I have an omega seamaster deville watch that I had sent out to get overhauled. The original crown had a loose washer in between the crown and case. The watchmaker doing the service replaced the crown (different from the original) and pin. Now, when the crown is pulled out to the third position to set the date, it's loose. This never happened with the original crown.

Here is a video showing what happens.

I'm also including the only image of the original crown I have from this watch. It's a bit blurry, but you can see it's not the same crown as the "new" one on the watch now.

I contacted the watch repair person about it, but he insisted it was ok. But, I want to get the proper replacement crown and this problem fixed.

Can anyone recommend someone that can handle this?

I've taken my watch to several local people in my area and they all say they can't get the right part(s). Even though I gave them several places to look for them online....I'm baffled. Please help!

 

Can anyone chime in and tell me if this loose crown is normal?

 

It's not normal. The replacement crown likely has too large tube size, or something is wrong with the crown and stems. Crowns with the old style are still available, but I don't know if they will fit. Omega specified replacement crown is also definitely available from Omega or parts suppliers like CousinsUK or Ofrei. Here's one from Ofrei, based on my guess your watch model is 166.020: http://www.ofrei.com/page_147.html#8006.

 

Thank you for the reply and confirmation that its not a normal function. At least now I know Im not nuts for thinking that.

I've been on the Ofrei site before after googling "Omega watch parts", but since I dont know the case back number or the calibre, it wasnt much help...it only gave me hope that the correct parts could be procured.

If i had the knowledge on how to open the case, I would. But I dont want to attempt it and mess something else up in the process. I may just need to send it to someone who can.

Thanks again!

 

You should be able to bring it back to the watchmaker and say it's in no way normal. Ask him to show you anything normal like that. Then you can ask him if anything is wrong inside, take picture of the movement and inside case back, and ask him to get the correct crown.

PS: if the person who did that job is not local to you then ask for some refund then find a local watchmaker. It's not a complicated job to replace the crown.

 

I'd need to ship the watch back, the repair person isn't local. The locals I found here couldn't help me with the original problem, which is why I had to send it out in the first place. After I got it back I found another local repair shop I hadn't heard about through a friend, but they couldn't help either.

If there were something wrong on the inside, I'd think it would have been noticed when the overhaul was done, but maybe I'm wrong. I did contact the guy who did the overhaul and crown replacement today. He said it could be a broken bridge setting under the dial, but it would cost more money if that were the case. I get it, but not cool with it. I'd be spending more on repairs than I did for the watch at that point.

At any rate, I did get in touch with another member here that said he could tell me what parts to order if I can tell him the case numbers. And I did find at least one other person that might already have spare parts for it. I'll see if I can find someone to open it up so I can take pictures. Otherwise, maybe it's time for an eBay fire sale "as is".

I must have missed your reply saying the case I have is probably a 166.020. I thought that might be the correct one as well after looking at a ton of omega watch photos.

 

I think it's not likely something broken at the settings section since it would also cause the same porblem at the time setting position and the date setting would not work then.

There may be two issues at once here. First one is the crown is incorrect. Second is he only changed the outer, female part of the stem and kept the old inner one which could be worn out or rusted and therefore appears to not hold on to the outer part tightly. Did he say how many parts of the crown stem (pin) he changed and how much it cost?

Best of luck in getting it fixed.

 

Good info....Thank you!

He didn't say how many parts but it cost $65. The total bill amount for the overhaul and replacement crown was $175.

 

Just a quick update:

After confirming the issues with my watch and several attempts to find someone who could fix the problem, I was able to get this fixed correctly. The issue was an incorrect tube and wrong crown. I now have the correct tube and crown for the watch.

Many thanks to TNTwatch and Al Archer for their assistance. The repair was done by a fairly new company in my area "The Jewelers Closet" aka: Neighborhood watch company.

Here's an image with the new crown/tube.