfactory experience with Switzerland. If I had a co-axial like yours, I would surely have it looked at under warranty if it was not keeping better time than you describe, but I would monitor it religiously in different positions for at least two weeks. At present, yours may be only -3 sec outside of chronometer range, but I would hope for better from the new co-axial movement. I have read on the forums that there have been some changes to the co-axial movement since the limited models were first introduced. If it was mine, I would arrange to send it to Switzerland, although I did read one favorable report of a co-axial being worked on in Lancaster, PA.

This is offered in response, and in an effort to share my experiences and the information I gained, and to help you and others. Sorry it is so long, but in fairness to everyone, I believe the whole story is required.