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New member, old watch

M
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Hello all, just joined up and thought I'd introduce myself and my watch. It's an Omega f300hz Geneve Chronometer, given to my father by Heinz for 10(?) years service circa 1974. I just recently inherited the watch and am keen to find out more about it and get it in tip top condition. From what I can gather it's quite rare, quite collectable but not particularly valuable. As you can see in the pictures it's in quite good condition but absolutely embarrassingly filthy! Of course the date function doesn't work. From my research it seems most likely the calendar wheel has a broken tooth/teeth and it seems virtually impossible to find a replacement. I've contacted various Omega independents who have told me I've got pretty much no chance. One place, Swiss Time Services told me that they have the part and could fit it but have been told by Omega that they are not allowed to as a watch of this vintage can only be fixed by Omega themselves. My search is further frustrated by the calendar having red text on a white background which according to STS is quite unusual. The search continues!
If anyone has any information on this watch, production dates, is it actually any good etc then I'd love to hear about it.
Watch 2.jpg Watch 4.jpg Watch 5.jpg
 
Biezmez
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Hi and welcome
It's always nice to have such an heirloom from a family member and expecially your father. It's interesting to see the research that you've done on the watch as well. I've seen from other sites this one recommended for electric watches: electric-watches.co.uk . Although it does state he's closed until October, but if you're in no hurry it could be worth getting in touch to see if he could help.

Best of luck
Chris
 
M
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Thanks for the reply. I've seen the site you linked to and if nothing else comes up in the meantime I'll have to hold out until October, although the guy states that he only has calendar wheels with black numbers and I'd like to keep it original if possible. I'm waiting to hear back from a few other places but I'm not overly optimistic!
 
Biezmez
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What's the parts number and I'll get my watch repairer here in Norway to check what they have.
 
M
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That's good of you but I have no idea of the part number, where might I find it? The only tech info I have so far is that it's a cal. 9162 movement, whatever that means! I'm a total watch novice but this Omega has got me interested.
 
Biezmez
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M muta
That's good of you but I have no idea of the part number, where might I find it? The only tech info I have so far is that it's a cal. 9162 movement, whatever that means! I'm a total watch novice but this Omega has got me interested.
Or do you have the model number in the case back?
 
M
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The case back is blank. Are the numbers on the second photo I posted relevant or useful?
 
rob#1
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Nice heirloom, anda cool watch 👎. All I got for 10 years was an enamel badge 😬
 
efauser
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M muta
That's good of you but I have no idea of the part number, where might I find it? The only tech info I have so far is that it's a cal. 9162 movement, whatever that means! I'm a total watch novice but this Omega has got me interested.
Where do you see that it's a 9162? The photo shows 1250.
 
Biezmez
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M muta
That's good of you but I have no idea of the part number, where might I find it? The only tech info I have so far is that it's a cal. 9162 movement, whatever that means! I'm a total watch novice but this Omega has got me interested.
Apologies, I'm not as familiar with these electric watches. It would appear this is all I need to know. The Omega 1250 is the ETS-ESA 9162.

I see there's a black date wheel on ebay in the UK. I'd buy it just to have in case you can't get hold of the red one.
 
M
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Well, having just looked at the watch with my glasses on I can now see that the numbers are in fact black! The white background has changed to a dull red colour which makes the number look red at first glance. This should aid the search!
Biezmez, thanks for that, any chance of a link, I can't seem to find it.
 
Biezmez
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efauser efauser
Where do you see that it's a 9162? The photo shows 1250.

Found this at electric-watches.co.uk:

"Like many other watch manufacturers in the 1970s, Omega employed the ESA 9162 (date only) and ESA 9164 (day and date) tuning fork movements in many of their watches.

The ESA 9162 / ESA 9184 movements are often considered the “Rolls Royce” of tuning fork movements. They were designed by Max Hetzel, who had previously worked for Bulova; he was also responsible for the Accutron 214. In May 1972, ESA also released a chronograph version of these tuning fork movements; it was known as the ESA 9210 and was used in the Omega Speedsonic range of watches.

The Omega watches employing these tuning fork movements were usually referred to as the ‘Omega f300’ models reflecting the frequency of the tuning fork. The non-chronograph f300s must have been produced in the tens of thousands and are often seen on a popular auction site today.

Omega, like many other watch makers, allocated their own calibre numbers to these movements:

  • Omega Calibre 1250 = ESA 9162 (date only)"
 
Biezmez
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M muta
Well, having just looked at the watch with my glasses on I can now see that the numbers are in fact black! The white background has changed to a dull red colour which makes the number look red at first glance. This should aid the search!
Biezmez, thanks for that, any chance of a link, I can't seem to find it.
Just read the small print and it looks like it won't fit your watch after all, sorry about that:

"Please be aware that these date discs will ONLY fit the models which have the stem at 2 oclock with the date at 3 oclock."
 
M
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No worries, thanks for looking. I'm sure one will crop up eventually.
 
Biezmez
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M muta
No worries, thanks for looking. I'm sure one will crop up eventually.
For info, the part number you need is 1250-9025
 
carrosa
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Hello Muta, hope you are doing well. I came across your post today and wanted to share some information and advice that I hope will help you if you haven't been able to get your heirloom watch to service:
As you probably already know, these types of movements employing tunning forks were first developed by Max Hetzel over at Bulova, known as the Accutron line of models (where the Spaceview are probably the most popular).
Anyways, there are a lot of collectors out there of these watches (myself included) and would recommend you search The Accutron Collectors group in facebook. There you can find some of the best people to have your watch serviced.
As a side note, I share with you photos of my f300 DeVille with a red date ring (that's how I found this post searching for more information on this topic)
Edited:
 
IMG_20210129_131014.jpg IMG_20210129_131005~2.jpg
wagudc
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After Omega got out of the f300 business, Titus bought up some of their old stick and then made some of their own. My Titus has the same movement as yours, seen here:

https://omegaforums.net/posts/1757663/permalink

I recentlt had mine serviced by Rob Berkavicius in Thailand. He is one of the best tuning fork movement guys out there. He even rebuilt a new coil for my watch. He is an Australian guy living in Thailand and has great prices. It is a bit of a hassle shipping to Thailand, but he is very helpful. I sent mine from the US.

Here is his page. He comes highly recommended by many here and elsewhere.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/acc.htm
 
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