OMEGA WATCH - What broke?

I have a Omega Seamaster AQUA TERRA 150M CO‑AXIAL CHRONOMETER ANNUAL CALENDAR. I was erroneously trying to set the date (not the month) by turning the hands past midmight to change the date. I did this with the crown in position 3 and it was working, the date was changing as I rotated the hands clockwise past midnight. I did this several times and the crown got progressively stiffer (tighter) as I turned it. Then suddenly the hands stopped moving as I turned the crown. It suddenly got very easy to turn (as if something was broken or stripped) and now I can't set the time because the hands won't move when I turn the crown. Also, as I was turning the crown in it screwed completely out of the watch and I then screwed it back in and haven't touched it since. The watch is still keeping time, but I can't set the time because of the problem described above.

Stupid me! I was traveling and did not have the manual so I couldn't look up how to change the date. In a rush, without thinking to just search for the manual on Google, I decided to just change it by the method described above. After breaking it (I think it's broken) I finally found the proper way to change the date in a Google Search, and the date is now correct, but I fear that I have damaged or broken something on the watch by using crown position 3 to change the date as described above. The second, minute, and hour hand are still moving and keeping time. I don't understand why rotating clockwise the crown in position 3 would get tighter and tighter as it was turned. At first, I thought my fingers were just getting fatigue turning the crown in so many rotations, but then realized that it was actually getting tighter, until it was too late and the hands stopped turning and the crown because very easy to turn, almost without any resistance at all.

I called Omega in Switzerland and they were helpful, but would not speculate on what the problem is and told me to take it to an authorized Omega service center. I am in a somewhat remote location in Indonesia and there are no service centers near me. I will of course take it to a service center when I an near one, but that won't be for several months and not knowing what I did to my watch is killing me. I just want to know what broken and what is involved on fixing it? Can it be repaired, or I'd it too seriously damaged. So I decided to post to this forum to see if anyone had technical knowledge of this Omega watch model and can explain what likely happened and why. Knowing would at least alleviate the stress of not knowing for the next several months until I can get to a Omega service center.

Thank you in advance to anyone on this forum that can help. Much appreciated.

Thank you Dan. But as I said, I am in a remote location and don't have convenient shipping options and I want to take it to a service center in Singapore myself in several months.

If you could kindly speculate what happened, it would be greatly appreciated. It would not create more stress, I assure you.

I suspect that you could make an an educated guess and I would not expect it to be anything more than an educated guess.

I'll speculate if you like. If it was an older watch I'd say that you're cannon pinion needs oiling. If it's dry and you have the advance the hands a lot the crown will get very tight to turn. It got so tight the stem stopped turning and the crown unscrewed from the stem. Based on this speculation, your watch needs servicing.

Thank you for that Tritto. Will have it service when I get out of the jungle in Indonesia.

Thank you for the reply. The stem came out with the crown. It was not very long though. Not as long as I have seen in some photos of other watches. It was about 5 to 7 mm. I immediately screwed it back in.

Also, now I cannot set the time as when crown is in position 3, the hand don't move when I turn the crown. It turns with zero resistance, feels as if something is stripped.

Thanks again Archer. Feeling much better to know what the problem is. Here is a photo of the crown and what is left of the stem. I also took a photo with a caliper so you can see the length of the stem, which is approximately 4.5mm.

Is this a difficult and expensive repair at a authorized Omega service center? Just curious approximately how much it will set me back.

Also wondering if when the stem snapped if it is possible that it damaged any other internal parts of the watch?

Thanks again. Much appreciated.

Dennis

It looks like the crown has come away from the stem. There is a clean hole on the end but I can't see any threads as it's difficult to see, but there does not appear to be anything broken off inside of that hole. Here are some macro (close-up) photos. Not great, but maybe you can tell from these photos. Thanks again Archer.

Tha

Thanks Al! That's a relief. Much appreciate your time in helping with this.
Kind regards,
Dennis