Greetings all! As a quick refresher, in October I got an amazing hand me down gift from my dad in the form of a Geneve Dynamic that my maternal grandfather had given him as a gift in 1969. He said he had had it serviced ~6 years ago but that he had no records of what was actually done. It was running at about 20 seconds fast per day, so given that plus the unknown state of service I was advised that it would be good to have things at least examined before wearing it on a regular basis. See

https://omegaforums.net/threads/new-member-first-post-omega-geneve-dynamic-i-1969.151567/

for many more details.

Based on recommendations from folks here and other places, I went to MJ Watch Service in Glenview, IL right before Thanksgiving. I asked them to make sure all the internals were in good working order, that better accuracy would be great, and that it would be nice to get the crystal polished but that I didn't want the watch body or bracelet polished. Later I called and also asked for some photos to be taken of the case internals and the movement since it's a front loader and I wouldn't be able to open the case myself.

They called back the week after Thanksgiving and said that the "winding wheel" was the only part that needed replacing and that they could take care of everything else for what I felt was a reasonable price. They said it would be ~3-4 weeks, so there was an outside chance I could get it before Christmas, which would have been nice since then I could show my dad the serviced watch. I called to check the week before Christmas and was reasonably told that it wouldn't be done before then. Oh well.

Got back to Chicago today and got a call from the shop saying that the watch was ready! I went over to pick it up. All the scratches polished out nicely from the crystal, and it makes a significant difference IMO as to how good it looks. They also provided a printout from the time grapher showing an average of -2.8 seconds per day across 6 positions. I'll let the more knowledgeable folks here comment on whether this is good or not.


I'll have to take more pics of the watch tomorrow in better lighting, but here's a quick snapshot on the wrist:



Obviously will have to see over the next few days how accurate it actually runs in real life, but if it really does end up under +/- 5 seconds per day on average (or if I can fudge it by just putting it on the nightstand overnight in a fast or slow position to make up for any variance) I'd be more than satisfied. I've already got a lot more peace of mind about wearing it on a regular basis.

 

Very nice watch..i love the watches which have some "orange" on them.

 

Before the service, the clock showed the result + 20 seconds a day. I think it's due to magnetization.

 

Oh, only downside from the service experience was that they didn't actually take photos of the inside of the watch like I asked.

 

That looks great. I love those watches, they are so cool. Congrats.

 

Looks like a job well done.

Also, a magnetized watch will be minutes fast per day, not seconds.

 

Great watch with really cool 70’ies vibes!

Can you share the cost of the service (PM is fine if you prefer not to post publicly)? Asking as I am looking for a competent watchmaker for a vintage omega in the Midwest.. thanks!

 

So looks like I'm at about -4 seconds per day while wearing it all day (mostly at my desk on the computer and a daily 2+ mile walk). I'm not seeing the variances that were noted on the time grapher report shown above though. Like no matter what position I leave it in on my night stand overnight, there doesn't seem to be any difference - it just loses 1-2 seconds over that 10 hours. I thought based on the time grapher numbers that I would be able to basically keep it close to on time by just varying what position I left it in, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Mind you I'm not complaining at all, just noting that reality is not quite matching up with what I had predicted based on this data. Before servicing it was gaining 20+ seconds per day, so -4 seconds/day is a huge improvement IMO.

Power reserve is right around 49 hours, which is right where it was before servicing.

 

Congratulations on the great watch! I’m glad to hear you had a good experience at MJ watch service. I called them the other day about my Dad’s Speedmaster.

 

It does raise the question of how reproducible/consistent should the time grapher data be with real world performance? I see the date on the printout is from 12/20, so dunno how much more work was done after those measurements were taken, whether it was after the movement had been put back in the case, or what. Either way, while the average drift I'm seeing of ~4 seconds/day is quite close to the -2.8 spd average, I had thought that the measured variances in the different positions would at least be close to what was observed in real life. If the time grapher shows -9.8 spd in the 3H position, I thought I should be able to leave the watch alone with the crown up and see something in that neighborhood.

