Hand Replacement 565 Genéve

So I finally sourced a full handset for a 565 Genéve I've been restoring. Finding the NOS dial took months! I'm not looking to sell the watch...I do think it will be all "true" parts when I'm done although I am having trouble finding pictures to capture all the different variation in these 60's Genéves.

Anyway, do any of you have any experience with putting hands on a 565 cal? I got the dial on no problem though it needed a couple of dabs of epoxy to secure it. I have changed hands on Seikos and other mods/restores before but never an Omega. I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice--even just knowing what to expect or how much pressure is needed can be helpful.

I am not taking this to my watch guy. I found all these parts with the idea of putting it back together myself and that was always my intent.

Thanks!

There is no trap, just be carefull with the dial , the feet are quite weak, depending of colour some paint can easily be damage , idem with the lines on the littles blocks index , don’t even touch them. If the dial is well protected , you will have no problem.

These are a little trickier than many watches so, you would do better to take it to your watchmaker.

Did you tighten down the dial screws - they are more or less tangential to the outer circumference of the plate? If you tightened those, you should not need epoxy. In fact, you should never need epoxy.

The issues you will get with pressing the hands on are the auto bridge and the centre seconds tension spring. You need to support the movement in an appropriate holder (with central support). Most people seem to just press the hands on with everything in place and support the rotor axle on the auto bridge but this is not a good way.

When pressing on the second hand, they allow the reaction to be through the spring to the auto bridge. This damages the spring by deforming it with a dimple. Once deformed, the spring doesn't support the second hand properly and the hand flutters. These springs are not cheap to replace and many have that dimple. This is not a typical design and is not as easy as most calibres.

It takes a while to explain how to do this (there are various ways) and it doesn't sound like you will have the experience to do it. However, it's up to you if you want to try.

New hands are usually tight so will need some effort as well.

Regards, Chris