The Omega Seamaster 300 is one of my favourite dive watches. Everything about it just works, and I love them. There are many out there know as the 'Watchco' Seamaster 300 which are basically kits that have been put together by people. They are made up of all new old stock parts, with a movement taken from an old Omega Seamster or Omega Constellation that had been scrapped for gold weight in the case, or damaged. Today, however, we have an original model that actually came from the factory in the 1970's and it is truly in beautiful condition. So let's start the service. Please note - the serial number has been removed for privacy reasons, which is why you will see a black bar on some pictures.
We can see that it came in with a damaged crystal.
The movement in the case.
With the oscillating weight removed we can see the movement needs to be overhauled. It looks generally grubby and the lubricants have deteriorated.
The dial and hands appear to be in beautiful condition, however.
A side view of the hands.
When dealing with vintage watches, especially one that has broad hands like this, it's always good practice to stabilize the luminous paint. It prevents the luminous compound cracking any further and eventually crumbling out.
Here are the hands with the glue applied. It's still wet at this point. This doesn't change the colour at all and can't be seen as we apply it to the back of the hand.
Dial removed.
The movement out of the case.
With a few more movement components removed we can see that the movement is very dirty, especially around the barrel arbor.
Train bridge removed.
Note the worn components - here we have the seconds pinion friction spring. It has worn and is domed around the piñon head, hence the shape. Installing a new one will give us much better amplitude results.
The old style centre wheel with pressed in bushing. We upgrade this for the new style.
The pallet fork has a groove worn into it. This will affect time-keeping and amplitude so we will change this.
The movement has now been completely stripped and cleaned.
Our new parts have been picked and ready to install.
Balance spring adjustments are made.
The movement is freshly assembled and lubricated.
The movement is complete and we have the dial and hands installed, as well as the new gaskets and crystal.
The watch is now complete, and ready to be worn once against.
