I had this Omega Seamaster 300M brought back to life
From completely battered, to fully functioning watch.
Usually, I don’t buy watches on auctions, as majority of them are battered to be perfectly frank with you. However, when I saw this poor little Seamaster 300M and it’s nicely fading, battle-tested bezel insert, I decided to bring it back to a similar condition from its glorious days.
When I picked this watch up from the auction house, I was stunned by the amount of work needed to be done, in order to make it wearable again. When I got back and tested it properly, I was utterly speechless. These are two photos from from the day I picked it up.
The obvious things that this watch needed rectified were scratches, dents, blemishes from throughout the whole watch (bracelet, case). I thought that was it. However, look at this weird circle at the centre of the dial. Initially, I didn’t know what could this be. It turned out it was a smudge from condensation. Hence, I knew this watch needed a full service to make sure everything is properly cleaned and dry inside. The next thing I checked was how the watch was running when tested on a time grapher machine. It was gaining about 50 seconds a day with quite low amplitude, begging for a full maintenance. However, I did not give up and instead, came up with an idea of bringing the whole watch back to its former glorious days. I wasn’t actually sure about how much the whole operation would cost me to be frank with you. The watch needed so much care and I mean professional care.
The whole maintenance process took 1-2 weeks to complete and the only thing that I kept on this watch was this beautiful bezel insert, as it gives it a distinctive character. I was so shocked with the final result that I couldn’t believe that from completely scratched and dented mid-size Seamaster 300M, I received a spanking clean and fresh watch that I can now wear very proudly.
So, summarising, this watch needed a lot to bring it back to life. The biggest parts of this whole makeover were polishing and full service. Besides, all the condensation stains had to be removed, making sure that the watch is dry throughout. On top of that, the diving extension had to be fixed, as it wasn’t clicking properly.
Ultimately, I am really glad with the result, actually, I didn’t believe that these scratches could have been removed.
I’ve never in my entire watch collecting journey, decided to buy a project watch, which I knew is a trouble and required a lot of attention. The problem with luxury watches is that repair bills are often very big, whenever something goes wrong. Despite all of that, I still decided to pursue with the purchase, making it an interesting, nevertheless a risky project of mine.
However, when I think about it, I gave this little guy a chance to be enjoyed on a wrist again and not to be forgotten. Almost, in the same way, as it left the Omega shop with its proud, original owner.
I’m not quite used to wearing a mid-size sports watch, however there is something funky about it that attracts me to this timepiece.