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Can’t pull the darn crown out!

M'Bob
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So I send my cal. 321 Speedmaster to the watchmaker because it will wind, but cannot be set because the crown can’t be pulled out. This is what he said:

“Finally sat down with the watch. The crown/stem will not release. My best guess is previous water damage. The safest route will be to send it to Omega for service. They have all the parts necessary to do the work. You can request your old components back and take responsibility for trying remove it from the case. If this were my watch, I would send it out. Cost of service & return on investment vs inevitable risk of something going very wrong. Money is on sending it Omega.”

Do you agree with the diagnosis and plan? This is a certified Omega and Rolex watchmaker - what can they do at the factory service center that he can’t do? Or is it just the parts issue if something breaks. Thanks for your insights.
 
perks713
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"You can request your old components back" - I've seen enough people post about horror stories sending something vintage into Omega so I wouldn't count on getting your old components back in pristine order. I believe it's more along the lines of, "here's a bag of parts we swapped" which means your pristine vintage hands have been bumping around with the stem and crown and all the other parts while in transit.

Maybe the watchmaker you sent it to doesn't have a parts account? I know I've seen people talk about how hard its getting to get 321 parts.
 
Walrus
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M'Bob M'Bob
So I send my cal. 321 Speedmaster to the watchmaker because it will wind, but cannot be set because the crown can’t be pulled out. This is what he said:

“Finally sat down with the watch. The crown/stem will not release. My best guess is previous water damage. The safest route will be to send it to Omega for service. They have all the parts necessary to do the work. You can request your old components back and take responsibility for trying remove it from the case. If this were my watch, I would send it out. Cost of service & return on investment vs inevitable risk of something going very wrong. Money is on sending it Omega.”

Do you agree with the diagnosis and plan? This is a certified Omega and Rolex watchmaker - what can they do at the factory service center that he can’t do? Or is it just the parts issue if something breaks. Thanks for your insights.
Sounds like he is punking out. Needs a b#%ch slap. I’ve worked on machinery, never encountered anything I could not separate, of course I had crowbars and hammers and even a jaws of life type contraption so I could be completely misreading this
 
M'Bob
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Walrus Walrus
Sounds like he is punking out. Needs a b#%ch slap.

Yes, I’m trying to figure out if he’s just being hyper risk-adverse.
 
Dan S
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Some people only want easy jobs, and some people love a challenge. I think we know which camp this watchmaker is in.
 
Walrus
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What I find odd is when he tells brother Bob “you can take the risk of removing it yourself”
 
MTROIS
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M'Bob M'Bob
Yes, I’m trying to figure out if he’s just being hyper risk-adverse.
No matter what, this means "get your watch back in a hurry and use an OF-recommended watchmaker"!!!

Voila!!
 
eugeneandresson
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Walrus Walrus
What I find odd is when he tells brother Bob “you can take the risk of removing it yourself”

Brother-Bob’s Watchmaker’s left hand

E7FC8109-AC5A-4923-8AA5-A433CEDC9693.jpeg


Brother-Bob’s Watchmaker’s right hand

E32A5FB1-7E20-4EDE-8768-4084BC2815D6.jpeg


(as usual, I’ll show myself out…happy Friday y’all 👍)
 
wsfarrell
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I have a different take on this. I feel like the watchmaker is being honest and humble: he fears there may be serious corrosion in the movement due to water intrusion, and believes Omega, with their vast supply of parts, would be best-suited to repair the watch.
 
Dgercp
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I find it weird. We have all had issues with the keyless works. They are the parts most often exposed to human manipulation (winding and tugging). I am not a watchmaker, but why guess water damage/corrosion and not bother to at least open the hood and take a look. This would not instill confidence in me. Good luck and let us know the outcome.
 
Darlinboy
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M'Bob M'Bob
So I send my cal. 321 Speedmaster to the watchmaker because it will wind, but cannot be set because the crown can’t be pulled out.

Just wind it when the correct time is displayed on the watch.

Not as convenient as being able to set it by pulling out the stem, but waaaaay better than sending it to Omega - or to your watchmaker, apparently.
 
ChrisN
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M'Bob M'Bob
Or is it just the parts issue if something breaks. Thanks for your insights.
I suspect it is this and the watchmaker opened the watch and was not impressed by what they saw. Most 321 parts are available somewhere but, who wants to spend a lot of time (possibly) trying to find parts when there is always an ETA 7750 or 2892 in the queue - good parts availability and always set up well. I have a lot of Omega bumper parts (similar era) and don't mind those but some calibres can be awkward in terms of parts unless you do a lot of them.

As a watchmaker, you take on work you want to do, unless it is a longstanding customer, as there is so much work out there. You could try someone else who likes a challenge or who regularly works on the 321s.

Good luck, Chris
 
Foo2rama
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@M’Bob

you alreay know the answer. I can think of some specialists that I would trust more then Omega for a 321.
 
Archer
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M'Bob M'Bob
Do you agree with the diagnosis and plan?

Yes, I agree with the diagnosis certainly - I had this same issue on a Cal. 283 based watch not long ago and the winding stem had rusted to the sliding pinion.

As far as the plan goes, well if he's not comfortable with doing this, you don't want to push him into it. As far as who you send it to, Omega would be very low down on the list of places.
 
M'Bob
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ChrisN ChrisN
I suspect it is this and the watchmaker opened the watch and was not impressed by what they saw. Most 321 parts are available somewhere but, who wants to spend a lot of time (possibly) trying to find parts when there is always an ETA 7750 or 2892 in the queue - good parts availability and always set up well. I have a lot of Omega bumper parts (similar era) and don't mind those but some calibres can be awkward in terms of parts unless you do a lot of them.

As a watchmaker, you take on work you want to do, unless it is a longstanding customer, as there is so much work out there. You could try someone else who likes a challenge or who regularly works on the 321s.

Good luck, Chris

Thanks Chris. Would you care to hazard a guess as to what the problem could be?

Edit: Posted just as Al responded, but please weigh in if you care to.
 
JwRosenthal
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I don’t fault your watchmaker- mine has told me on a few occasions if he didn’t have the correct tooling (Accutron) or parts availability to him to be able to do the job properly- if a problem arose. I would rather a watchmaker tell me upfront that they aren’t comfortable with a job than have them tear into it and give me back a ziplock of parts and say- good luck.
 
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