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‘Baby Ploprof’ 1337 Quartz Repair

J
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If anyone here can suggest where I might get one of these repaired properly at realistic I’d be very pleased to hear, as I’ve tried already many repairers but none have fully succeeded and the watch now functions as it should but exhausts batteries approx every 12 weeks which obviously should not happen.

I know the only source of replacement movements is now Omega in Switzerland themselves but if there is anyone out there able and willing to take apart fix and rebuild existing I’d love to hear from them.

Link to pic of actual watch here


https://www.evernote.com/shard/s74/...a391d6109651/cc60ab65758157657b14b047e08b0ac8

Thanks

David
 
kaplan
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My approach with Quartz'z/electricals is to buy more and more with a similar movement, until the bad apples make the good ones whole

So it might be a good idea to seek a cheap 1337, they can sometimes be found for sub $100 - best to seek dial damage as it reduces the price a lot
 
Widows Son
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I have an old Seamaster Professional 200 which I bought for $300.00, the movement wasn't working. I had an ETA movement installed for $100.00. You may be better off just replacing the entire movement.
 
kaplan
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I thought about this a bit during breakfast, if it was me, I'd probably be glad it works for 3 months, I'd buy the batteries in bulk, 3d print a plastic case opener so I can open/close the case without damage repeatedly, and replace the battery every 10 weeks, cheapest option

What is the brand of the battery that lasts 12 weeks by the way, is it Renata, I've heard some others don't last, but I'm not an experienced Quartz user
 
webvan
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^ This
It's strange that the watch would work perfectly just chez through batteries in 3 months. You're using Silver Oxyde batteries, right ?
 
ChrisN
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It's a quartz so, there is an allowable consumption for a good battery life. If a quartz fails completely then I would suspect the circuit but, if battery life is low then it is usually that there is too much friction draining the battery and a service with, possibly some new parts, solves the issue. I always check the movement consumption against the allowable after servicing a quartz and the other watchmakers should have done that - it's a basic check. What consumption did the watchmakers who looked at this say was being used?

I think Omega specify these are "return to base" but, as long as it doesn't need new wheels which will be hard to source, a service should sort out the high current drain. You usually find that the same parts wear out on every example of a calibre so, buying secondhand spare movements is a temporary solution.

Good luck, Chris
 
SkunkPrince
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I don't know what the relucatance is to send it to Bienne. If they can't do it, no one can.
 
simonsays
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Nice watch, I really like these, I think the nickname for it is the Calypso. Good luck with the repair.
 
plongeur78
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Omega did have replacement 1337 movements but that was a few years ago now, the watchmaker who serviced mine has retired unfortunately, it’s a Calypso as pointed out above, the baby ploprof is an automatic seamaster.
 
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tritto
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I have one of these and I serviced it myself. I've spoken to a couple of local watchmakers and they won't touch them - too fiddly and no parts.
Typically, it's the circuit that fails (which I haven't been able to find for sale). I had to source a donor to scavenge a circuit.
The dial side is complicated and is very intolerant of any incorrect oiling of the calendar mechanism.
If you send it back to Switzerland you may find the costs are greater than the value of the watch. A running donor (inc one with a 1332 movement) may be the best way to go.
 
J
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Belated thanks to all who have responded - ultimately gambling with a donor movement from a lower-value Omega
 
perks713
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I’d like to find one from 1982, not a ton of good looking birth year watches for me from Omega that I’d really enjoy wearing often, this is one that’s been on the list to keep an eye out for.
 
Revo
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J JDB
Belated thanks to all who have responded - ultimately gambling with a donor movement from a lower-value Omega

Let us know how it goes. It's a nice looking watch, I could live with that!
 
wilderbeast
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As @ChrisN has pointed out above, a service may well sort this issue out. I had my cal 1342 quartz serviced recently to reduce friction and my WM thought that the battery should at least a year now - I was getting barely 5 months before. It wasn’t expensive to have done and he also improved the timekeeping significantly.

The batteries originally used in these early Omega quartzes are no longer available, as I understand it, so I think modern ones tend not to last as long anyway. But a year should be possible on these old birds!

Nice watch, btw. 👍
 
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