Mark,

Thanks so much for your reply. I have had conflicting and confusing advice from various watchmakers. Some say send it straight to Tag and others say try and restore it as-is and with custom made parts. TBH I don't see the point of using custom made parts as it wouldn't be true to the watch.

I think I will keep the watch. The restoration is turning into a bit of an obsession now. It would be very easy to just give up, but I refuse to be beaten and I would love to have it restored and looking fabulous again. I would be prepared to live with the dial. The main issues for me are the missing inner bezel, the non original hour hand and the crystal/glass. If I could get these parts and put them in the hands of a competent watchmaker I'm sure I would be mostly where I want to be with the restoration.

Graham

: The parts are certainly around, though they can take some looking
: for nowadays - the lines on the 1/5 second bezel are a common
: point of failure so those are always in pretty short supply.
: Finding a replacement hour hand and a plexi shouldn't be as
: difficult. I'll take a look for a dial at the Munich watch fair
: later this month if you like - shame about that scratch as the
: dial is all original, even down to the lume.

: I know there were some suggestions about who could do the work over
: on TZ, but we also have some watchmakers on here who specialise
: in Heuer - if you search for Abel Court for example, you'll see
: some really great work. I wouldn't have recommended TAG even if
: they had the parts, I find their restoration a little
: heavy-handed but there are people here who've been delighted
: with what TAG have done, so it's very much a personal thing.