Omega geneve from early 70s found in vault in original box with tags. Never worn. When I wind this watch it runs smoothly, winds smoothly, but the crown never gets tight. Essentially it feels as if I could wind this watch forever. Is this normal? Most of my manual winding watches will get taught on the crown telling me that I do not need to wind anymore

 

I would guess a broken mainspring if the watch isn't an automatic, and I can't see anything on the dial to indicate automatic.

What are the reference numbers in the paperwork?

 

The watch winds just fine. The crown just doesn't get tight like most watches. I wouldn't think it's a broken mainspring. The caliber I believe is 1481

 

Sorry cal 1030

 

Caliber 1030 is a manual wind, and unless Omega retained an automatic mainspring from the parent 1020 caliber, and if the watch winds continuously without resistance, I would say it's a broken mainspring.

I think I have a 1030 somewhere, I'll check it out.

 

Thank you. It winds with resistance, what o mean is that it doesn't max out. Like with another watch I can wind it and eventually it'll want to stop. This one however seems to act like an automatic wind. I'll wind and wind and it'll tick and click hard and strong.

 

The mainspring is the same mainspring from 1030-1208. Omega cal 1120 takes the same mainspring and it's an automatic model. Does this mean the mainspring in the 1030 is an automatic mainspring?

 

The mainspring is the same mainspring from 1030-1208. Omega cal 1120 takes the same mainspring and it's an automatic model. Does this mean the mainspring in the 1030 is an automatic mainspring?

 

No. They are different items.

The part number for a caliber 1030 mainspring is 1030.1208.

The part number from the parent automatic (1010) caliber is 1010.1208.

1208 is the generic identifier for a mainspring (generally). To obtain the correct item, you must designate caliber/reference.

 

How long does the watch run after you give it a complete wind?

 

So you can wind forever without crown just stopping at some point?

 

If the spring is broken towards the inner end it will still run for a reasonable amount of time but wind continuously, as described by the op won't it?

 

30 hours maybe 40

 

Exactly

 

What would be a "complete wind" if it never stops winding?

 

Well I wound it for a good three minutes and it runs for about two days. This watch was an NOS.

 

40 something hours is the norm for that movement, doesn't have to be NOS for that, it takes time for the mainspring to deteriorate so reserve gets lower. 3min winding is definitely not normal, it should be about six times less.

 

If its NOS then it has never been serviced and will likely run like crap. Its probable the mainspring had set and broke the first time the watch was wound. That's why I hate the concept of NOS, it is like Schrodinger's Cat, you can't use the watch without a service but the very act of the service renders the watch no longer NOS.

 

I don't plan to resell it. It was my first Omega and will always be NOS to me haha. Should I go ahead and get it cleaned and serviced?

 

Definitely. It's a nice watch and should worn, but if it hasn't been serviced in the last five to ten years, running it may cause undue wear.