Speedmaster Reduced Hesalite Replacement

featherspectacle · Jul 28, 2022

Due to my horrendous depth perception and general clumsiness I managed to crack the hesalite crystal on my speedy reduced. I'm always knocking watches but have never managed to break one before and am surprised it happened so easily, I didn't even notice it was cracked until later in the day so wasn't a significantly hard knock. Perhaps due to the accumulation of knocks over time, a sweet spot or aging crystal.

I went for hesalite over sapphire as I didn't like the milky ring and "lower" replacement cost but now I'm not sure that's the case on the speedy reduced due to the Frankenstein movement.

I contacted my local authorised repair centre in the UK who claimed it'd need a full service as the "shattered" crystal may damage the movement (which I'm not so sure about as it's acrylic and not sapphire so doesn't shatter).

Has anyone ever managed to damage the hesalite crystal on a speedy reduced and have it replaced without a full service?

mbp · Jul 28, 2022

I was under the impression that Omega required a full service in addition to replacing parts.

dsio · Jul 28, 2022

Typically its a full service… but I remember @Archer in this thread saying except acrylic, which yours is…

https://omegaforums.net/threads/when-a-glass-shatters.87380/#post-1129830

So maybe you could get away without it.

mbp · Jul 28, 2022

That's great information--one of the perks of hesalite is the lower cost replacement.

featherspectacle · Jul 28, 2022

That was my understanding too.

From what I can find the crystal is part number PW5274 and a generic one is only £10-30. Unsure on the cost of an original crystal but I'm not too concerned as that can be replaced come service time.

Surely it can be replaced in isolation for less than the cost of a full service?

Edit: interestingly enough I found a YouTube video someone had almost the exact same issue in (minus I didn't drop mine on a rock):

I'm no watchmaker but seems relatively straightforward?

Archer · Jul 28, 2022

F featherspectacle
That was my understanding too.

From what I can find the crystal is part number PW5274 and a generic one is only £10-30. Unsure on the cost of an original crystal but I'm not too concerned as that can be replaced come service time.

Surely it can be replaced in isolation for less than the cost of a full service?

Edit: interestingly enough I found a YouTube video someone had almost the exact same issue in (minus I didn't drop mine on a rock):

I'm no watchmaker but seems relatively straightforward?

If you want to try this yourself, please take photos and let us know how it goes. Note that most watchmakers (myself included) charge more when someone brings us a bag of parts after a failed DIY attempt. 😀

So few things on that video - you don't need to remove the bezel to change the crystal. Secondly, he's used the case back gasket over again, and these hard plastic gaskets are meant to be one use only items. This is demonstrated by he fact that he pressed the case back on with his thumbs - that means the gasket is way too loose as it should require a press to install. I would not trust that watch to be water resistant after removing and replacing the case back without changing the gasket.

The press you use will determine your success when installing crystals, and even he admits his press caused him troubles. You need a very precise press that keeps the dies parallel under load. Here's mine being used to install an acrylic crystal:

You might be able to get a watchmaker to swap the crystal for you, but since watch repair is like a game of tag (the last person to touch the watch is it and now responsible for anything that may crop up after they work on it, regardless if it was caused by them or not) you will likely be told that there would be no warranty, if they agree to do it.

Good luck.

Cheers, Al

featherspectacle · Jul 28, 2022

As much as I love taking things apart (electronics) I'm not sure I can be trusted with something so fragile, so certainly won't be doing it myself!

I expect the watch is highly likely to be in need of a full service as I'm not sure when (if ever) it was last done. I'm certainly concerned about it happening again in future though as I can't see Omega replacing it in isolation.

3rdstringholder · Aug 2, 2022

Archer
If you want to try this yourself, please take photos and let us know how it goes. Note that most watchmakers (myself included) charge more when someone brings us a bag of parts after a failed DIY attempt. 😀

So few things on that video - you don't need to remove the bezel to change the crystal. Secondly, he's used the case back gasket over again, and these hard plastic gaskets are meant to be one use only items. This is demonstrated by he fact that he pressed the case back on with his thumbs - that means the gasket is way too loose as it should require a press to install. I would not trust that watch to be water resistant after removing and replacing the case back without changing the gasket.

The press you use will determine your success when installing crystals, and even he admits his press caused him troubles. You need a very precise press that keeps the dies parallel under load. Here's mine being used to install an acrylic crystal:

You might be able to get a watchmaker to swap the crystal for you, but since watch repair is like a game of tag (the last person to touch the watch is it and now responsible for anything that may crop up after they work on it, regardless if it was caused by them or not) you will likely be told that there would be no warranty, if they agree to do it.

Good luck.

Cheers, Al

I work in the motorcycle industry....Dealership service departments also charge more to repair failed diy attempts....Odd how it works out that way.

Speedmaster Reduced Hesalite Replacement

featherspectacle

mbp

dsio

mbp

featherspectacle

Archer

featherspectacle

3rdstringholder

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