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  1. ekunkle69 Nov 26, 2017

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    Hello all, I recently purchased an Omega Speedmaster from Jomashop. The “original moonwatch” with hesalite.

    I received it four days ago, wound it fully (until the crown stops) at about 5:30 PM that day. It stopped at around 8:30 PM that evening (3 hours later). I pulled the crown out to reset the time and it started immediately. Set the time and it ran fine.

    The next day, I wound it about 12 times (again, until the crown stops) in the afternoon and it ran fine until about 8:40 PM that night. Same thing. Pulled the crown out to reset the time and the seconds started going. Reset the time, wound it fully (maybe 5 winds). It ran fine for about another 24 hours. Then it stopped again at 9:15 PM. Same story.

    Has anyone experienced this? What are your thoughts? If I cannot diagnose it, I will be sending it back to Jomashop for warranty work. This is not my first “Swiss luxury watch” or Omega and unfortunately, I’m disappointed. I understand that it’s a mechanical timepiece and things happen but it is frustrating nonetheless. Thank you for taking the time to read.
     
  2. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Nov 26, 2017

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    This is a bit like asking "why won't my car start" so the answer could be anything from a dead battery or being out of fuel, to a seized engine.

    So is this a new watch, or one that is pre-owned? Has it been serviced and if yes, how long ago? Were you running the chronograph when the watch stopped? If so what time was the seconds recorder hand stopping at? If not, did the watch stop at a particular time when hands might be interfering?

    Without additional information, all we can say is "bad luck, hope the return goes well!"

    Cheers, Al
     
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  3. ekunkle69 Nov 26, 2017

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    Hello Al, thank you for your reply. I understand it’s a bit of a needle in a haystack situation but any feedback is appreciated.

    This is a new watch, purchased from Jomashop. I have “played” with the chronograph hand but not for an extended period and not while the watch has stopped. Chronograph hand is always resting at its 12 o’clock position. The watch has stopped at 8:30 PM, 8:40 PM, and 9:15 PM. So far, it’s been within that 45 minute time frame at night. Is the watch still recording 24 hour time, regardless of whether it has a date function? Excuse the question if it’s a silly one.

    Let me know if I can offer any more information. Thank you.
     
  4. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Nov 26, 2017

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    The watch doesn't know if it's AM or PM, so if it's stopping at a particular time then it's the positions of the hands on the dial that are important and not related to it being AM or PM. However it can be related to how recently the watch has been wound, which affects the torque being delivered from the mainspring.

    So in the time frame you mention, the hour hand is over the sub-dial where the constant seconds hand is located at 9 o'clock, so it could be that the hour hand is touching the seconds hand, and when the watch is fully wound in the morning it has enough power to pass by the seconds hand, but by the evening the power has dropped off enough to stop it. You could try winding the watch at 7 PM, and see if it stops or not - that may give you a clue.

    You could try to visually confirm if the hands are touching, but it might be difficult to see well enough through the crystal - better confirmed with the watch movement out of the case. Really need a watchmaker to look at this and diagnose what's going on, but not sure what implications doing so would have on whatever warranty Jomashop offers.

    I've never dealt with Jomashop myself, but based on all the interactions I've read about, their warranty service is lacking. Not sure what options you have but maybe getting them to have someone local to you fix the problem would be better than sending it back, but I doubt they would agree to that.

    In the end this is one of the risks you have to accept using grey market dealers.

    Cheers, Al
     
  5. ekunkle69 Nov 26, 2017

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    Thank you very much for your response. I will wind it tonight around 7/8 PM and see if it has enough torque to get past the seconds. I did notice last night at 9:15 PM that the seconds hand was under the hour hand. Interesting. If it does stop again, I will look to see if the hands are touching.

    If that is the case and winding gives the mainspring enough torque to power the handset, is there any harm to winding twice a day to keep it going?

    This was my first time purchasing from Jomashop and I’m torn. I can’t speak of their warranty yet, though if I do end up sending it back for repair, I will share my experience.
     
