Modifying vintage movements

Archer
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Dan S Dan S
I see. I wasn't aware of this. I'm not on Facebook. 😀

???
 
cvalue13
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Archer Archer
So are they, in this way, better cultural stewards than the collectors by reducing that risk? Does this risk reduction “trump” the wishes of watch owners?

Understanding that like me you’re really diving in to thought experiment here, and this idea *could* be attributed to Omega, I’d think we both agree that something much more basic probably explains Omega’s parameters of service. Namely (and over-simplifying), an intersection of expedience (eg not over-complicating service “orders”) together with a basic corporate product manufacturer mentality (eg “a product that leaves our facility will above all else work as intended”).

But from a corporate marketing perspective, Omega should definitely workshop this additional sales pitch we’ve stumbled upon!
 
Dan S
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Archer Archer
???

Sorry, Al. I guess I lost track of the watches being discussed. I was referring to the watches with the 30T2 movement, and I think you said something about Facebook. I forgot that you also posted a different watch with a Peseux movement. 🤦
 
Archer
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cvalue13 cvalue13
Understanding that like me you’re really diving in to thought experiment here, and this idea *could* be attributed to Omega, I’d think we both agree that something much more basic probably explains Omega’s parameters of service. Namely (and over-simplifying), an intersection of expedience (eg not over-complicating service “orders”) together with a basic corporate product manufacturer mentality (eg “a product that leaves our facility will above all else work as intended”).

But from a corporate marketing perspective, Omega should definitely workshop this additional sales pitch we’ve stumbled upon!

Yes, of course, they do all these things for selfish reasons - so the watch doesn't come back under warranty. But in tent aside, as a side effect of that, they are protecting the watches from water ingress. Now most collectors who ask me to not change these parts are well aware that the watch has to be kept 100% dry, but I know for a fact that the number of watches that go on to have moisture damage is a non-zero number...
 
Archer
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Just to add more information here, this is the web site of the watchmaker who is doing these - he does other watches as well, some can be found on this page:

Models Christian Etienne | La Clinique Horlogère, Service et vente de montres, Porrentruy, Jura, Suisse (cliniquehorlogere.ch)

Here is the page on the Omega project:

The Ω project | La Clinique Horlogère, Service et vente de montres, Porrentruy, Jura, Suisse (cliniquehorlogere.ch)
 
Archer
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Rochete Rochete
Sure, there must be some point for someone to do the work and for someone else to buy it. I was just rethorically asking what was the point for me. But of course I'm part of a minority (vintage lover) within a minority (mechanical watches users), most people who bother to pay any attention to watches would rather blue nails and côtes de genève than the original thing.

Fully appreciate your views on this, so thanks for contributing to the thread. As I said I realize this wouldn't be something everyone here would appreciate at all, so I'm open to all views on this.

One thing I will say is that doing this sort of thing is often part of a watchmaking school education. Students are sometimes given the task of decorating a vintage movement, or creating new parts for a movement as part of their curriculum. These are skills that may not be used much in regular life repairing watches, certainly not the decoration part anyway. I will say I've taken a bridge or two and applied anglage to them, and done some perlage as well, but that's the extend of this sort of work for me, as it doesn't pay the bills!
 
A
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Archer Archer
........... I think this idea does come down to rarity in a way, because it appears that here it’s only the more rare movements being used that bothers people.
.............................

Could this be that as many of these conversions are reasonably expensive, a better quality movement goes some way to justify the purchase price?
 
A
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Archer Archer
So been thinking about this for a while now, and wondered what the views were on this from several aspects.
...................................

Cheers, Al

I can at least thank you for the amount of time I have spent on pocket watches in the week or so since you posted. I have two 100 year old pocket watches, one (Tempo) is certainly a middle class dress Pocket watch for the day, certainly well enough made to still look good but plenty around still. The other was purchased in Paris, quite ornate 9 ct case etc with an as yet unidentified movement. No big discovery, again an upper middle class dress pocket watch with some more ornate dial work and a version of the typical movement of the day. It is the usual approx 40mm case which looks huge until you realise it is the same size as many wrist watches of today. This I hope to have plans for in the future once I get my head around what is actually is.
 
Waltesefalcon
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A ArmbandUhr69
I can at least thank you for the amount of time I have spent on pocket watches in the week or so since you posted. I have two 100 year old pocket watches, one (Tempo) is certainly a middle class dress Pocket watch for the day, certainly well enough made to still look good but plenty around still. The other was purchased in Paris, quite ornate 9 ct case etc with an as yet unidentified movement. No big discovery, again an upper middle class dress pocket watch with some more ornate dial work and a version of the typical movement of the day. It is the usual approx 40mm case which looks huge until you realise it is the same size as many wrist watches of today. This I hope to have plans for in the future once I get my head around what is actually is.

If you post pictures of them in the "calling all pocket watch buffs" thread you can probably get some help identifying them.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/calling-all-pocket-watch-buffs.127856/page-83#post-1925246
 
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