Speedy repair advice

300e · Nov 26, 2019

Predicament with my 3 year old Speedy (1863) that is out of warranty. Was on a trip in August, and without thinking I jumped in the pool with it on my wrist. Didn't really think about it until the next morning when on my way to pick up a rental car I glanced at the time and was horrified to see my watch completely fogged. I was headed out in the middle of nowhere to hunt for a week, so no opportunity to get to a jeweler for about 9 days.

My local opened it up and got it dry, and the watch ran fine for about two weeks. At that point I had taken it off for a few days and when I put it back on I reset the watch. After 30 minutes the watch was 15 minutes slow. After observing the watch closely for several days it consistently lost 15 minutes immediately after resetting, but then would keep perfect time thereafter meaning 24 hours later it was still 15 minutes slow.

Took it the local AD with an Omega Certified watchmaker on staff and they confidently told me a full COA was the answer, and I approved. I picked up the watch yesterday, and they set it and gave it to me.

Thirty minutes later it was 15 minutes slow. Twenty four hours later, its still 15 minutes slow, so the watch is in the same condition as I had delivered it to them six weeks ago.

So obviously a little concerned that their quality control didn't even include a simple wind and observe once they finished.

So looking for insight on:

Water damage permanent?

Cause of the behaviour and potential fix/course of action?

Was the COA necessary on a three year old watch -I'm hedging towards "yes" given the water intrusion, but curious for those smarter than I.

Thanks in advance.

Archer · Nov 26, 2019

I'll answer this one first - yes it was necessary if the watch had moisture inside.

3 300e
Was the COA necessary on a three year old watch -I'm hedging towards "yes" given the water intrusion, but curious for those smarter than I.

3 300e
Thirty minutes later it was 15 minutes slow. Twenty four hours later, its still 15 minutes slow

Cause of the behaviour and potential fix/course of action?

Based on your description, the number one suspect is that you inadvertently set the watch 15 minutes slow. Off the top of my head I can't think of a known movement issue that would cause a watch to lose 15 minutes in the first 30, then keep time fine for the rest of a 24 hour period.

So my advice would be to set the watch again, and see what happens.

Cheers, Al

mjb · Nov 26, 2019

300e a Mercedes fan perhaps?

I don't want to appear obtuse, but (I can't help it) if you were to set the watch 15 minutes fast, would it not then be fine? I mean, if it keeps good time from that point on, I'm not sure that there's really a problem with the watch.

Still, if it were me, I'd be back at the AD complaining that it's not right. I assume that the service set you back around $800? For that kind of money, there should be no issues.

300e · Nov 26, 2019

300e a Mercedes fan perhaps?

My favorite of all the cars I've owned over the years. I owned it for 15 of its 25 years, and all three of my sons learned to drive in that car. Selling it was a sad day.

To the others, thanks for the feedback. Archer in particular as I was wondering if there was a specific piece of the movement that could create the issue. Prior to the service I set and reset the time several times and it was always the same result. I've just reset the time, and we'll see what happens in the next half hour.

I'll be back at the AD later today.

300e · Nov 26, 2019

So I reset the watch at 1pm. At 2:44pm Speedy reads 2:25pm. Off to the AD.

rainking · Nov 26, 2019

Sorry for your trouble, I know how frustrating it can be. I just the other day got a Seiko back from the official service center. After they had it for three months, it came back to me and promptly was losing 30 seconds per hour. It was like they never bothered to test it once the service was “complete.” Had to send it back again. Mega annoying.
In your case, I’m also annoyed to hear you got water inside it in the first place. That shouldn’t happen.

Stufflers Mom · Nov 26, 2019

Sorry to hear about your watch. Please don't let it go near any water when it comes back it's just not worth the risk.

Claven2 · Nov 26, 2019

Omega may say otherwise, but I'd say the speedmaster pro is a "splash resistant" watch, not really to be used in and around water.

Bright side is omega does warranty their repair work.

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Claven2
Omega may say otherwise, but I'd say the speedmaster pro is a "splash resistant" watch, not really to be used in and around water.

Bright side is omega does warranty their repair work.

They don't call it the SieveMaster for nothing.

RichardMajor86 · Nov 27, 2019

Mine got foggy after accidentally wearing whilst I did some washing up. I expect many people would assume you could wear a watch with 50m of water resistance whilst doing washing up (I doubt it went much more than 50mm deep!)

I dried it in the sun all day, then left it overnight in a tub of silica gel and it was ok.

