Servicing a Chronostop

Just FYI - new case tubes are available for these from Omega.

Seems like some of the images or links are broken. Did not know that we are now some sort of private chat where the images delete after a few hours.

One of my favorite watches is a chronostop. I probably serviced it myself with a friends help some 25 to thirty years ago. I may want to work on it again, so any information is of interest.

New parts may not be available from Omega/Swatch/SMH. This does not mean they are not available. Many of the material suppliers have up to 100 or so years of stock on parts. So knowing the part number can be helpful. There is also eBay, which is a bit of a last resort. I personally find sourcing job lots and parts to be quite entertaining. As the old watchmakers die off, there hoards of parts often come up for auction.

Some parts for popular watches can be hard to source. They are out there. One just has to have patience and perseverance to find them. I can honestly say it has taken me up to 30 years to find some things. Much easier now, with the net, as a lot of the information has been uploaded. No more searching through dog eared old catalogs and blurry faxes.

Of course we still have to deal with blurry photographs and deleted photos.

I order from them basically every week, so it is indeed still possible if you go through the steps to get certified and get a parts account. If you are not certified then buying on the secondary market or making it are your only options.


30 minutes isn't bad for a simple case tube. New ones are hard to beat price wise though, so $18. Unless your hourly rate is quite low, a new one is the cheaper route if you have access. Of course if this is a watch for yourself and not for a customer, it's completely different.

Certifications work more for business and production. Home hobby probably does not really fit into any category. Such things are probably not in Omega's best interest which is to sell new watch. Vintage watches are great advertising and much the same as a loss leader.

Production watchmakers, are unlikely to visit forums like this. So the members here are more likely to be enthusiasts. To such who make a living from repair, time is of the essence.

Back in the day pivoting was considered standard practice. Sure it would be nice to get a new escape wheel or pallet fork. These tend to be the priciest parts out there. I have noticed that there are those who sell aftermarket setting springs. Mainsprings, gaskets crystals. Or have access to the old equipment and do short production runs.

Granted post WWII watches use alloys and heat treating. It is sad when a NOS part bought second hand fails. Tolerances can also come to task.

Then there are questions like what exactly is the difference between a 470 1312 and a 550 1312. Such seems to extend to the 1316 complete assembly. Yet the pallet jewels themselves 1314 and 1315 have the same part number. Most likely this is due to bridge height. 470 and 500 watches having different plate heights than 55x/56x/75x watches. So can the sub assembly parts be exchanged? The books on go into great detail on the angles and things what affect the timing. One can not tell these parts from one another without sophisticated measuring equipment.

The gray area happens when one starts making replacement parts. I have been considering putting some of the scrap movements into older generic cases. It is sad when replica cases cost more than genuine examples. The thing is these are eventually going to make it back into the wild. No one really needs 30 restored ratwatches. I am still considering dial repainting. What happens if I put something with attribution on eBay or etsy cleaned up with a custom strap. There is no way to control what other will do with such things.

Some have personal standards for collectability, originality and desirability. Others make due what what interests them.

Small laser engravers, cnc machines, edm machines etc controlled by simple robot controllers are much more accessible. What happens when someone downloads the watchco drawings and makes a new case. I am considering that as well. Of course there are forums for such things, but the focus on those is more about the visual results. No one is going to save money that way, and chances are they will find something that is not so desirable.

I guess this is what happens when one gets 20 thirty year old soda pop marketing executives trying to apply commodity marketing to things they have no business in. Same goes for entertainment where everything is a commodity like corn and soy beans.

Not really disagreeing here. I actually idealistically agree with "one makes the effort to get certified." Otherwise it is rusty eBay parts or getting out the lathe and making due.

People like George Daniels, Derick Pratt or Phillipe DuFour could make any part or a whole watch from scratch. I grew up with them and they were my inspiration. They did not keep techniques to themselves or belittle others. Quite the opposite.

What I find annoying are the deleted post, broken links and missing pictures.