Hello all
I just wanted to post a comment in regards to a fix that i developed without taking the watch back off.
So in 2007 i stupidly over wound the watch, whereby the movement completely stopped working. I tried in vain to get the watch to work by banging it etc to release the movement (not recomemded) to no avail.
I put the watch away with the view of sending it off when i could afford to. Years later (today) i watched a few Youtube videos to understand the movement and realised that the watch was not over wound (as commonly thought) but over torqued and recalling the time when i over torqued it it was roughly about two turns of the crown.
So with an engineering mind i thought that to release the torque all that was needed was to get the movement to revolve a few times, hense releasing the tension of the spring.
The only way to do this was to press the top chrono button with crown out which moved the second hand 1/2 a second twice or three times. Then repeat with the crown in. At 15 second the second hand moved for 3 seconds! ! I couldnt believe it!! I then continued this process and at exactly 2:00 of clicking the chrono button (at 12 o'clock) the second hand started to move on its own.. Thus the spring hand unwound itself. So..my logic was correct.. Moving the second hand manually unwinds the over torqued spring.
The joy i felt when the watch sprang to live was immensely satisfying.
Now im not sure why i had to open the crown, click for two seconds then repeat with the crown closed? But all i can guess is that this pushed and pulled against the cogs creating a difference in tension.
This may not need to be done.. But it worked when the second hand was not moving when clicking the button and doing so released the movement.
Anyway i hope this helps anyone with a stuck movement.. As it certainly did for me.
If you do follow this procedure and it worked please let me know..

Regards
Marc (a very happy omega snoopy watch wearer)

 

I hope a watchmaker will correct me if I'm wrong, but you should never be able to overwind / over torque a watch. That's a sign that the movement is binding due to dirt and/or lack of lubrication.

@Archer
@Horlogerie

 

It's midnight in Aus now and I have to head off to bed.

I'm interested though.

 

The watch was less than 1 yr old.. I recall the 'over clicking' of the crown when over tightening (on my wrist sitting in traffic) and i turned the crown twice. Which would indicate that the two turns would equate to two mins, hence the movement freeing at precisely two minutes.

Ps..the watch was well within the service period so i cant imagine it being due to dirt or lack of lubrication. It was due to a user error.

 

As an engineer and watchmaker, I'm interested to hear how the additional torque you applied to the crown resulted in a stopped watch?

Cheers, Al

 

Have the same movement and nothing you are explaining makes sense.

So your saying you turned the crown twice and it stopped.

You can generally turn it 40 pr 50 times from stopped to full wind. You can't over wind a Speedmaster unless you use pliers when the crown stops and this would probably break the stem anyway.

If it was still in warranty (1 year old ) you would not have needed to put it away until you could afford it

 

The explanation makes absolutely no sense at all.

You can't overwind a watch or over torque it.

I am a licensed engineer and a professionally trained horologist and know these movements quite well, what you did was a coincidence that's all...

Rob

 

Im not a watch expert but what i do know is that i over wound the crown and the watch immediately stopped. I then went through the process above and it worked. The engineer in me thought of an over wound spring mech which needed to be loosened. Moving the second hand fwd worked. There are no coincidence only applyed matter.

 

I over wound the crown twice when the watch was already fully wound and as it was my fault it would void the warranty. Hence putting it away.

 

Im frankly amazed at the comments.. Not one person has said well done for getting it working again. Which was the point.
Trying to disprove what actions i took or to ridicule a lack of watch knowledge is quite childish.
I would rather have a considered and concise responses.

 

I have always been told you cannot overwind a speedmaster.

Not without a pair of pliers, anyway

 

Me too..

 

This forum is read by many people who, like you, "have a lack of watch knowledge" (your own words). You may not like the informative responses to your thread, by several excellent, experienced watchmakers. But a voodoo solution such as you propound, may be taken as gospel in the future, by others equally uninformed. This MB is a source of knowledge for many like you who "have a lack of watch knowledge". So the information offered here must be factual.

 

Okay, if it makes you feel better I'll say "Well done for getting it working again!".

Now back to reality - whatever actually happened is signifying there's something amiss inside your watch. Wonder if the mainspring end is broken off it's mount? Better have it checked out.

 

Looks like a great trick

 

Between Canuck, Archer and myself, you have 3 very experienced, qualified and skilled horologists, I think what we have to offer is valid and has merit.

The analysis (two turns = 2 minutes etc) is completely wrong as so is the over torqued comment.

The point is to share valid info, not hockuspocus nonsense.

 

Im just relaying what i achived with my "voodoo".. Which worked. So maybe im on the wrong forum.. *google searches "voodoo watch mending"

...and i'll be honest at one point i did try the uri geller trick of holding it my hands and shouting "WORK"

 

Thanks.. I will.

 

But it worked! ! Thats my point.. I had no reason to think this voodoo would work??