I had the same issue with one of my speedies. Omega fixed it as it was warranty case. The reason of the issue was winding spring.

 

Rest assured; you’re not alone. Compared to other Speedmaster movements, this one indeed seems to need a little more force to wind it.

I do wonder whether it’s the movement itself causing that, or thigh seals in the crown. It seems to loosen up a bit over time.

 

Very unlikely the cause was any spring - it's just the seals in the crown working in, or maybe needing some additional lubrication.

 

Funnily enough I was just thinking that this morning and decided to go with my other speedy instead much easier to wind but to tell you the truth I bought that one new in 2004 and I can't remember if that was stiff to wind as well at first lol

 

Honestly, a little more force to wind it is an understatement at this point. It’s a fantastic watch, don’t get me wrong. I love almost everything else about it but every time I have to wind it, I’m going, ‘ok, here we go again’ and I see my index finger and thumb have residual marks (albeit for a few secs.) from all the winding.

At first I thought it should be normal so did not think much of it, now that I wear the watch often it makes me think, it can’t be this hard to wind.

Good to know I’m not the only one!

 

I had the same experience, it was a bit stiff at very first but now is only maybe a tiny bit more stiff to wind now than my other modern Speedmasters were.

 

I figured it would get better in time once I use it. Like you said, stiff in the beginning and may be will loosen up later... I find the stiffness just the same so far. I bought my FOIS new as well and never had that issue.

 

My ST2 Ultraman is almost impossible to wind, that thing is extremely stiff The 50th feels more normal, although requiring more turns

 

Same

I find it was very stiff when new, after about 5 times of windifnit became ok

 

I also had this problem but came up with a little gizmo that works great. I was hoping to get on Dragon's Den with it but as my fellow Omega owners are in need, here's what I did. I got some 10mm dia acrylic rod off eBay and a 1/4" drill. Then try to centralise the drill on the end of the rod and drill, very slightly, into the rod end. (It's easier if you have a lathe) Cut the rod to length, I find 2" long enough. You then push the drilled end against the crown, which it grips, and wind. I also make a nylon version that works just as well, if not better.

 

Was looking at a watch crown winder on Amazon but doubtful it will work as the crown is not out in the open.

 

Is manually winding the watch part of the fun of owning a Speedmaster? I love the daily interaction, stiff or not.

 

With a new Speedmastet I pull the crown out and put ONE drop of synthetic oil on the tube, that will help greatly with the winding. Has never caused any issues.

 

Just compared a 1861 at the AD with mine and difference is almost 2.5 times. Don't want to send it back so soon to get worked on as I have hardly enjoyed it yet.

 

Are we still talking watches?

 

Thanks for sharing your technique @A J! Sounds great! I’m wondering if doing that won’t scratch the crown itself?

I still like winding my watch manually (same goes for my automatic) the reason I’ve never used a watch winder. Part of the fun is to have that personal interaction with the watch, for me atleast but again, there is that and then there is plain old ‘a hard to wind’ watch.

 

Exactly my thoughts!

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

My index finger has already signs of hard tissue forming because of the winding every day.

 

The plastic is soft enough not to damage it, especially the nylon version.