Incoming watch: The DUMBEST Speedmaster-

So I have been repairing watches and put out feelers/trade watches I'm done with, and have an incoming. Typically I wouldn't want an Omega this recent, but it is actually just a rebadged ETA movement (so parts should hopefully be easy!). Also, this one is seemingly in decent shape with a 2 tone bracelet.

Sold to me as "doesn't work, has a rusty stem", but I'm getting it for a pretty good value, so I'm OK with cat-in-the-bag. Should be a fun project anyway 😀

BUT the most interesting thing? The 166.0285 was advertised as a "Speedmaster". Not a chrono? Not a problem to Omega's marketing team. A fortunately failed attempt to sell-out on the Speedmaster name, this is the dumbest thing Omega has done in quite a while.

Anyway, more photos to follow when it in at the end of the week, but figured I'd start a thread 😀 Hoping I can turn this into a wearable watch, even if it isn't particularly attractive.

@dsio did a story on these a few years ago.

Well worth a read.

https://stories.omegaforums.net/the-speedmaster-classic-heritage-aka-maison-fondee-en-1848/

I'd seen that! I actually read that quite a bit a few weeks ago when I started chatting about this one! Another solid article here.

Got it in today after a bunch of silliness with the seller, along with an interesting AS1985 based Bucherer, and snapped some pictures.

The stem has a LOT of rust damage, the case a little corrosion, and the clamps are a little rusty. Otherwise it seems reasonable. The bracelet is a little big on me (6.25" wrist), but kinda nice, if not dirty. Pretty attractive watch in person, despite not looking great in pictures.

Also interesting to see an Omega that doesn't even pretend it isn't an ETA movement. WHICH, should be nice as the 2892-2 is a VERY popular movement for parts 😀 A full new swiss replacement movement is sub-$300, so if it gets too bad, its easy enough to buy a whole movement for parts!

Anyway, some photos for your enjoyment! I won't have this apart in the next few weeks (its my NEXT up, but I have a 1020 Omega, Rado, and JLC on my bench in some level of disassembly, so those need to get to a 'blocking' point before I touch this one).

SO, tore it down today, cleaned it, and got the movement together! It was awful dirty inside with lots of rust bits everywhere, but it all seems to have come from the stem and 1 clamp. The clamp cleaned up pretty nicely, and I have replacement stems.

The watch cleaned up very nicely. It arrived a non-runner with lots of gunk on the escape wheel jewels, but after some pegging and a run through the cleaning machine, it went together great! The ratchet wheel is a LITTLE worn in that some of the teeth are pointy, but not terribly. I've got one on order.



BUT I went ahead and assembled everything else anyway. Turns out, awesome results 😀 I did a slight beat error adjustment to go from 0.5ms to 0.0/0.1ms, and a slight touch of the regulator to get it to just over 0s/d in every position, so I'm happy so far.



My crown is pretty worn, and the gasket inside is hard/not working, which is probably why there was water ingress. I've ordered another, but it'll be a few weeks before it shows.

In the meantime, I've got some case corrosion to deal with, plus letting this run in!

I'm not a huge fan of these ETA movements, they are 'different' enough than standard that they are a bit of a pain (its SUPER nice to be able to see it run/debug it running with like 7 parts on a 550/600), but it is otherwise nicely made.

It ended up running in an additional ~10 degrees of amplitude while on my bench, but I decided to swap out the ratchet wheel, and as a part of that, switch back to the original mainspring which is slightly larger. That got me to 285 degrees, which made me much happier!

I finished it up today and am trying to wear it! Its slightly big on the bracelet (and I'm too lazy to take out a link!), but I'm shocked with how light it is! The dial is great though.

I wore it all afternoon/night yesterday, and it sorta grew on me 😀 it is a way lighter watch than I am used to, and the 35mm size is actually way bigger than it sounds/my experience. The all-gold dial/bezel is a BIG amount of 'gold' so it is pretty showy in that regard, but it is attractive.