Hi, I purchased a new Omega Speedmaster "moon watch" from an authorized dealer 6 years ago. Since then, I have worn it every day and it has been flawless. I wear it at almost all times except sleeping and doing heavy manual labor like yard work or working on cars. I just took a trip to Hawaii where I went snorkeling for about an hour and did a number of 10-15 ft dives for a few seconds. The watch worked fine with no evidence of water in it, but the next day I noticed it stopped early. I wound it and noticed that it never reached that hard stop that let me know it was fully wound. Instead it wound wind freely forever. I wound it for about a minute and realized something was wrong so I listened to it. After winding about 10-20% of the way, you can hear and feel a mechanical "woosh." I don't know how the gears work but I'm guessing something is slipping and not letting it get to the next stage for further winding. As a result the watch loses power after about 6-8 hours of operation. I have never had it serviced since it has always worked flawlessly until now. The hesalite crystal is heavily scratched, so I suppose it's time for some work to be done anyway. Questions: 1. What's wrong here? Common problem? Easy fix? 2. Did the water cause this? Or was this just a coincidence? Watch says it is supposed to be good to 50m, and I was nowhere near that. Would this be covered under warranty? 3. What cost am I looking at reasonably? 4. Where should I send it for service? Is this an easy enough DIY? I have worked as a microelectronics technician and have tons of precision tools and microscopes at home but have never taken apart a watch. Thanks!
I live in Kansas City. According to Omega's website, all of the service centers are in large cities on the coast. Is this something a local watch guy can handle or should I only consider FedEx'ing it to Omega?
Needs a service after 6 years! Definitely sounds like the mainspring. Tell us where you live and someone might be able to recommend a watchmaker. After 6 years, the warranty is long expired. This is not a DIY IMO.
These guys are local and say they do authorized Rolex repair. I sent them an email to see if they felt comfortable handling this: http://kcwatch.com/ Anyone else know a good service guy in the Kansas/Missouri area?
I just googled "watchmaker in Kansas City" and it looks like the Jewlery store Tivol is an authorized Rolex dealer and has 3 watchmakers on site. Hopefully they have access to Omega parts. Your other option is to ship your Speedy to another watchmaker that you feel comfortable with after some more members give recommendations. Expect minimum 3-6 weeks for the service.
https://www.mjewelry.com/ Personally I have never had an Omega dealer charge me extra for service through Omega. I know they are taking a piece of the Omega service price with service charges, but being able to deal with someone locally if something goes wrong is worth it to me.
If you can't find a local watchmaker (which would actually surprise me for a Speedy), then I recommend shipping it to Nesbit's in Seattle. They did an excellent job on mine when I accidentally dropped it and cracked the Hesalite, dented the bezel, and bent the balance staff. It looks good as new now, and actually keeps better time than it did when new.
If you want local, take it to Meierotto in NKC. They are an authorized AD and have some excellent in-house watchmakers. I've had them service Co-axial and non-Co-axial Omegas. They may be a bit more on the expensive end, but will do a great job. KC Watch is a small independent operation in OP that outsources their watchmaking in my understanding. I have had them service a few standard ETA pieces and they came back just great, but don't know if they have an Omega parts account or what (if that concerns you). I imagine a 816/1861 is relatively easy to work on for most competent watchmakers, and fairly easy to source parts for. If you want to send out-of-state, I am sure you can get some good recommendations on here, and of course there is forum member Archer, who you may want to inquire with.
It's punt on these guys, for if they say the do "authorized Rolex service" they're full of it. Only Rolex does authorized Rolex service. I'd send it to Omega and they will do it right, plus warrantee the watch. After 6 years (and you obviously love the watch) it's the best way to get it done right.
I know it's not an old Omega Speedmaster, and obviously he is not local, but it would be interesting to compare the cost of shipping your watch to Simon Freese Watchmakers in the UK. Simon was at Swiss Time Services UK for years and is very highly rated by collectors and experts on this forum. If you're going to ship it anywhere, why not ship it to the top Speedmaster guy? Considering his expertise, his prices are reasonable. http://www.simonfreesewatchmakers.com/
Since OP is in the US, I'll second Nesbits. However, they'll charge the same as Omega: $750. If it's just a broken mainspring, there shouldn't be any additional charges (the mainspring is typically replaced in a servicing). However, if there are any other significant issues, there may be additional charges for parts not normally replaced as part of a servicing.
KC watch couldn't do it, and Meierotto quoted an astronomical fee for in house complete service (well above Omega's advertised $750). So I have to send it out. Where should I send it? Looks like there are numerous Omega service centers on their site -- any more reputable than the other?
How much more did Meierotto want? I can tell you that they will do a top notch job. I even find their in-house case-refinishing to be superior to Omega. I've heard some bad stuff about Omega service centers, but have limited experience with them (read: one watch), and my experience was fine. If it were $100 to $150 more, I might go with Meierotto as you can maintain direct contact with the watchmaking department that is very competent and local. Otherwise, you can call Omega and they will ship you a postage-paid box to put your Speedy in to send directly to the service center.
I called Omega and they are sending me a box. I've just decided not to screw with anything else at this point. I'm assuming it will be easier to deal with any problems if an authorized service center handles it. What a pain.
They are the manufacturer afterall. Anything less than excellent is not acceptable. Some of us chose not to do it there as we are worried of them changing out the dial, hands etc...
So, I had this speedmaster serviced by Omega in 2018. I wore it for about a year afterwards daily, and it was great. Then I swapped it out for a Rolex. So it sat unused for about 2 years. I recently started wearing it again. I think it's broken again. It's doing something funny. When I have the chronograph going (large second hand going around the dial), it will stop very quickly even though it is near fully wound. I will try to wind it again, and I can only wind it another turn or so. It will run for about 30 minutes, then stop and I can only wind another turn or two. If I don't use the chronograph, then it seems to run down normally and die over a course of a few days, and I can wind it fully back up with 20-30 turns or so. Anybody heard of a failure like this? Pretty disappointing it's failed so quickly after a $750 service. Will Omega typically warranty bad service work like this?
Your service warranty has already expired. And "so quickly"? It is three years later, after all. You'll want to send it in again, or to Nesbit's.