Crown came off my Seamaster 300. Now what?

This is not something that I can easily believe, but it happened and not two weeks from having received the watch back from service. This is a Watchco SM300, by the way. Caliber 565. Supposedly with an NOS movement, one purchased during this forum's group buy (I bought it last Oct. from the gent who bought it during the group buy). I had it serviced as I was moving overseas and did not fully trust Watchco and low and behold the rotor axle had to be replaced. Otherwise they said it was terrific and it was keeping great time when I got it back. LOVE this watch.

Landed in Beijing last week, sat down and decided to move the time forward 12 hours. Okay and then poof, the crown literally came off. I am still shell shocked. And being overseas and unable to send the watch back to the USA for repair (it would be covered under warranty since it was just serviced and again, by an independent) I am wondering what my options are. Sending it back to the U.S. is out. That's $590 via Fed-Ex Economy! I will not be returning to the U.S. until 2017. I can't go that long with it sitting in a drawer.

Based upon these photos is there anything anyone here can tell me at how painful this will be? Or what will be involved with fixing it? Will this require a full service? Or not? What's it look like?

Should I purchase a crown and stem from Ofrei and have them shipped here and find a decent local watchmaker? If yes, any other parts I should add? Any gaskets/seals?

Or is this nowhere near as severe as I am thinking and any skilled watchmaker can take care of this without new parts?

I am in Kunming and there are watch boutiques all over the place, many with watchmakers on sight.

Also attached is a pic of the movement with serial number of anyone knows how to find out about that movement.

Right now I would appreciate comments from some of you more experienced folks.

Hy,

Did they change crown on service? If they did then send it back it must be manufacturer failure and will be done under warranty. I do not know why would you pay $750 for sending watch to anywhere in the world???

If service did not change crown + tube, then I would go to watchmaker (anywhere in the world) that can get you original parts and replace it. There is no need for whole service, only crown(+ maybe tube) replacement.

First off, this should not be a major issue so you can relax. I am pretty sure I read somewhere that Al, @Archer has seen this. Hopefully, he'll get involved and explain better than me.

It needs a new crown and a stem (the stems are cut to length and the new crown might be slightly different than the failed one). The part of the crown that screws down is still screwed in the tube but a Watchmaker will get that out. To be honest, he could probably fix this crown by flaring the part that is sticking out of the case but a new crown would be best. The little spring is there to allow the movement when you screw the crown down.

In my opinion, this is a failure of the Omega part of the crown as this is pre-assembled. I suppose if the stem was cut incorrectly then when you screw it down, it might overstress this joint (Al?). Both parts available from Cousins, for example, and an Omega Authorised Watchmaker.

By the way, the tube looks scratched in your pictures which seems odd and won't help the sealing. I hope it isn't as that might mean a pendant tube replacement. The screw down threads are on the inside of the tube and are obviously working.

Cheers, Chris

Hi all. Some additional information... The crown & stem were not replaced during service. Since they were essentially less than a year old they felt they were fine. Maybe that was a mistake.

The tube is not scratched. That is a reflection of light in that picture. I just looked at it under a magnifying glass.

Today I visited three local watchmakers. Wow, what an ordeal. The guy I knew here in the city has moved so I saw the gent who took his place, my girlfriend translating. He took one look at the SM300 and told her it was a fake from Taiwan and literally tossed it across the table! I kid you not. Needless to say, it got ugly.

Watchmakers #2 and #3 both reacted similarly. They said it was a fake. The second was dismissive and wouldn't even listen.

The third listened to my girlfriend translate (this was a big issue) and only when I showed him pictures of the movement (same as in my first post) did he finally get what he had in his hands. He couldn't understand why I would do such a thing, but said he could fix it for 50 rmb (about $45), but that I would have to get the parts since he does not have an Omega parts account.

He said I should provide at least two stems, three being the preferred number, just in case of a problem. He even asked for two crowns, but that ain't happening.

I do not dare take it to Omega after this experience. Watchmaker #1's reaction was so bad I can imagine the Omega people smashing it with a hammer.

Maybe the guy who called it a 'fake' has never seen a NOS watchco before?
Unless OBs are ordered to destroy watchcos (experts, what say you?), maybe that's your best bet at this point?

No question all three were unaware of Watchcos but also no doubt this being China they see lots of fakes and instantly decided any mint SM300 must be the same.

I'm frankly worried about visiting Omega. I'm a foreigner here, without any rights or protection. A simple misunderstanding can escalate into something dangerous.

Is this a watchco SM300 concern or general flaw.

I wanted to relate this story of mine but I wasn't sure where. Now seems to be the right time.

I was in a similar but not identical situation as you. I bought my first vintage Speedmaster 2 weeks ago. When it showed up I wound it and tried to set the time. The winding was difficult; the crown was hard to turn. When I pulled the crown to set the time, the crown came off the watch with the stem attached. Horror!!

I was upset as I'm sure you are. I didn't have it quite as bad as you since I am still at home on the US east coast. I didn't know a watch maker locally at all. I bought the watch serviced so I wasn't planning on needing one. I found a local watch service/repair man who is the owner of the store. He was able to easily handle the crown issue and I was only charged $45 since no extra parts were involved. It turns out, the stem was inserted too far in the crown. That prevented the stem from inserting fully into the watch and thus the setting lever screw could not be tightened correctly. This guy would not attempt a service on a Speedmaster; he services 3-handers with a day/date complication tops. However, he is familiar with watches and this was a simple issue to resolve. Now the watch runs, winds and sets time great.

So what I'm saying is stay calm and try to find someone local. All watches have crowns and all modern divers have screw crowns. This should not be a complicated issue to resolve. That's the counseling I received and so that is what I suggest for you. I think you just need to find the right person. I would suggest finding a higher end watch store and approaching them. Surely Beijing has a high end district. Maybe show them a picture first so they don't throw your watch across the table (that was very rude and upsetting).

As for $590 shipping, there must be something wrong. I would suggest getting another opinion here. Maybe someone was trying to make some money off the foreigner, or just getting you to leave them alone. I just bought a watch from Australia in February. I guarantee the shipping didn't cost that much. That was only $100 short of the total sales price!! I would expect shipping for less than $50.

It is frustrating that you can't wear your new watch, especially after you tried to prevent exactly this situation. It doesn't help that you are in a foreign country too. Good luck, my sympathies and I'm wishing you the best.

Thanks to everyone for your input and help. Just to be clear, I don't think the place that serviced the watch should be on the hook for all the cost here. We discussed what's workable and so far it seems fair to me.

With regards to shipping, I only trust Fed-Ex here. Any other option is playing with fire. Most shippers will refuse to insure jewelry and watches here. Chances are the watch will disappear, with or without insurance if I go outside of Fed-Ex. This is China. Did you know it is illegal to mail any hard drive, flash drive, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc. out of the country? Yup.

Good info from Archer. When I received the watch from service I had to really twist to get the crown undone. It was screwed on tight. Tighter than I would ever do it, so maybe that created the problem. Or just help it along because the crown was defective. Sh*t happens, as they say. I'll post back once I know more.

My approach with this defect has always been to repair the crown. Repair is 1/10th of the cost of replacement, maintains originality, is easily done and permanent, so far of the dozens and dozens of crowns I have repaired, not one has failed.

There is a good reason why Rolex crowns have the pipe and crown threaded to each other and not friction fitted like the Omega. With a Rolex the only time the crown comes apart, is when the cannon friction is excessive and forces the crown to loosen during time setting, otherwise winding only tightens the threads and there is no risk of failure.

Rob

Rob too bad you aren't located China! 😉