SteveG
1529
Improving on the original?
I purchased a vintage watch, a very special one, this Omega chronometer from 1948. Issued as an anniversary celebration,
the 30mm movement was (along with its 28mm mate) Omega's first automatic chronometer, preceeding all the legendary
Seamasters and Constellations of the 1950s and 60s. The whole thing was done up in 18K gold, case, dial, hands and numerals,
and it was extrmemly thin and elegant for an automatic of the era. The issue with the watch I bought turned out to be the very
unusual thick, chamfered bezel, as shown below:
The easiest place to see the shape is by the crown, where the reflection off the angled side is visible. Anyhow, my watch was
not quite so elegant because unbeknownst to me at the time, its bezel was a plated replacement. The shape was pretty close,
but eventually it became discolored and even in my ignorance I knew that something wasn't right. I became disenchanted with
the watch and would not wear it, somewhat because it was "incorrect", but mostly because it didn't look that good to me. Here
is my watch with the problem bezel; you can see it is too rounded, slightly undersized and oxidized:
About a year ago I decided to sell it (since it wasn't being worn), and sent it to my watchmaker for inspection and repair as
necessary, and explained the problem with the bezel. An original replacement proved impractical to source, and the one on
the watch was unacceptable, so we resolved to have a replacement custom-made. As it turns out he decided not to try to
perfectly match the original, but instead designed a sleek bright circle with a totally flat but tilted surface:
I was genuinely shocked when I saw the result! No, it was not original, but the original was long gone, possibly decades ago.
No, it didn't accurately reproduce the original shape, but since it Is Not an original part, how much does this matter? What it
did, to my eyes however, was look absolutely smashing! It was just the right width, set at just the right angle, perfectly polished
and accentuating the elegant thinness of this watch (35mm wide by 5.5!mm thick (7mm with crystal)). I enjoyed it more in the
next couple of weeks than I had for the previous 5 years.
So, I wonder about "improving on the original", even when speaking of a rare and classical watch. In this case it was never going
to be original again, so why not give it a whole new look if it pleases the owner? (it's no longer for sale!)
Improving on the original?
