Omega Dynamic Caliber 565 Restoration

Graham (G99) shares a heartwarming story about his friend Mike and the restoration of his Omega Dynamic automatic date caliber 565. This post highlights the emotional value of watches and the positive impact of the WatchProSite community in helping enthusiasts rediscover and repair their cherished timepieces.

there's a bit of a story to this, but i'll try to keep it short.

i have a mate in the village who is in a similar situation to me. after a stroke he's unable to work so we spend a few hours every day watching TV programmes about cars and chewing the fat, drinking tea, setting the world to rights etc.

when i got to know him well about 3 -4 years ago he wore a really cheap quartz analogue watch. anyway, about 2 years ago after i'd introduced him to my watch collection and the forum he revealed that he had an Omega Dynamic auto date cal 565 with its original box and papers in a draw at home which had been there for over 20 years, possibly more. he'd purchased the watch new in october 1970 only a few days before his 21st birthday and worn it everyday even though he was a lorry driver and did a lot of manual labourer. not the best scenario for a quality watch, but he purchased it as he wanted a good reliable watch. at the time most cars and lorries didnt have clocks in them so watch was essential. anyway, one day he was wearing it on its second corfam strap (which he declared as useless) when some wood fell on his arm trapping it. his first reaction was to just pull his arm out which sadly ripped the crown off its stem and severely scratched the plexi. although the watch worked ok he put all the bits into the box and bought another cheap watch. 

during our chats he mentioned the watch and i mentioned my excellent repairer, but he didnt have the money to repair it as he lives on a very tight budget. a few weeks ago he finally decided to get the watch repaired so i sent it off and it came back fully serviced with new plexi and crown. we also bought a couple of aftermarket straps for it and today was the great unveiling of the finished product.

the motto of this story is that this forum spreads its friendly and helpful tenticles outwards through us to others who may not be as addicted as we are. Mike knows all about the forum, he gets to look at all the great watches shown on the forum and now has opinions on what he likes and doesnt like. he understands what a tourbillon is despite the fact that at 61 years of age he has never used a computer in his life. today he is a very happy man to have his Dynamic back on his wrist.

sorry about the picture quality, but his left arm shakes and holding it still while i took the pic wasnt easy.                                                                 

best

Graham