About 12 years ago, a friend of a friend came up to me during a watch meet and said he had a great deal on an Aqua Terra. I was of course very interested, as this white dial blue hand model was always on my wish list.
He showed it to me, said it was in perfect condition, and gave it to me at a very good price.
As soon as i got home, i knew there was trouble. The dial had turned cloudy and full of moisture. I discovered that exposing it to heat, or even a hair dryer, makes it look right for a few “sell it quickly” minutes then clouds back up again. Upon closer inspection, part of the rotor was showing some early signs of corrosion from trapped water in the mechanism and case. The guy definitely pulled a fast one on me.
I knew i should have just returned it immediately and i still dont know why i didnt 🙂 Instead, i went to an Omega boutique and showed it to the technician. He said the moisture’s been there for a long time, months, probably from a dive with the owner forgetting to screw the crown down.
He then opened it up, cleaned it free of charge and asked my permission to grind the corrosion off the rotor. He said, it will have some scars but will be good as new. Let’s do it, I said.
And that is why the rotor has those scuff marks, which over the years I’ve had the chance to replace but never did. The Omega technician became my friend, and the Aqua Terra a witness to many of my highs and lows in life 🙂 Seeing the scarred rotor always makes me smile.
