Omega Moonwatch Rep

[earl]

I broke the crown off over winding the other day.

Took it to a local London watch repair shop (not an Omega dealer).

They clearly thought it was a gen piece have said they could fix it for about

[RWG Technical]

Well as soon as they turn the watch over to open the caseback, they will know it's a rep.

It's unlikely that they have an actual watchmaker on site, and will probably send the watch out for repair. The genuine crown will not fit the case tube (at least none I have ever worked on fit), so not only will you need a new crown, you'll also need a case tube, and the genuine tube will not fit the case without some rework, more suprises for the watchmaker...and then the stem will need to be replaced as well, since you have a Seagull movement, they won't have the stem for the watch...etc, etc...

I think you stand a good chance of loosing or having your watch permanently damaged if you leave it with them for repair, not only that, but the watchmaker is not going to be prepared to modify the case to accept genuine parts...especially if he's working for a genuine Omega dealer.

Very risky at best to proceed with this, taking any rep to a Genuine dealer is always a BAD idea, especially so if your expecting them to fix it for you...I would like to hear how it goes when you drop it off for repair.

RG

[earl]

Thanks for the post, will let you know what happens, I took the watch in a couple of weeks ago (they still think its gen) so its too late now anyway.

As I said they are not Omega dealers so I didnt envisage any issues with it being a rep, if they can't spot one thats not my problem, as I got it from a car boot sale if they ask!

They way I see it a broken watch is useless to me so I may as well at least try to get it fixed.

[who]

This is an interesting story... may be they will keep buying the OEM parts and try to fit it in.

I think they may call you once they find out all genuine parts don't fit.

[freddy333]

When I first got into reps and had to take the occasional watch to a watchmaker, I was always clear from the start that the watch was a rep. That way, you are less likely to have your watch confiscated. Of the four watchmakers I had used, only 1 was willing to work on my rep. In this case, I had knocked the stem off my ETA Datejust and the watchmaker replaced the rep crown with a generic crown that wound and set the time, but did not screw down onto the rep tube. 1 of the other watchmakers agreed to work on the watches I dropped off, but later phoned to say they could not work on them (no reason given). The other 2 flat out refused to accept rep watches and 1 told me he routinely contacted Rolex whenever he received a rep.

Definitely proceed with caution when dealing with watchmakers (that are not members here).

[Ylfig]

I just did the same thing yesterday, that is broke it right off.

Is there any way of finding a replacement crown+stem?

I opened it up and unfortunatly i actually broke the stem right at the entry point where it goes in the movement and now i can