I was wondering if someone know when Omega started to use completely flat hands for the Speedmaster? It seems that somewhere around the same time as the square end chrono hand came into use Omega also stopped putting the slight bend, towards the dial, in the chrono and minute hand.


The only modern hand in the pictures is the square end chrono, the rest are old tritium hands.

 

Note that hands come flat, and the watchmaker is expected to shape them as required on installation. Clearly not everyone does this...

Cheers, Al

 

Hi Archer
That is really interesting. I was thinking that maybe I could shape them myself. But a bit hesitant as I do not want to break the tritium and cause it to fall of the hand.
Would you bend old hands like these?
Or better to leave as is.

Cheers
Henrik

 

It would depend on the condition of the hands, the wishes of my customer, and their tolerance for damage...

With new hands it's certainly not a concern. If you have never done this before, I would not recommend you experiment on vintage hands that have significant value.

Cheers, Al

 

I will leave them alone then...

Thank you very much for your input Archer.

 

Is the bend necessary for this to fit properly without touching the crystal? Or is it more for aesthetics?

 

I will let Archer give a proper reply to the reason behind bending/not bending the hands. But it seems like all modern Speedmasters have flat hands fitted.

 

Good question. As noted the modern Speedmasters seem to have been equipped with flat hands, and they use the same crystal as most vintage Speedmasters. I can't say what the defining factor is in bent or straight hands, because there's nothing that I've been able to find in Omega's documentation that tells you what hands should be bent, and what hands should be left straight.

In the Work Instruction 43, which deals with hand fitting, they only state that "The hands are shaped on a certain number of Omega models. This must be reproduced systematically when fitting new (chronograph) minute and second hands. This takes place once the hands are fitted."

It then shows you the procedure and things to check, but never says what those "certain models" are.

For me personally, I bend a new hand if I'm replacing a bent hand...