beancounter Posted September 7, 2007 Report Share Posted September 7, 2007 I was visiting my watchsmith today. I've had a couple of ongoing projects with him, a franken of the IWC 3607 (gen dial, Swiss 7750, great case I got on a crummy rep version in Shenzhen) and a Wakmann triple reg, triple date chrono restoration. While I was there, a jeweler in the same building walks in with a genuine titanium Seamaster with titanium band. The band was completely broken just above the clasp. Titanium is really strong and really light, of course. I asked to take a look, and it was pretty obvious what had happened, but I wondered why the owner was alive to care about fixing his watch. A link above the broken part of the band was about 25% gone, there was scorching and burning all around that, and the clasp had burn marks all around the broken portion. Basically, it looked like someone had hooked the watch up to an arc welder and hit the switch, just to see what would happen. The story is that the owner is a helicopter pilot. He was working on the engine, and accidentally touched the band on his Omega to one post of the battery and the frame of the helicopter at the same time. I figure he probably got the surprise of his life, right about then. Luckily, he managed to short the band over a short enough distance and through a small enough amount of metal that it heated up and vaporized fast. If he had done the same thing over a bigger piece of the band itself, it probably would have heated up slowly enough to give him a really severe burn. Lucky for him, all the watch did is go bang and fall off his wrist. Now, here's the question. This is a $2,000 watch. Omega wants $1,200 for a replacement band (this is an older Seamaster, case number is 168.1623), which seems a bit steep. The watch is now this guy's lucky watch, but $1,200 to fix it is a bit much. The jeweler is going to try to have it laser welded, but titanium isn't easy to do anything with, and that won't fix the big gouge in one link. So, did/do any of our collectors have the ability to source a replica titanium band for a titanium Seamaster, and will it fit on a gen without ten hours of work? Buying a $300 replica to use the band on the gen head seems a pretty good option compared to $1,200 for the replacement from Switzerland. Any assistance appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted September 7, 2007 Report Share Posted September 7, 2007 It's a shame it's not a SS Omega, as far as I know there aren't any of the titanium ones available in replica form. It would work otherwise though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted September 7, 2007 Report Share Posted September 7, 2007 Indeed. $1200 is ridiculous. Unfortunately they have never repped the titanium version of the Seamaster. None exist, sorry. However a quick Ebay search reveals this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/OMEGA-Seamaster-20MM-T...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 7, 2007 Report Share Posted September 7, 2007 I would suggest suggesting that the watch be worn on a different kind of strap, but, with an SMP, in all honesty, they do look best on the factory bracelets... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mentalist Posted September 8, 2007 Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 Great story. I would love to find out what vaporised titanium smells like. Shame you couldn't get a pic. I have a perverse fascination with expensive stuff getting wrecked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 Great story. I would love to find out what vaporised titanium smells like. Shame you couldn't get a pic. I have a perverse fascination with expensive stuff getting wrecked. Hmm.. That explains the choice of your nick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 http://www.authenticwatches.com/seamaster.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobM Posted September 9, 2007 Report Share Posted September 9, 2007 http://www.authenticwatches.com/seamaster.html Bookmarked that site! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beancounter Posted September 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 Thanks, all. I've bookmarked authenticwatches, too. Great find. I'll try and get a picture when the watch returns to the shop. I can see welding the clasp back together and getting it to be functional, but I can't see easily repairing the link(s) in the band, and making them look like anything other than pieces of metal that got hit by lightning. Between specialty welding, shaping, polishing and the rest, the final cost will probably be right around the cost of the replacement band from authenticwatches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 FWIW, authenticwatches despite their reputable status are not good value for money on certain items. $475 for a SM rubber strap? I have been quoted the equivalent of $180 by my AD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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