Hey guys, I've worn my 145.022-76 speedy pro for over two years straight, and from my time tracking app its generally kepts about 10sec/day. On Friday I flew some aerobatics with a pilot friend of mine, (Aviat Pitts S2B) which was a hell of a time. BUT I didn't even consider the fact that I was wearing my 42 year old Speedy-literally didn't cross my mind that it may have been wise to take it off. We ended up hitting +4G multiple times throughout the flight. I noticed about 3 hours after the flight (and after my adrenaline went down ) that my watch was 4min behind. Started a fresh timing run with my app and after 4 days its averaged a loss of 60sec/day. My question is this: What exactly can I expect from a full Omega service? Is this a good opportunity to have Omega's special restoration team restore it? I have ZERO intention of ever selling this watch. It was my first 'real' watch, and after seeing what a phenominal job Rolex did on my brothers day date service, I admit I'm a bit jealous. Thoughts?
Well... that's one way to put a speedy through it's paces. Regardless, as I imagine you have seen reiterated here many times by this point, I would not send any vintage Speedmaster back to Omega for service. Find a qualified watchmaker who is willing and capable of servicing the movement while maintaining it's originality. I would imagine at that point it should be capable of doing what you need it to do
New parts, and lots of them.... possibly your dial and bezel, pushers, crown and bracelet. You are well advised to try and find a decent local watchmaker that is sympathetic to vintage watches. Very nice 145022 by the way.
I’m curious at what could cause your issue. Im nowhere remotely an expert, but did you try letting your Speedy wind down completely and winding it back up fully? Maybe @Archer can explain what happened to your watch.
Should this experience have done this 'damage' in the first place? Is it to be expected with a watch of this age? Would a non Omega service fix the movement to the point where this would not happen again? Would there be any warranty?
I am curious as well- was this just too much abuse for a watch this old or of this type? I accept that the G forces had the initial effect on the time keeping, but its clearly had a lasting effect on the movement.
I can't speak to why it happened, but there is nothing magical about an Omega performed service (aside from "magically" replacing most of your vintage components). An equal-quality watchmaker will be capable of an equal-quality job, and should have no issue warranting it.
Seems to me that, given the G-forces at play during a rocket launch, this was taken into consideration during NASA's testing.
I had the same thought. As far as I know, the vintage watch store in Los Angeles where I purchased it from in person had serviced it when they acquired it. That would have been in February of 2016.
They could have just looked over the movement and saw that it was running properly and didn't actually service it. I don't have a way of knowing. Not trying to discredit the store, but no I don't have paperwork that it was fully serviced.
Yeah, that's why I asked. If they didn't actually service it, you have no way of knowing when the last service was.
Curious as to which shop you got it from. Mind sharing? Probably a trivial detail, but depending on the shop, others may have experience with their products/services.
This is an interesting one. Assuming everything is in order mechanically, I wouldn't think 4g in an airplane would have a significant effect on a Speedy. I've had several of my mechanical watches at >6g in a modern fighter with no ill effects, and I know a couple of pilots who fly with mechanical watches regularly without issue. Is it possible you banged it against something in the cockpit either during maneuvers, turbulence, or while getting in/out of the aircraft? Your watch running slowly like that tends to make me think it may have been subjected to a sudden shock- I had something similar happen to my Speedmaster last spring (dropped it on a tile floor- immediately began to lose about 10 minutes a day). Failing that, maybe it was magnetized by something in the airplane? I know magnetism would normally tend to make it run fast, but it might be worth a quick degauss before you pay for a service, especially if it was running well before your flight. Regarding service, I wouldn't send it directly to Omega. I'd go to an independent jeweler... possibly Nesbit's in Seattle? They should work with you to keep it original if that's your goal (I hope it is... that's a beautiful watch you have there.) Let us know how this one comes out! I'm curious what went wrong with it, and whether maneuvers in an airplane were the reason.