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New moonwatch. Minor knitpicks and questions.

Greg Bell
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Hey guys,

Picked up a new moonwatch from an Atlanta AD. Probably should have went to jomashop but I wanted the 5 year warranty and peace of mind given Omega’s recent grumpiness. I got it for 4815 which isn’t great but way better than the 5100 my local ad wanted.




Anyway, as I have owned a moonwatch before, I knew what to expect. Honestly, it’s the coolest watch available. It’s combination of classic looks and unsurpassed history place it at the top of my list of watches.

Knitpicks...

1. One thing I just may not have noticed before is the band is kind of sharp feeling. I have a seamaster and a Milgauss and their bands are buttery smooth by comparison.

2. I also noticed that the hands have fairly crude paint on them. Is that normal? Now this is under magnification, not visible with the naked eye. The lume , however, seems to be applied with precision.

3. The watch is new, but I am gaining about + 15 per day. I remember my last ran slow so I am happier, but I am curious to see if it settles with a routine. I have been able to keep my Milgauss to zero by rotating leaving it flat on its back and face down.

4.. Does anyone have any tricks for slowing down your moonwatch?


Guys, I am totally knit-picking. I love the watch and am really just trying to chat about these things.

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
Edited:
 
Archer
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The hands are painted. Calling it crudely done is I suppose a matter of option. It's a matte finish, but not what I would call crude by any means.

Timekeeping tolerances for the Cal. 1861 are that the average daily rate (measured over just 3 positions) should fall between -1 and +11 seconds per day.
 
rudagger
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Greg Bell Greg Bell
Knitpicks...

1. One thing I just may not have noticed before is the band is kind of sharp feeling. I have a seamaster and a Milgauss and their bands are buttery smooth by comparison.
I found / find the same thing. Not sure why they made it sharp. Similarly, I'm not sure why they wouldn't have made the caseback flatter. The caseback has some pretty sharp lines IMO.
 
PhilF
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My Speedmaster was running 10 sec/day fast, mentioned it to my AD, he verified on a Timegrapher, then checked and found it was highly magnetized which tightens the mainspring and causes it to run fast. They demagnitized it and rechecked, running +1.5-2 sec/day. You can check for a magnatized watch using an undamped (not liquid filled) pocket compass, just lay the compas on the watch and if it's magnatized, the needle will deviate. A watch demagnetizer is about $10 on Ebay, many YouTube videos on how to use one. Your AD, may also check & correct as mine did. You may well have a regulation issue, but this is an easy 1st thing to check.
My bracelet and case back aren't causing me any discomfort, however I wear my Speedmaster on a leather deployant strap in warmer weather due to no half or quarter links and minimal micro-adjust.
 
Archer
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PhilF PhilF
My Speedmaster was running 10 sec/day fast, mentioned it to my AD, he verified on a Timegrapher, then checked and found it was highly magnetized which tightens the mainspring and causes it to run fast.

Just FYI - it's the balance spring that is affected, rather than the mainspring.

Cheers, Al
 
PhilF
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Archer Archer
Just FYI - it's the balance spring that is affected, rather than the mainspring.

Cheers, Al
You are correct, I missed that one, thanks for correcting this....😟
Found out the proximity of my watch to the magnetic clasp on my Kindle was most likely the cause, probably following the magnetic clasp on my iPhone holster where my left wrist usually falls, danger zones for Speedys apparently.
 
igatomic
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It is nitpicking...as in I am nitpicking to point out that you misspelled knitpicking...
 
D
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I can't speak about the bracelet because I took mine off and replaced it with a Silver Snoopy strap and Deployant.

In terms of timekeeping and considering it's not a Chronometer certified movement it's ok.

This brings me to the paint.
I fully concur with Al.
May I add, that I consider the finish to be largely uniform and if you want to see paint that's a bit "how ya goin" then check out the GMT hand on a Polar EXP II.
Throw the loupe away unless you are looking at really high end watches or Grand Seiko's. It will poison your mind.
Having said that, the Speedy Pro has been much the same for over 50 years and now your looking at them through magnification🙁
Look at the bright side, it's way cheaper than the high end stuff and still cheaper than a nice GS👍

Embrace it for what it is and enjoy accordingly😉
 
D
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rudagger rudagger
I found / find the same thing. Not sure why they made it sharp. Similarly, I'm not sure why they wouldn't have made the caseback flatter. The caseback has some pretty sharp lines IMO.

