Ed White 321 and Silver Snoopy Amplitude: Service Advice

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Hi:

I am using my Weishi 1900 timegrapher and I noticed that the amplitudes for both watches fully wound hover around 210 degrees. Is this normal? Can the Weishi calculate a coaxial movement properly? I read that the amplitudes for both are in the 240 to 260 degree range fully wound without the chronograph running. I am using a 40 degree lift angle for my Ed White and a 36 degree lift angle for my Silver Snoopy. Beat error and +/- seconds are running within specs. Do I need to go to the OB for repair consideration?
 
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For the Snoopy the W1900 can not correctly measure the amplitude:

 
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Hi:

I am using my Weishi 1900 timegrapher and I noticed that the amplitudes for both watches fully wound hover around 210 degrees. Is this normal? Can the Weishi calculate a coaxial movement properly? I read that the amplitudes for both are in the 240 to 260 degree range fully wound without the chronograph running. I am using a 40 degree lift angle for my Ed White and a 36 degree lift angle for my Silver Snoopy. Beat error and +/- seconds are running within specs. Do I need to go to the OB for repair consideration?
My Ed White “out of the box” ran somewhere in the 300-310 amplitude range for about the first three years or so, I was always suitably impressed by the performance and tested it maybe a half dozen times over the first year.

I checked the other week, having not tested for years, it now sits around 290 amplitude after a full wind.
 
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My Ed White “out of the box” ran somewhere in the 300-310 amplitude range for about the first three years or so, I was always suitably impressed by the performance and tested it maybe a half dozen times over the first year.

I checked the other week, having not tested for years, it now sits around 290 amplitude after a full wind.
Are you using a 40 degree lift angle? Thanks for the help. Do you use a Weishi 1000 or 1900 Timegrapher?
 
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Here is my Ed White (modern) with a few winds, so not nearly full wind. Maybe 15 or so winds? Amp was ~280-290 for a few minutes.

 
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Omega specs only talk about a required amplitude at 24 hours after full wind. So there is no real official guide for what the amplitude should be at full wind.

So for the 3861, the minimum amplitude at 24 hours after full wind (in any position - minimum will be in a vertical position) is 190 degrees. Again you need a machine that has a setting on it specifically for measuring co-axial watches. To the best of my knowledge, this is only available in professional grade machines, and none of the cheap consumer timing machines have this.

For the 321B in the Ed White, the minimum amplitude at 24 hours after full wind is 180 degrees, again in any position.
 
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Omega specs only talk about a required amplitude at 24 hours after full wind. So there is no real official guide for what the amplitude should be at full wind.

So for the 3861, the minimum amplitude at 24 hours after full wind (in any position - minimum will be in a vertical position) is 190 degrees. Again you need a machine that has a setting on it specifically for measuring co-axial watches. To the best of my knowledge, this is only available in professional grade machines, and none of the cheap consumer timing machines have this.

For the 321B in the Ed White, the minimum amplitude at 24 hours after full wind is 180 degrees, again in any position.
Some of the phone apps can of course. I see quite a few of the 1900 timegraphers advertised as supporting coaxial, but not confidently enough for me to risk the mid-$200s to buy one with that in the title block.

The reason I haven't risked it is I both don't really NEED that (I don't work on coaxial watches), and I would imagine they would advertise it more aggressively than they do.
 
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Some of the phone apps can of course. I see quite a few of the 1900 timegraphers advertised as supporting coaxial, but not confidently enough for me to risk the mid-$200s to buy one with that in the title block.

The reason I haven't risked it is I both don't really NEED that (I don't work on coaxial watches), and I would imagine they would advertise it more aggressively than they do.
I would take claims of any cheap option (in particular a phone app) as being able to accurately measure amplitude on a co-axial watch, with a massive grain of salt. They can certainly measure rates, and they will also give you an amplitude readings, but it won't be accurate.

Amplitude, in the words of a Witschi engineer I spoke to is "very difficult to measure in co-axial watches" due to the timing of the sounds being very close together and difficult for the mics and software to distinguish from each other. This conversation was in the context of me having spent many thousands on a machine that was giving me unreliable and inconsistent results when working on co-axial watches. They had me send it back for an upgrade to fix the issues. So some phone app using a built in microphone (or even one you plug in) is IMO very unlikely to be able to do this accurately.

If whatever machine you might have gives you a consistent reading, it might be useful to give you an idea what is happening with the amplitude over time - say it's dropping significantly from one year to the next. But for an absolute reading of the amplitude, they are not capable.
 