I have no practical experience in watchmaking or watch repair/service, so maybe someone with more knowledge can comment as to what might account for this. Maybe I've not got the right expectations or understanding to begin with?

Again I'm not complaining about the service results or about MJ Watch Service. Just trying to learn and understand more as I enjoy having and wearing this watch!

 

I love the Dynamics, probably like many here, that was my 1st vintage Omega and got me hooked. I have the silver and blue bullseye dial and it is out for service at the moment.

 

OK, the watch is back at MJ Watch Service. Today after I reset the time on the thing, all of sudden the second hand would just stop for a little while, then start up again. Obviously not ideal. They're looking at it under warranty - initial hypothesis was that some spring that connects to the gear that drives the second hand needs tightening/adjusting. Obviously we won't know until it actually gets opened up and examined. Should hear in about a week they said. I told them to take their time to make sure everything looks good and also to look at taking those pictures of the movement and serial number on the case that I asked for last time. Fingers crossed!

 

Oh another thing I talked with them about was winding the watch. Before servicing, if I wound the watch, there was a definite feeling of where there would be a bit of resistance in the crown. I had read that you never want to wind a watch past that point or that on some movements it would even be impossible to do so, so I would never really push it. After servicing, the winding action in general seemed to be "tighter" if you will, but that feeling of resistance was a lot less, and once there was this little clicking sound/feel to the crown and then the winding would continue. I mentioned this to the guy at MJ Watch Service, and he said that for an automatic watch, this happens on some movements (my Omega has the 752) such that the mainspring just pops around when it gets to the fully wound point. My Google skills are not turning up anything definitive on this, but is this something that someone can explain a little more to me?

 

Automatics have a spring called a bridle that slips around the edge of the barrel. This is a second spring. There is a special grease used for this to control the friction between the bridle and the barrel.

Try searching 'watch automatic bridle'

I love dynamics. A watch so ugly it looks great, and reminds me of the good parts of the 1960s. Something one might see in a Stanly Kubrik film.

 

On a manual wind watch, the mainspring is attached at each end, one end to the arbor, the other to the side of the barrel. When the spring is fully wound it will not go any further.

An automatic mainspring is attached at the arbor but the other end has a heavier bit of spring that acts as a brake and if the spring is wound up tightly, the brake will slip on the inner wall of the barrel if the correct "braking grease" has been used.

If no braking grease, or the wrong lubricant is used, it may allow the mainspring to slip earlier in some cases, and in other cases the spring will hold and then release suddenly which gives that clicking noise/feel.

Some light reading for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainspring

 

Ahhhhhh.......extremely educational, thanks to you both for the tips and references!

 

Did you tell them you were getting –4 seconds per day? They can make an adjustment to compensate. It's called "adjusting for wear" and quite common. My watchmaker tells me, "the first one is free" because tinkering with it isn't very productive. Plus, I usually don't wear the same watch more than a few days, and I can't remember the last time I wore the same one for a week unless I was on a trip!

 

I did not mention specifically that it was -4 seconds a day but that it was running just a little slow. They said they would do adjustment after repairing/adjusting the other thing.

 

Yeah, I fell in love with it the second my dad showed it to me back in October. I had no idea he had that watch at all, and I'd never seen anything like it. Such a unique look, and the fact that he'd gotten it as a gift back in 1969 and passed it down to me was a lifelong dream come true. In the 3 weeks since it came back from servicing I've worn it every day, and it was so much fun just to check the time and appreciate the movement of the second hand. First mechanical watch I've ever had.

 

OK, I picked up the watch from MJ Watch Service this evening after work. They said that the issue with the second hand has been sorted out, and the new time grapher numbers show that it should be more accurate than it was after the first trip to service. As of right now it's +6 seconds ahead of my laptop; we'll see how it goes over the next few days. I also got photos of the movement and the inside of the case! Would be interested to hear folks' opinions.