Speedmaster moon watch broken spring?

Speedmaster moon watch broken spring?

Author
Discussion

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Saturday 10th May 2014
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Bought the watch new in 2000 , not a daily wearer ,mostly weekends. Seems like the mainspring has just gone ...no tension on winder and watch now stopped. Anybody had this or is it common after this age? Ironic really as looking ( today ) at secondhand seamaster ( Quartz) as a daily...I think my speedy has taken the hump! Will be taking it to local dealer this week for estimate....

Variomatic

2,392 posts

160 months

Saturday 10th May 2014
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It's not common for a mainspring to break in that sort of time, but it's certainly not unheard of - even new ones can (very occasionally) break the first time they're wound.

One slight concern as well is that there's "no tension" when winding. That suggests that the spring's broken at it's inner end which, if it breaks when partially wound, puts a large shock through the train (all the energy in the spring is released instantly) and can damage the barrel teeth and / or centre wheel.

Expect a farly nasty estimate for repair - it's not possible to replace the mainspring without stripping the best part of the whole movement, so they'll almost certainly estimate for full overhaul, with extra parts cost if the barrel or centre wheel are damaged.

yeti

10,523 posts

274 months

Saturday 10th May 2014
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Try and avoid taking it to your dealer - he will probably be worse than useless and often wilfully dangerous or careless.

Contact Omega Customer services and send it directly to them.

bry1975

1,246 posts

162 months

Sunday 11th May 2014
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Polo,

Speak to Steve Burrage at Rytetime>>

0116 267 7673

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Tuesday 13th May 2014
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Thanks to all for above. PH op's the best for experienced advice. I have booked repair and service via Omega customer service in Southampton. Thought as the watch is now 14 years old a proper service , spruce and polish along with the repair will give new lease of life to my old friend. Will update on estimate/repair when avail. Best regards.

yeti

10,523 posts

274 months

Tuesday 13th May 2014
quotequote all
Polome said:
Thanks to all for above. PH op's the best for experienced advice. I have booked repair and service via Omega customer service in Southampton. Thought as the watch is now 14 years old a proper service , spruce and polish along with the repair will give new lease of life to my old friend. Will update on estimate/repair when avail. Best regards.
Honestly, you won't recognise it when it gets back - it'll be perfect, as new. I'm happy for you laugh

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Tuesday 10th June 2014
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Speedmaster now been with omega ,Southampton , for past three weeks and had no contact re estimate. Called them yesterday to be told watch is already being worked on with a completion date near end of month. As I had signed the reply card within the returns box authorising repair up to £500 ( I chose this figure as a full service was listed at £470 ) my watch had went straight to workshop for attention. The assistant could not give a final cost but informed me the work would not exceed the authorised figure. Me ,I'm very happy and slightly surprised as 'braced" for more "if" mainspring had gone .( my original concern) Have since taken delivery of seamaster 2264 , Quartz movement . It's been strange putting it on every day for past couple of weeks...perfect time , correct date ,never think about winding ,checking time etc ,its always right. I think it's a classy looking watch and don't really care that it's only a Quartz. Great every day watch . Looking forward to end of month to get speedy back ,will update then with final repair info... Best regards

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Wednesday 6th August 2014
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Finally got the speedmaster back from repair/ service from Omega. As far as I can tell the watch only required service , the fear of a broken mainspring never materialised and the invoice only listed a regular service ( approx £ 485 ) .No mention of not being able to wind watch so assume the winder had lost connection ? .The job took 8 weeks from sending to receiving back . Initially told 4 weeks for job but needed to call 3 times to chase for a completion date. The watch looks fantastic now ,newly polished and feels a LOT smoother when winding/ hand setting. The new hands fitted show a slightly different tone to the original indices but it's very minor . ( the old hands along with glass ,seals , bracelet pins etc were returned in a bag with watch so the old hands could be re-fitted if feeling pedantic ) I've ( hopefully) shown two pictures ,one with speedy alongside my recently purchased seamaster quartz . The pair together show just how plain the seamaster is...its discrete and perfect for accurate daily wear. Speedy now relegated to weekend/days out wear.The second pic shows the old pushers from the speedmaster pre service...can't believe how manky and corroded the surfaces were! A final thanks to PH'ers for previous repair advice.

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Wednesday 6th August 2014
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Second pic..... . Sorry for delay...beginner with p/ heads pic method.........

Variomatic

2,392 posts

160 months

Wednesday 6th August 2014
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It sounds like you got the service a manufacurer is supposed to give, which is a refreshing change after some of the horror stories lately!

The mainspring would be replaced as a matter of course during the service (it's cheaper for them to do that than spend the time cleaning and examining the old one) so, if it had broken but done no other damage, probably wouldn't have been mentioned in the work carried out.

Got to say, though, I generally go for simple, unobtrusive, watches but I know which of those would be getting the most wrist time here - and it ain't the "simple" one biggrin

Polome

Original Poster:

541 posts

124 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
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Over two weeks on and have been monitoring speedmaster for its time keeping post service work. I have kept the watch wound ( normally it's left in drawer and only wound prior to use) to allow a direct comparison with my quartz seamaster. As of today the manual speedmaster is 20 seconds slower than the quartz seamaster. I'm not sure of the seamaster accuracy but assuming a "quartz" to be the more precise instrument I' m very happy with speedmaster timekeeping. I find as both watches are now freely available ,the wear time has become biased towards the speedmaster . Perhaps the simple one that variomatic alludes to is the owner !!!! 😄😄😄