Hi All, I inherited a very old Omega pocket watch from my grandfather. According to its serial number (3607740) it was produced in 1910. Please have a look on the photo I attached. Unfortunately it is faulty. To be more precise, several parts are missing. I was unable to find any repair shop to fix it, nobody was interested in the job. They say it is not valuable enough to worth doing it. But, the thing is, I don't really focus on the "fixed" value of the watch as it is a family heritage and I have no intention to sold it, ever. So, I need to find a willing person to restore it. Any advice who should I turn to? I live in Hungary, but distance is not an issue. Thanks in advance.
your best bet with something like this is to find a donor movement, in this case one that runs, and have a watch maker strip the donor for whatever is needed to make the family piece work. You'll need to open the watch and find out what caliber it is. Finding another could be difficult, I spent a year on one rarer watch from this era, but in this case ebay & the interweeb are your friends. Omega made tons of these movements and you should be able to track another down for not a lot of money. The cases for these watches are often worth more than the watch so a lot have been melted, this means the movements are often homeless and dirt cheap as a result. A complete watch, working in its original case, should be available for under $400. good luck!
Fritz, thank you very much for your kind answer. Can I borrow your time just a little bit more? I successfully opened the case (which is probably not an achievement for you, but it is for mine ), and made a few pictures about the movement itself. Well, I can't really see anything about its caliber. Do you?
Hi, it looks like a Cal. 19''' Savonnette but you will need to measure it, before you can be 100% certain. The parts that are obviously missing are the crown wheel, ratchet, ratchet screw, regulator and strangely the jewel screws. It almost looks like your watch has been 'harvested' for parts itself. The ratchet wheel does not have the level of finishing I expect and think it would be worth changing as well. These movements come up on ebay all the time, and should not be a problem to source a decent one with some patience. They are usually not expensive. If you can only find Lepine versions (which are more common) the parts you need should all swap over.
Thanks Trim! I will measure it and check ebay as suggested. Yep, it is possible that a watchmaker kindly removed a few things taking advantage of me having no idea... or maybe there is another explanation. Anyway, this forum helped me much more than anything I tried in the last couple of years, so thank you all very much.
I measured it as 37-38 mm. So maybe this is the movement I am looking for? http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&169&2uswk&Omega_18SPB
Hi, while the 18SPB looks good on the surface, the problem is, Omega made so many slight variations based on size and bridge shape that it is difficult to be certain. The extra bridge screw and size of the ratchet wheel make me think this 18''' isn't the one you are after. I actually have a reasonably close match in my catalogue, but it unfortunately does not have a calibre listed - just a finishing grade that applies to all sizes. From your measurements - you'd be looking for a 17''' or so. I think at this point, I'd need to see a photo of the front of the movement with the dial off - it may or may not help, as the older ones are very similar accross sizes - but a slightly later one like yours might be a match to a Cal 37.5, 37.6 or even 38. I'll have a quick look at my spares, but I think I only have 19''' examples.
I see. I will try to remove the movement from the case and a make a picture from the front side. Never done it before, so it can take a while.
So, I needed a pro to remove the dial, but finally, here it is, the other side of the movement. Does it ring the bell?
Dear François, Do you mean that it seems to be complete from this side, or is it indeed a 18SPB movement?
Hi, I mean it is complete. It is a caliber from the 8760 or 19´´ series (the first to have the Omega symbole and name on it and a keyless system), but as stated above, you need the exact size to know which caliber exactly. As far as I can see on your pictures, if the balance staff is not broken, there are not many parts to change. But a donor movment is still the best way to get them.
Did you measure it accurately while it was out? While it has some resemblance to the 18SP there are some significant differences, namely the sub second position appears to be very different. Looks like you will also need a new 4th wheel, as the sub-seconds pinion has rusted away. I unfortunately have exhausted my references in finding an exact match - finding one of the right period and size will be about all you can do, and maybe the parts will transfer. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help...