Mine feels fine to me.

Perhaps they figured the case back would be fine on the outside of a Space suit so it was a lower priority. Lol.
 
PhilF
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D Duckie
Mine feels fine to me.

Perhaps they figured the case back would be fine on the outside of a Space suit so it was a lower priority. Lol.

Fully agree, I wouldn't change a thing, it's iconic, classic & well proven, love the looks and every time I wear it I'm seeing what our Astronauts have been looking at and trusting (especially those on Apollo 13) for 55? Years. If I had a wish list for the Speedmaster, all I would want is hacking (not hard to do as-is) & perhaps some half or quarter links in the bracelet and a few more micro-adjustments in the clasp. It's hard to argue with what as worked so well for so long in such an interesting and sometimes, hostile environment.
 
Greg Bell
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Wore mine all day. Now running at +11. I asssume it will continue to settle down. Glad it is now more accurate than my Vostok, lol.

I agree about the paint, it isn’t a big deal.

I disagree about the band and case back. They should reintroduce whatever links and clasp they were using on the mid 00s models because my seamaster feels, much, much better. There just isn’t any reason for that kind of edge on a 5k watch.

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
 
Evitzee
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Greg Bell Greg Bell
Wore mine all day. Now running at +11. I asssume it will continue to settle down. Glad it is now more accurate than my Vostok, lol.

I agree about the paint, it isn’t a big deal.

I disagree about the band and case back. They should reintroduce whatever links and clasp they were using on the mid 00s models because my seamaster feels, much, much better. There just isn’t any reason for that kind of edge on a 5k watch.

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
I never noticed any sharp edges on the bracelet before I replaced it. If it's a sharp edge on clasp or somewhere similar I'd just run a 500 grit sandpaper over the edge to smooth it, I've done this on other watches to good effect. It's always possible an errant edge was not finished properly. I've never noticed any sharp edges coming from the case back.
 
rainking
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Greg Bell Greg Bell
Picked up a new moonwatch from an Atlanta AD. Probably should have went to jomashop but I wanted the 5 year warranty and peace of mind given Omega’s recent grumpiness. I got it for 4815 which isn’t great but way better than the 5100 my local ad wanted.

Eeeesh. I paid $3,500 delivered almost two years ago exactly from one of our more-than-trusted sellers and it came with a freshly stamped AD warranty card. Those sellers are out there. Too late now obviously and I get that some people are freaked out by the whole buying from a stranger on the internet thing, so there's that. Might be something to consider the next time but either way and most of all, congrats on the new Speedmaster, it's such a bad ass watch!
 
Greg Bell
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rainking rainking
Eeeesh. I paid $3,500 delivered almost two years ago exactly from one of our more-than-trusted sellers and it came with a freshly stamped AD warranty card. Those sellers are out there. Too late now obviously and I get that some people are freaked out by the whole buying from a stranger on the internet thing, so there's that. Might be something to consider the next time but either way and most of all, congrats on the new Speedmaster, it's such a bad ass watch!
 
Greg Bell
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They have definitely gone up like crazy since then. I paid right at 3k at the same place about 4 years ago. For one on a leather strap, totally legit AD. I considered joma this time but that would have been $4300 and I just figured I might as well get a legit 5 year warranty.
 
oinkitt
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Perhaps I'm just a pleb but I wouldn't worry about 15 seconds a day. I would never know anyway as I never time my watches. I don't own my watches for accuracy.
 
Greg Bell
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oinkitt oinkitt
Perhaps I'm just a pleb but I wouldn't worry about 15 seconds a day. I would never know anyway as I never time my watches. I don't own my watches for accuracy.

Well it is settling down. I really would like to get it down to +5 or less just so I won't constantly be resetting. A minute off every 4 days is a bit much.
 
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