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

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.

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.

:

: Re: Bad service on new watch update Posted
: By: Peter Date: 11/29/07 22:01:51 GMT In
: Response To: Bad service on new watch update
: (jc)

: Not because I am trying to be a thorn here,
: but because of my quest for objectivity,
: ¿Quest? Oh joy!

: I would like everyone to remember this next
: time the Rolex Bashing Bandwagon starts up
: again. Um, pardon me, but would you mind
: terribly pointing out where in this thread,
: even in this forum, where folks have been
: jumping on any sort of “Rolex Bashing
: Bandwagon” to use your phraseology?

: I had sent a Rolex Submariner 16610 watch in
: for an overhaul after 10 years of wear, and
: it came back..........PERFECT. I'm happy
: for you. I bought a Speedmaster Mark II
: Professional for $115 from a Pawnshop, wore
: it for well over 15 years without any
: servicing and it kept better that +/- 1
: second per 2-3 days the entire time while it
: wasn't being serviced and it was my beater
: watch. So 10 years of use without service
: doesn't especially impress me much.

: Not a single scratch, ding, and it looked
: absolutely BRAND NEW. What did it cost
: you? How long did it take?

: Before you all get mad at me for such
: blasphemy, I own 5 Omegas, including 3
: Seamaster Professionals, and have also had
: disappointing service experiences with them.
: I and many other people have been posting
: extensively about Omega's sorry state of
: affairs when it comes to the repair/service
: channel [especially with the former
: Lancaster PA facility] for years . I do
: not recall any discussion about Rolex's
: service/repair channel here in this forum.

: You may pay more for a Rolex, but they are
: completely anal about how their watches go
: back to the customer after service, either
: routine, or otherwise. I've heard [so I
: do not know first hand] that Rolex isn't
: above replacing vintage dials with modern
: equivelents [ not giving owners the option
: to leave the originality of the watch
: alone]. Again, I do not know that to be
: true, but I've heard that. I'd like to know
: if that's the case.

: Omega typically [unless they are told
: otherwise] will do the same thing, but if
: you send a letter to them asking them to
: retain the original parts they usually do to
: the best of their ability. At least Bienne
: [The mothership] usually does.

: Not to hijack this thread, but I would be
: interested to see if others have had bad
: service experiences LIKE THIS ONE (i.e.,
: watch coming back scratched, dinged, lint
: under crystal, etc.) with Rolex. Well
: frankly, to my knowledge except for you no
: one has so much as typed the word
: "Rolex" since the 5th of this
: month, and that's the only instance of Rolex
: even being mentioned this month.

: You're the only one who's brought up Rolex in
: this forum lately.

: I know some of you don't like the
: "arrogance" etc. of Rolex,
: Let's just say that I'm sure I'm not the
: only person here who is wondering what in
: the dickens prevoked such an outburst here
: in this forum at this time now.

: I'd genuinely would like to know what prompted
: your lecture.

: but I haven't yet heard of stories like this
: one here, where the watch was blatantly
: abused and / or not returned in "like
: new" condition to the owner. I have
: heard some horror stories, mostly in other
: forums, but as I am not much interested in
: Rolex's [I'm a chronograph collector and
: Rolex chronograph's are priced notably to
: high for my interest]. So as a result I
: haven't taken much notice of those posts as
: they really don't effect me any.

: I'm curious what prompted your post.

: Sincerely, -- Chuck

: Chuck Maddox

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