Speedmaster pro - Silicon hair spring ?

Dear All,

Several watchmakers starts to use Silicon microfabricated hairsprings. Although it does improve precision, it does make such watch impossible to service outside mother company.

Idea of mechanical watch is, that it can be always (let say in 200 years) serviced by skilled person, even if mother company disappears.

In which series of Speedmaster pro Silicon hairsprings are used ? Is it connected to Saphire windows ?

I would like to avoid Silicon in mechanical watch.

Best

Julek

I can't answer your question about which Speedmasters have silicon hairsprings but I can say that two of my Omegas (Speedy '57 and SMPO) have silicon hairsprings. They say "SI14" on the caseback. Watchbase.com has details about various movements; I see that my new 8906 also has a silicon hairspring but doesn't say so on the back.

No correlation between Sapphire crystals and silicon hairsprings; I know the modern 3861 Speedy is available in both hesalite and sapphire and either has a silicon hairspring.

Any qualified Omega watchmaker (including independents) can service the watch and get a hairspring replacement if needed. I've heard that the silicon hairspring is far more robust than a traditional hairspring so unless you get a monkey fishing around inside with a pair of nasty tweezers, it's unlikely that you'll ever have to replace one.

I wouldn't worry about Omega going tits-up. When that boat arrives, we will all have moved along from these anachronisms called mechanicals.

All the Speedmaster Pro's before the 3861 (released last year) do not have a silicon hairspring, if that's what you're looking for. There are other Speedmaster's with a silicon hairspring, but they are not the Professional.

If Omega disappears, watchmakers will have to get parts from old watches or a 3rd party. Wouldn't matter if the hairspring you want at that point was originally metal or silicon.

> "Although it does improve precision, it does make such watch impossible to service outside mother company."

It doesn't necessarily improve precision, it improves anti-magnetism. It does not make the 'watch impossible to service outside the mother company'. Rarely does a typical watch service replace the hairspring.

There's really no downside to a Si hairspring. Omega has been using them for at least 10 years.