  6. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Nov 26, 2017

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    This is not something that most people would accept on a new watch, but I guess it's up to you. If it is the hands touching, this will also adversely affect timekeeping.
     
  7. Moadib Nov 26, 2017

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    Actually that is really unacceptable. I suppose it can happen, but I would have thought Omega's QC would catch this kind of thing. I even have an issue that warranties on such watches are only 1 or 2 years. For example Patek gives a TWO year warranty. Kia gives a SEVEN year warranty on a car, and that has 100x more parts than a Patek Philippe watch. To me with a name like Patek or Rolex (Omega) there should be 5 or 10 year warranties on the type of quality that they purport to sell.

    Maybe asking too much? Certainly the OPs issue for me is a bit shocking on a brand new watch, and if I were Omega I'd be falling over myself to make it right.
     
  8. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Nov 26, 2017

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    The OP bought this outside of Omega's distribution channels, so Omega won't be doing anything to help fix it, as I don't believe that watches from Jomashop come with an Omega warranty.
     
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  9. Moadib Nov 26, 2017

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    Ouch, I hadn't picked up on that.

    If I were Omega I'd still be concerned that a watch had failed in such a manner when new, but can understand they'd want to keep people within their channels. Hopefully Jomashop's warranty will take care of that - repair or replace.
     
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  10. Foo2rama Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can. Nov 26, 2017

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    No idea if new or pre owned via joma. They have a warranty no question what I would do. Have joma service it or replace it.
     
  11. Kmart Nov 26, 2017

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    Just return it to Jomashop. They have a pretty solid return policy.
     
  12. Meme-Dweller Nov 26, 2017

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    ......unless you take off their stupid tag that says NOT RETURNABLE IF REMOVED.

    Best of luck to you, OP. Jomashop may give competitive pricing as a gray dealer initially, but their absolutely horrendous after-sales service cancels that out. Even if they service it for you, there's a strong probability that it will come back with more damage or not fixed at all. Or, it might just be fixed perfectly. Because you bought from a non-AD, you gambled on the watch not having a problem and it looks like the house won. Do you want to double down on their warranty service?
     
  13. ekunkle69 Dec 10, 2017

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    Hello all, I just wanted to post an update. Al was right. Turned out the second hand was “bent” up. If the mainspring didn’t have enough juice, it would get hung up on the hour hand between 8:30 and 9:15 (AM or PM). As soon as the crown was pulled, it would break free. For about two weeks I wound it twice a day (around 8 o’clock) and it kept perfect time. It stopped once or twice in that time and I decided to send it back to Jomashop (I had called and had them notate in my file immediately after purchase). We’ll see what happens. I had contemplated sending it to Omega but figured I’ll use Jomashop’s included warranty and can always go from there. Only time will tell.
     
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  14. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Dec 10, 2017

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    Great - let us know how it works out.
     
  15. ekunkle69 Jan 5, 2018

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    Hello everyone, I have a (hopefully) final update for you.

    As I stated previously, I sent my Speedmaster back to Jomashop for warranty work. I had no idea what to expect. I tracked the shipment and it was received by Jomashop on a Friday. I hadn’t heard anything by Monday and gave them a call. No answers. They couldn’t verify that it had been received. I called Tuesday and the guy that I spoke with “assumed” that it had been delivered. By Wednesday (again, my call) I had verification that it was there and they “guessed” that it was in for inspection. I waited until the following Monday and gave them another call. They verified that it was in for inspection and gave me an ETA of 8 weeks (February). To my surprise, I got a notification this past Friday (via email) that it had been shipped. It arrived Tuesday (the day after New Years). The head (case/dial) has been replaced. Completely different serial number (and new Omega ID card with new number on it). The bracelet is the same from before (I had scratched the clasp and it remains, untouched).

    I let it run for over 24 hours to make sure it was running as it should. No problem. The hands have plenty of clearance.

    All in all, I am happy with the way it was handled. I would have liked to be a bit more “in the loop” during the process but they underpromised with delivery time and over delivered. I am impressed but would still be hesitant to recommend.
     
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