Hi all I recently bought a new speedmaster moonwatch, I've been lusting after this model for a couple of years now and following it's update I took the opportunity to grab the last 3570.50 at my AD before their new stock came in. I have to say I'm loving having it on my wrist but I have a couple of questions regarding the operation of the chronograph. It states in the online user video never to push the reset pusher while the chronograph is operating - Can someone educate me as to what and where this causes damage? - obviously I'm never going to try this but would like to understand the movement more. Secondly is it also an issue to press the reset pusher on a movement that has already been 'reset' i.e pressing the reset pusher twice in succession? And finally I've noticed on mine occasionally and it is very occasionally when I push the start pusher the chronograph second hand 'jumps' to around the 0.8sec mark and then continues moving normally. It this normal or is it indicative of a fault? Cheers Matt
the simple answer to your first question is you can't cause any damage by trying to reset the chrono when it's running. you would damage your thumb first. as to your second question, I don't think it's normal for the chrono second hand to jump, but from what I gather, it's not exactly an uncommon fault on new speedmasters.
Third question first....please read this to understand how a horizontally coupled chronograph works: http://omegaforums.net/threads/chronographs-vertical-and-horizontal-coupling.5539/ The slight jump of the chronograph hand is not uncommon at all with a horizontally coupled chronograph. Adjustments are made to make this as small as possible, but it can't be eliminated 100% of the time, just due to the design where one wheel is constantly turning, and it swings in to contact a stationary wheel with random tooth to tooth locations. With regards to damaging the chronograph by trying to reset it while the chronograph is running, I have seen the hour hammer damaged from this, and I supposed you could also shear off a screw. If they say not to do this in the manual, then it's a good idea to follow their advice. Resetting the chronograph after it has just been reset, and the start/stop button has not been pushed, does no harm. But it will only actually reset the hour counter on the dial side, and does nothing for the central chronograph runner or minute counter runner on the train side of the watch (they have to be started and stopped to have that side reset). Watches that suffer from hour recorder creep, and are reset over and over again by the owner to keep the hour recorder at it's home position can cause wear on the cam of the hour recorder runner. I replace these quite often because of this wear. Cheers, Al
Thanks guys Al very comprehensive and informative as always, thanks for the link to your previous thread. Cheers Matt
Hi Matt - everything that Al wrote is correct. From a user perspective: [1] sometimes the chronograph hand will jump a little more, sometimes a little less. This even varies from push to push. Mechanically, it's as Al explained in the post on horizontally and vertically-coupled clutches. Operationally, the slightly variance that you might experience would be well within the margin of error or "tolerance stackup" that considers human reaction time, time it takes for the light or sound of whatever event you're observing to reach your senses, get processed by your brain, your brain to send a signal to your hand to start/stop the chronograph, etc. Bottom line: When Time Decides the Issue, Omega Decides the Time, and your Speedmaster won't be the weak link in the chain. [2] Your Speedmaster will mechanically prevent you from pressing the reset pusher if the chronograph is running. Perhaps, with some serious Hulk or Popeye-level pressing, you can overcome the mechanism that blocks its travel (which would then likely break it), but, if you forget your chronograph is running and inadvertently press your reset pusher, it simply won't travel anywhere (the cap might budge a 1/2 mm or so before contacting the stop), and you'll feel it. [3] Bottom line, the Speedmaster was qualified to take some substantial abuse - and continue working accurately - by NASA. On a day-to-day basis, it can take pretty much anything you can throw at it: How the OMEGA Speedmaster became the Moonwatch http://www.omegawatches.com/press/press-kit-text/1122 The true story, without embellishment, is so remarkable that it’s worth a trip back to the 1960s to re-examine how the Speedmaster came to be considered in the first place, the nature of the strenuous tests to which it and four other chronographs were subjected and finally, how it was chosen over its competitors to accompany every manned space flight since the launch of the Gordon Cooper’s Faith 7 mission as part of the Mercury program on May 15th, 1963.
Hello @Archer I have 2 issues, which I'm not sure are related with your answer above or different. I have an OSP ref. 311.30.42.30.01.006, which was purchased in 2015 (still under warranty). First issue is that when I press the pusher to start the chronograph, the minute hand advances to 1min when the seconds hand is at 59sec. So if I stop the chrono at 59 sec the chronograph reads 1min and 59sec! The second issue is the chronograph hour hand. When I reset the chronograph the hour hand is slightly offset to the left of the 12 position. A generic issue is that the watch is running circa 1 min fast per week. Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks, Lami
Hi Lamz, I'll answer the issues you mention in reverse order. The timing of 1 minute fast in a week - 60 seconds over 7 days = +8.6/day - that's within Omega's tolerances for this watch. Second on the hour recorder - the hand being off center slightly is not the way it really should be, but being slightly off is not unusual. The hour recorder is the one that will typically give the most chance for being off simply because of how it works - can be quite troublesome on older models with wear in certain locations, but on a fresh watch I would expect it to be pretty much spot on. Then the trip of the minute recorder. From start to finish it takes about 1.5 seconds for the minute recorder to advance, and it should complete that right as the seconds recorder is passing the 12. So it should start at 58.5 seconds and finish at 60. If it's completed by 59 seconds, then is it starting at 57.5? If so, this would need to be looked at as there are a number of checks that would need to be done on the set-up of the minute recorder. This is an unusual problem in my experience, so not sure I can give you a cause without seeing the watch in person and doing those checks. This would have to go back to Omega to be corrected. Cheers, Al