'afternoon to all.. I have a much loved and treasured Seamaster, i've had it for 7 years and never serviced. It is my daily wear, never off my wrist and been everywhere and done everything with it. I woke up this morning and the bloody thing had stopped overnight. It must have been after midnight as the date changed, but never moved past 2.30am. I googled Omega website and found a video about self-winding. It wasn't something I was familiar with nor have I ever done it. Can I ask someone to talk me through it in really simple steps.
I think you might need a service if it's been 7 years and it's always on your wrist. Unlikely that it ran out of power if you're active with it (even swing it around should power it back up). Back to your question, you unscrew the crown counter-clockwise until it pops out. Do not pull it out anymore since those positions adjusts the time/dates. Just leave it in the popped out position. Then you turn clockwise about 20-30 times and that should fully wind it up.
So, just past the pop after unscrewing it. I found the helium screw was loose, could that affect it at all?
Oh man, the helium leaked out? Not good, not good at all … Seriously, it just sounds like it’s time for a routine service. 7 years is about the right service interval.
No. Unscrew the crown and moves away from the tube itself. Don't push or pull the crown at all. Looking squarely at the Omega logo on the crown, the crown turns clockwise to wind the mainspring. I'd go for 60 FULL 360-degree turns or whatever the movement booklet says for your watch. The helium valve positive assurance crown wouldn't affect operation. Well, unless it was unscrewed AND the valve itself was open or defective AND water entered the case. You'd be dealing with much more than a stopped movement then. I agree with the above, however. Seven years of very frequent wear means it's time for service. I'm wearing my green Seamaster that way and expect in five or six years to send it in to see how it's doing.
I just called Omega to arrange the service. £590 which i didn't think was unreasonable, but.... the 26 week wait. Man alive.
In my experience, the wait is likely to be more like half that—but it’s good to mentally prepare for the worst. This is why the enablers here will tell you you must never have less than two Omegas at a time. FWIW, I’d say stick with an official Omega service (not an independent) for a modern co-axial piece. You’ll get a fresh warranty.
Step 2. Impatiently refresh the Omega service tracking website daily. Step 3. Buy another watch to keep you distracted. Step 4. Take delivery of serviced watch and enjoy the feeling of unboxing it as if it were a new purchase.
That's frustrating when your beloved Seamaster stops unexpectedly. Don't worry, I can walk you through self-winding in simple steps. First, gently rotate the crown clockwise about 30-40 times to fully wind the watch. Make sure not to overwind it! Then, give it a little shake or wear it on your wrist to get it going. That should do the trick! Let me know if you need any more help.
No chance of overwinding on a modern automatic Omega. The only risk is wasting your time—it won’t hurt the watch.