Hello from England. I have recently bought this 562 cal Seamaster and noticed that the sweep hand was slipping around the dial but other than that it kept perfect time. I took it to my local watchmaker for a service and he said that the sweep arm was worn and needed replacing but was unable to source a replacement locally.
I've looked on e-bay and various omega specialists to find a replacement for the 562 movement but without success. Are there any other omega movements using the same sweep arm that I could use instead. I really want to use Nos if possible ? Thanks in advance.

 

Hi,

It sounds a little odd to me. Your watchmaker should be able to tighten the tube of the hand, or if necessary to change it. He may have to adjust the new tube, but that is regular job. No need to order an Omega tube - I am not sure they sell that alone! - or to order a new hand.

By any chance, do you have a pic of the tube?

But maybe I am misunderstanding you, and by the sweep arm you meant the extended pinion of the second wheel (edit: of the second pinion - no second wheel here!)! Anyway, I have never seen a sliding hand because of a worn pinion! But I am far of having seen every fault a watch can have...

 

I have read again your title, and it is obvious you are looking for a new hand - so the end if m'y previous message is pointless. But, again, I do not think you need one.

 

Hi.
I'm not an expert and am only going by what I've been told. By sweep arm I mean the second hand itself. The pinion (I don't know the technical term) that supports the second hand is in tact but the hole in the second hand itself appears to have become too large and needs replacing.

 

This is the original sweep second hand that apparently needs replacing.

 

The second sweep hand mounting

 

Can you measure from the hand tube to the end of the hand? I might have something suitable. If not, there is a good possibility that one is available new in UK.

God knows what's been done to your existing hand... And I can't see the pinion to mount it in the last picture - probably there but it's not clear enough.

Cheers, Chris

 

I understand and did not mean you were doing or saying something wrong. Sorry if I have seemed a little bit harsh.

 

I have never seen that! I cannot understand how a hand tube can be so badly damaged!

With Chris, you are in good "hands" (I am not sure this expression is correct in English as it is in French, but it seemed to me the one to use here!).

 

François, no problem at all, thanks for the response

 

Hi Chris,
It was only when I took the photo I realised how chewed up the hand looked. A measurement from the hole to the tip is 12.2 mm - as accurate as I can get it although it's difficult with the curve in the tip of the hand.

 

Thanks Francois - I suspect someone tried to tighten the hand with a triangular stake rather than the correct tool (or lathe collet). The triangular stake raises three "burrs" around a hole and is intended for tightening roller tables but, we don't like doing things like that! Only really for emergencies...

Correct tightening tool (unless you want to tighten in your lathe collet which is also fine) is this and it comes with about 16 collets of different sizes. I use it a lot as I do a lot of vintage watches.

It's very chewed up - you should be able to see a pinion in the middle of the dial, like this and this is where the second hand is mounted:

What you're looking at there is the left hand end of the upper part in this picture.


I see a readily available yellow gold plated Omega hand (listed for a 14763 as far as I can see) at 12.75 mm and will have a look to see if I have anything shorter but that's short for a 562 (550 series watch). A new hand is about 20 quid. I am afraid that your watch looks like it has been re-dialled and that may be why the second hand is shorter, because the tick marks are on too small a radius. I could be wrong about the re-dial aspect and it make no difference whatsoever if you like the watch as is.

I'm in Somerset, where are you?

Cheers, Chris

 

Hi Chris,
I live near Penzance in Cornwall. My measurement may not be 100% accurate and 12.75mm could well be correct in allowing for the curve. I do like the watch and intend to keep it for daily use. I can't see the pinion in the detail you describe and I don't want to open the watch up I'd sooner leave that to a professional. The second hand did work for a few days after I'd bought it but then began to slip intermittently.
I was unsure about buying a used one on ebay as it's difficult to assess if it has been butchered the same as my original. Do you have a link for the one you saw please
Regards
Mark

 

Thanks for these explanations! Great stuff as usual!

I happened to use round round stakes (for one piece hands with a short tube) or a mandrel (not sure of the English term).

What do you think of these methods? I mean, not for professional work, but for an amateur like me.

 

You're doing the right thing in not trying to open it - I was just trying to show the part you should be able to see. The parts I see are (ex VAT):

These are at https://www.cousinsuk.com/ but there is no point in me giving you a link unless you have an account with them as the link won't work. You can see the part numbers so, your watchmaker should be able to get them if he has an account.

If the photo you showed of the "second sweep mounting" is from today, then I would say the "centre second pinion" has not been re-fitted by your watchmaker (as he had no hand to mount there). If that is the case, I would advise asking around about a decent watchmaker to use. I won't advise as I have customers in Cornwall so, obviously don't know of anyone there who they would recommend. I also can't tell you who they are because of that.

Nice place to live as well - I think it's pretty cold at the moment though! My family were from Sennen but moved slowly across Cornwall and then Devon about 100-150 years ago and we occasionally go down to Plymouth and even Cornwall.

Good luck, Chris

 

Thanks Chris, that's been very helpful and you're right, it's very cold down here.
Cheers
Mark

 

Hi Francois

If you're managing to tighten the pipes and not damaging anything, it sounds fine to me and it doesn't matter whether you're doing this for fun or for money. There are lots of ways of doing things and I use the particular tool and not the lathe collets as it's easier and quicker for me. I'm not sure what stakes you're using but here is one explanation dealing with tightening hands.

I'm pretty sure we all have stakes that we've never used as we are not sure of the purpose! Some are really obscure and I found this document very useful (pictures above are from this) - http://cholla.mmto.org/watches/repair/manuals/KD_staking_tools.pdf

Cheers, Chris

 

Thanks a lot Chris!

By the way, the stakes I used to tighten hands tubes are pretty much like the one in the picture you posted. And I acknowledge I do not use most of my stakes - they mostly have an esthetic role in my set!