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  1. grumio Dec 13, 2014

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    Bought my first Constellation the other day, and thought I’d share some pictures of the movement getting a service.

    Here is the sellers best picture. No movement photo, no indication of the reference. I guessed 14381, cal 551, which turned out to be correct.

    $_12 (1).JPG

    What I can see in this picture is black cross hair dial, wrong crown, wrong hands (too long), case reasonably good, with the bezel still in nice shape, possible some polishing on the lugs, but hard to tell. The price was right, so I took a chance.

    When received watch was running, but with poor amplitude, so service was obviously in order. Here’s the dial up close after disassembly. Very happy with this.

    IMG_1587.JPG

    This is the pile of parts after disassembly, inspection and cleaning. Required a new barrel and arbor, barrel bridge bushing, sweep pinion, crystal, crown, mainspring, o-ring, hand set.

    IMG_1623.JPG

    First job was fitting new barrel bridge bushing, and adjusting and testing barrel arbor end shake.

    IMG_1625.JPG

    Counting out screws. Every one has it place. One was incorrect and was replaced.

    IMG_1628.JPG

    Start off with the keyless works. D5 oil and KT-22 grease applied as required.

    IMG_1629.JPG

    A new mainspring fitted. 8213 automatic braking grease applied to the inside barrel wall. D5 on the arbor.

    IMG_1630.JPG

    Barrel and centre wheel in place. D5 for both.

    IMG_1633.JPG

    Barrel bridge, crown and ratchet wheels fitted. Train wheels in place.

    IMG_1636.JPG

    Train bridge in place. Train wheel pivots oiled with 9020 and 9010. Excellent back-spin on the escape wheel when the crown is given a small wind.

    IMG_1642.JPG

    As an aside, this movement (17,019,4xx) is only a few 1000 serial numbers away from this movement shown in a 1959 Omega brochure. I suspect mine is a fairly early movement in the production run for cal 551.

    CAL 551.jpg

    Balance and pallet fitted. The watch is ticking at this point. Escape wheel, balance cap jewels and pallet jewels were treated with epliame during assembly. This ensures the oil on these critical parts stays where is should. The escapement was run un-oiled for a few minutes, to cut a groove in the epliame on the pallet jewels. This helps ensure the pallet grease remains on the tips of the pallet jewels.

    IMG_1647.JPG

    Checking the movement after oiling the escapement with 941 grease, and adjusting the beat. The adjustable stud carrier on these calibres makes this a very easy job. Happy with amplitude and beat.

    IMG_1648.JPG

    Fitted the sweep pinion and friction spring, hour wheel. Then the dial.

    IMG_1656.JPG

    Hands fitted. For this calibre I have a special partial rotor assembly I use to support the sweep pinion and its friction spring while fitting the second hand.

    IMG_1660.JPG

    New crystal fitted to the case. Have to remember to stock up on these before Swatch group cuts off the supply next year…

    IMG_1649.JPG

    Auto winding parts, before assembly. Pretty straightforward to assemble. D5 used here.

    IMG_1652.JPG

    All cased up. This one is a keeper I think.

    IMG_1668.JPG

    Hope you found this interesting.

    grumio
     
    IMG_1625.JPG
  2. dougiedude Carpe horologium! Dec 14, 2014

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    Yes, THANKS! I think I can do this myself now...::psy::

    Seriously, I wish I understood half of what you just said, but all very interesting! Thanks, again, grumio:thumbsup:, and congrats on a now beautiful acquisition...
     
  3. cristos71 Dec 14, 2014

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    That looks great, the dial is beautiful with a lovely aged look. The 14381 is one of my favourite references, lots of variation to discover regarding dials :)
     
  4. JimInOz Melbourne Australia Dec 14, 2014

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    Thanks for an educational post. :thumbsup:

    It's posts like this, from @grumio and our other professional watchmakers (@Archer et al) that keep us "watch tinkerers" enthused, educated and often humble.

    Time spent doing this must surely take a bit from their professional earnings so the appreciation is well warranted.

    Cheers

    Jim
     
  5. Impondering Doesn't actually ponder all that much. Dec 14, 2014

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    How often is bushing required?

    I hear about it very often on clocks, but seldom on watches.
     
  6. JohnSteed Dec 14, 2014

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    Great write-up!!

    Love that reference :thumbsup:
     
  7. grumio Dec 15, 2014

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    It is common to see wear in watch movements where the barrel arbor turns in the barrel bridge, particularly if the movement hasn't been regularly serviced. The forces here during winding are quite high, by watch standards. Wear at this location causes side-shake on the barrel arbor, which means the barrel no longer stands up perfectly straight.

    On this particular calibre there is a replaceable bushing where the barrel arbor pivots in the barrel bridge. On very high grade watches a jewel is used at this location.

    On movements without a bushing or jewel here it can be necessary to either close this pivot hole with a staking set, or replace the entire barrel bridge.
     
  8. TNTwatch Dec 15, 2014

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    What's more interesting is it was one of the historic 20000 consecutive movements tested and certified by COSC:
    http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.ca/2009/06/as-ryan-rooney-noted-here-in-his-blog.html
    http://omegaforums.net/threads/vintage-constellations-show-and-tell.19186/page-2#post-207939
     
  9. grumio Dec 15, 2014

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    Hijak, alam, timeismoney and 4 others like this.
  10. sohail Dec 15, 2014

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    Good work , keep it up.....great post
     
  11. JohnSteed Dec 16, 2014

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    Splendid :thumbsup:
     
  12. watchtinker Dec 16, 2014

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    However, we have been left without an all positions measurement after overhauling... :(
     
  13. timeismoney Dec 16, 2014

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    Just as Jim said, what a great post! Thank you for posting, Grumio!
     
  14. Pahawi Dec 16, 2014

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    +1 :thumbsup:
     
  15. MSNWatch Vintage Omega Aficionado Staff Member Dec 16, 2014

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    I have a similar watch in 14k gold but unfortunately the dial isn't an original black one - the dial on this one is killer.
     
    JohnSteed likes this.
  16. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Dec 16, 2014

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    Seller's photo does it no justice it all, great when that happens
     
  17. sryukon Dec 16, 2014

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    Very nice I wish I could service my own watches what a +
     
  18. grumio Dec 17, 2014

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    According to my timing machine:
    Dial up = +3 s/day
    Dial down = +1 s/day
    Crown Up = -12 s/day
    Crown Down = -10 s/day
    Crown left = -15 s/day

    Not quite COSC standards, but not too bad for 55 years old.

    On the wrist over the last week it has averaged around 10s/day losing, which seems consistent with these numbers.

    When I have a moment I'll regulate it to run a little faster, to hopefully cancel this out to give close to zero average gain or loss on the wrist.
     
  19. grumio Dec 17, 2014

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    ChrisN and TNTwatch like this.
  20. watchtinker Dec 17, 2014

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    Thanks a lot. I agree that it is not bad at all for a 55 years old watch.
    However, the difference between horizontal and vertical positions is also likely to diminish in the next couple of weeks. You did not report the amplitudes, but in my experience it should be in the 230-240° vertically and likely to gain some 10-15° soon.

    Very interesting. Thanks.
    The poising of these screwless balances was absolutely remarkable in the late Fifties. Not all the manufacturers were able to do the same at the time.