Hey all! I’ve got a bit of a conundrum, and would appreciate all the sage advice I can get. Let me start from the beginning:

I have no business liking good watches at this point in my life, seeing as how a Seiko 5 would be too much of a financial stretch, but here I am in a world where Japanese quartz is a ‘nice watch’ if anybody even wears them, and wanting/lusting after something mechanical, and falling down the rabbit hole of watch podcasts and blogs and Instagram and the whole lot.

We had a nice elderly neighbour, the kind who keeps food for your dog at his house and lets your kids play in his yard and always is giving them candy, offers you open license for all his tools, that sort of thing. Well, as elderly neighbours are apt to do, he took a couple falls and had to move to a nursing home. Since he wasn’t going to need his stuff ever again, he let us have first pick of whatever we wanted before it became an estate sale.

So I got a box of watches! Mostly older quartz and a couple other fairly inconsequential automatics, but the piece of several ohms worth of resistance was a Sea...master....? Geneve? Uh.



Dan, this neighbour, had been a career truck driver, and once upon a time companies gave out good watches. Normally I find traditional dress watches a bit boring and I use chronographs so frequently I consider them a requirement, but this is vintage and I dig it.

Ref. 166.0202
Cal. 1010
‘79?

I just shook it awake and it immediately came to life, with a beautiful sweep and it seemed to be keeping good time, wasn’t hiccuping at all and seemed to be running strong. So I tried to set it.

And the crown came off. Yeah apparently the stem had previously snapped at the base of the crown and it had just been sitting there held in by the tube. Okay, I’ll deal, I grabbed some tweezers and grabbed the stem. It was definitely winding, and when I pulled it out the date quickset was definitely working, but I couldn’t set the time.

I popped the back to check the caliber and dove into some internet research to see if this was a common problem or I was just making a dumb mistake, and one forum thread seemed to indicate that these movements can be a bit sticky and take a little more effort to pull out to the time set. So I gave it just a bit more effort. And the stem came ~right~ out. And it stopped running.

So I’ve messed with it a bit, pulled the movement out of the case to try messing with the stem (don’t worry, my actual fingers touched nothing!) and if I slide the stem back it winds, and I can kinda get the date quickset to work when it’s juuuust right, but I haven’t been able to get it running or obviously set the time.

I’ve been doing research searching these forums and the internet at large as well as I know how, but I have a decent understanding of how a watch works but zero mechanical experience, and it’s all like drinking from a fire hose. My financial situation means the word ‘service’ does not exist in my vocabulary, but I’m generally mechanically inclined and I have torn phones apart and repaired them.

So would this be a new-stem easier fix, or have I made a bigger mess of things? And if I have, what would it take, because I’d love to get this on a wrist. Any input would be fantastic.

 

I would not consider that to be a DIY repair. A good watchmaker can sort that out for you though, as they have the specialist tools and can find the parts you'll need. If you want to wear it - and have it keep proper time for you - all of the mechanical bits inside will likely need a good cleaning and lubrication as the oils tend to gum up over time. A good watchmaker can do this for you too, as well as adjust the timing.

 

If a Seiko 5 would be too much of a financial stretch for you, repairing and servicing this properly is probably going to be a even bigger stretch.

 

Save up for a service from a watchmaker. Doesn’t have to be a financial strain if you leave it in a box for 6 months while saving up.

 

Please don't touch it! It may not be the most rare Omega, but it seems to be in a very good condition and it probably has a nice history to it.

You may very well have the knowledge to disassemble it and put it back together, but I sincerely and respectfully doubt that you have the manual dexterity of a watchmaker to put it back together in a way that is respectful to a quality watch such as this (meaning without breaking, scratching or deforming parts).

(First post for me, by the way!)

 

Ask around (on this very forum, even) for recommendations for a local independent watchmaker. Depending on where you are, you might be able to find someone to who'll do a creditable basic service for $200 or $300 US and find an appropriate crown for $50. (Your mileage may vary, but that was precisely my experience.) If that seems extravagant, save up a little and do it as a birthday present to yourself. It's a nice watch and when it's up and running again it will give you enjoyment every time you see it on your wrist. The watch found you—it meant something to someone you care about, and the spiffy logo and safety accolade on it adds a particular appeal to you, knowing what you know about the original recipient, that it wouldn't have for anyone else.

I haven't been able to figure out that logo—do you know what company that is?