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I would take claims of any cheap option (in particular a phone app) as being able to accurately measure amplitude on a co-axial watch, with a massive grain of salt. They can certainly measure rates, and they will also give you an amplitude readings, but it won't be accurate.

Amplitude, in the words of a Witschi engineer I spoke to is "very difficult to measure in co-axial watches" due to the timing of the sounds being very close together and difficult for the mics and software to distinguish from each other. This conversation was in the context of me having spent many thousands on a machine that was giving me unreliable and inconsistent results when working on co-axial watches. They had me send it back for an upgrade to fix the issues. So some phone app using a built in microphone (or even one you plug in) is IMO very unlikely to be able to do this accurately.

If whatever machine you might have gives you a consistent reading, it might be useful to give you an idea what is happening with the amplitude over time - say it's dropping significantly from one year to the next. But for an absolute reading of the amplitude, they are not capable.
I definitely expect that could be the case, though I would expect phone software to be ABLE to do it (the processing power and sample rate is there), whether or not they DO, shrug. I do know the specialized machines industry tends to try to get away with as little hardware changes as possible, so I would be unsurprised if the 'expensive' one you bought lacked the processor to do the work (or, also, knowing what software in devices like this looks like... geesh!).

My experiences with coax watches on my 1000 unit (pictured above) is you get vastly inconsistent ratings, part of why I haven't tried it. I DO have a timetrax on my desk I've been meaning to put batteries into, so maybe I could toss that on the o-scope and satiate some curiosity...
 
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Here are my results after a full wind. I purchased my Ed White from an OB in March 2026.

I will go to my local OB for a prognosis.

However, think I may have to send it back to Bienne/Biel for adjustment.

 
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Here are my results after a full wind. I purchased my Ed White from an OB in March 2026.

I will go to my local OB for a prognosis.

However, think I may have to send it back to Bienne/Biel for adjustment.

I personally would bring that in for a service too, particularly only a 4 month old one. I'm not sure what they'll tell you at the OB (a GOOD OB would trust you/look at the pic/send it in), but I'm sure the Omega watchmaker who gets it would be equally discomforted by that number/fix it for you.

When mine went back, it was ~3 months or so, so expect to live without it for a while. Hope you have plenty of others to keep you company 😁
 
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I personally would bring that in for a service too, particularly only a 4 month old one. I'm not sure what they'll tell you at the OB (a GOOD OB would trust you/look at the pic/send it in), but I'm sure the Omega watchmaker who gets it would be equally discomforted by that number/fix it for you.

When mine went back, it was ~3 months or so, so expect to live without it for a while. Hope you have plenty of others to keep you company 😁
Thanks, I have a Silver Snoopy and a couple of Rolexes that can keep me company.
 
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Here is my Ed White (modern) with a few winds, so not nearly full wind. Maybe 15 or so winds? Amp was ~280-290 for a few minutes.

Thanks for the confirmation. It looks like I will have to go to the OB and have it shipped out to Bielle tomorrow. Sad day, I'll be without the Ed White and possibly the Silver Snoopy for a few months.
Edited:
 
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Are you using a 40 degree lift angle? Thanks for the help. Do you use a Weishi 1000 or 1900 Timegrapher?
Yes, 40 degree lift angle, Weishi 1900. Amplitude just over 290 after settled in for twenty minutes or so after a full wind.

210 amplitude does seem a little low, as you’ve mentioned it is worthwhile taking it in to OB.
 
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Yes, 40 degree lift angle, Weishi 1900. Amplitude just over 290 after settled in for twenty minutes or so after a full wind.

210 amplitude does seem a little low, as you’ve mentioned it is worthwhile taking it in to OB.
On my way to the OB today. I hope that it doesn’t need to go back to Bielle for repair.
 
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On my way to the OB today. I hope that it doesn’t need to go back to Bielle for repair.
The Ed White always does unfortunately. At least your Snoopy would stay in-country.
 
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Here are the results for my Ed White. Apart from the incorrect lift angle which should be 40 degrees instead of 38. Degrees, it seems like it should be sent back to Biel. However Omega NY on Fifth Avenue said it was oaky. What do you think? Like a medical prognosis should I get a 2nd opinion.

 
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Here are my results for the Silver Snoopy. The lift angle is wrong again, should be 36 degrees instead of 38 degrees. Is the 2 degree difference okay or should I get another opinion.

 
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Others will chime in who know much more about the nuances here than I. But from a general perspective: the 321 results, to my eye, are close enough to beg the question as to whether it’s worth it to tear into the watch for a minor improvement. Just a thought…