What should I do to adjust my watch (Omega - 40's?)

[BMWChris]

My wind-up Omega has a lever inside that goes from A - R. It kept time very badly and when I opened up the back I saw that the lever was all the way over to R so I stuck it in the middle. This improved things but it still gains about 4 minutes in 24 hours. I'm not sure what is normal for a watch of this age.

What should I do with the lever?

Ta

[glazbagun]

The A is Advance and the R is Retard. Moving it closer to R should slow the watch, which it looks like someone has already tried in vain. If it's still gaining such a massive amount then the hairspring is probably tangled/sticky and the watch in need of a service. Such a watch, I'd expect, should easily be capable of +/- 20 secs a day in good condition (though not all are after 70 years of wear/bodging) and probably +/- 8 or better if a watchmaker were skilled, motivated and masochistic enough.

I'd treat it to a service from a reputable watchmaker.

Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 27th March 12:45