If you have one available I'm interested, found one on eBay but they are asking for over $300 and that's a little high, the balance wheel that I have is fine but the the hair spring is not.

 

As always look at Cousinsuk or Ofrei .

 

Thanks but Ofrei doen't have it and Cousins does but they want more than what I paid for the watch

 

A little high? Seriously? If it's a new one, that is a bargain - Omega wants $583 for a new one mate...

BTW it's the same balance complete as the 861.

Cheers, Al

 

Cousins wants $760 us dollars, if you consider that a bargain I'll love to sell you my omega watch collection

 

You don't read very well mate. Look at the post I quoted...of course $760 is not a bargain when I can get one from Omega for less, but $300 for a new one certainly is...

 

Did see that now .That is expensive . How complete is that balance . Is it with bridge an all the other things . Only the balance staff cost £60 or $100. Can't you just by a new hairspring . If you now which one.

 

I they would sell the hair spring I'd buy it but I don't think they have it for sale.

 

Have you looked at lemania parts?
Lemania 1873.

 

A "balance complete" describes a very specific part. This means the balance wheel, balance staff, roller table with impulse pin (jewel), and the balance spring assembly. It does not include the balance cock or jewels. If you wanted a balance cock for this watch it would be another $200 or so.

Balance springs are not commonly sold by watch companies, so Omega does not sell these for any movement that I have seen. They don't even list the balance staff as being available for this movement, so if I had to restaff it, I would be relying on staffs that are available on the open market. There was a time when you could buy balance springs for a watch, and if you look you can still find them out there in lots and assortments, but just buying the spring is really not going to help someone who is not very experienced. Unless you have the knowledge/skill to select correct pinning points, form the regulator sweep (dog leg), know how to vibrate the spring to the correct length, and then be able to pin it to the collet and stud....let's just say this is advanced watchmaking that very few people do day to day, and certainly not really hobbyist level work.

Even if you were able to buy the balance spring assembly (collet, spring, and stud all mounted and ready to be installed on the staff) the chances you could remove the old one and get this one installed without damaging it would be slim I expect. While this is pretty simple work for most watchmakers, there are so many things that can go wrong when doing this kind of work, the probability of having a problem that you are unable to fix is pretty high.

I'm not sure why this particular watch has a messed up balance spring, but if it was already damaged when the watch was bought, I think this is a lesson learned as to why it the watch was not very expensive.

Cheers, Al

 

Let's put this in perspective. Cousins want £495 + VAT for the part, so £594. You would have to pay about £700 to buy a good example of this watch in the UK, in working condition. It sounds like you took a punt on the watch and have got burned.

I always look at the price of parts before buying a watch - especially one that is not perfect - and take a judgement from there. If you bought it as working, you should try to return the watch.

 

Just bought this movement, it was on ebay but made a side deal for $210 not bad at all, thanks for your help guys.

 

Rough shape - hope the staff isn't rusted...

 

How do you now that the hairspring is ok on that movement ? There is no screw in the balance cock ? So somebody has worked on it ?

 

The movement has been cannibalized and is missing a number of parts including the balance cock screw, the pallet fork and the pallet bridge. Hopefully the parts you need are in good condition.

 

You can try Scotchwatch. He has many obscure parts.
http://www.scotchwatch.com/index.html

 

Yes he does (I have used him in the past), and charges accordingly as all the suppliers who have this material do.

Unless you get really lucky, there is usually no cheap way out of a situation like this...

 

I didnt realise the complete balance assembly was so expensive for these watches, I better take good care of the spare 911 one I have

 

I own a watch repair shop, my watch tech took a look and he said he can replace the hair spring and I'll keep the rest of movement for spares for other. My Mexico City watch guy found me a complete balance wheel from an Omega 861 so I think I'm covered.

 

Not all balance completes are this expensive...it really depends on the specific caliber and it's sort of all over the map really. For example a Cal. 1120 balance is only $117. But a Cal. 2500 balance is $438, and an Cal. 8508 balance Si14 is the same as an 861 at $583...

But generally speaking, they are not inexpensive parts.

Cheers, Al