300e · Nov 27, 2019

Enjoying the responses. It has been a bit of a disappointment. It always makes me laugh when people reference the toughness of their Speedmaster with the “my watch has been to the moon” thing. It may have gone to the moon but god only knows what happened at splashdown.

Would seem ol Speedy is more of a show queen than a workhorse.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

If maintained they are fine for submersion in water to 50m. Most watches fail due to lack of maintenance, not going beyond the rated depth.

Bugbait · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
If maintained they are fine for submersion in water to 50m. Most watches fail due to lack of maintenance, not going beyond the rated depth.

Exactly this. I wore my X-33 Gen2 swimming on multiple occasions over the 8 years when it was my daily and never had any water ingress. Actually a bit risky in hindsight more due the crown and 4 pushers possibly getting accidentally depressed while submerged. It's only rated for 3ATM, maybe 5ATM tops.

All Flik Flak watches are rated at 3ATM and are advertised to be washing machine safe. I tested this on several occasions with my son's first watch. He wore it swimming, splashing around like youngsters do and it never had an issue. It only failed after the clowns at the Swatch shop changed the battery and crushed the washer on the battery compartment during the process. Later found out the washer was folded under the cap! Failed on holiday at the pool shortly after. So much for saving a £1 on a battery and not doing it myself like I normally do . ::facepalm1::

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
If maintained they are fine for submersion in water to 50m. Most watches fail due to lack of maintenance, not going beyond the rated depth.

This reply is contrary to the official reply I received from Omega when I asked the specific question asking if the Speedy Moonwatch could be used during snorkelling, the official reply stated that Omega did not recommend snorkelling at all for the Speedmaster Pro.
The bottom line is don't take the risk with the Speedy and buy a cheap Seiko dive watch to cope with water activities, other dive watches are also available for various outlets.

Bugbait · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
This reply is contrary to the official reply I received from Omega when I asked the specific question asking if the Speedy Moonwatch could be used during snorkelling, the official reply stated that Omega did not recommend snorkelling at all for the Speedmaster Pro.
The bottom line is don't take the risk with the Speedy and buy a cheap Seiko dive watch to cope with water activities, other dive watches are also available for various outlets.

They probably don't recommend it since the crown and more so pushers are not designed to be operated at the rated depth. Since they aren't screw down there is a chance a user might accidentally activate a pusher while submerged. They didn't say you couldn't, just not recommended.

It's like a car designed to drive 180mph, it's not recommended (or legal) to drive it at that speed on a motorway but you could and it's designed to do so.

However I agree, if the risk concerns anyone then buy a cheap watch to bash around. That's what my Citizen watches are for. Solar powered to last a long time and cheap enough to not care what happens to them.

300e · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
This reply is contrary to the official reply I received from Omega when I asked the specific question asking if the Speedy Moonwatch could be used during snorkelling, the official reply stated that Omega did not recommend snorkelling at all for the Speedmaster Pro.
The bottom line is don't take the risk with the Speedy and buy a cheap Seiko dive watch to cope with water activities, other dive watches are also available for various outlets.

Essentially the advice given by the AD. My watch was three years old when it happened. I would have thought the seals were good for that but then I can’t say for certain how long my watch sat in storage presale. Either way I now feel the need to take it off when washing dishes which seems a little weak for such an expensive watch and a 50M rating.

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

3 300e
Essentially the advice given by the AD. My watch was three years old when it happened. I would have thought the seals were good for that but then I can’t say for certain how long my watch sat in storage presale. Either way I now feel the need to take it off when washing dishes which seems a little weak for such an expensive watch and a 50M rating.

If you understand that the cost of warranty repairs are covered from the money the AD makes on the initial sale, you will understand why they give advice that is contrary to all the technical documentation that Omega has published. Better to tell the customer not to get it wet on the off chance they have to pay for the repairs under warranty.

Omega is clear that 50m is what the watch can go down to, no matter what other people on the internet might tell you who are pushing their own agendas.

The bottom line is that everyone has to decide for themselves what level of risk they want to take with a watch.

Omega also recommends that you have the watches pressure tested once per year to ensure that the seals are still working as they should, so if you plan to get any watch wet, no matter what the depth rating is, this is good advice.

Cheers, Al

300e · Nov 27, 2019

Good info and excellent advice on the pressure testing. I’ll be sticking to ten year old Seiko for any water work in the future.

Stufflers Mom · Nov 27, 2019

Archer
If you understand that the cost of warranty repairs are covered from the money the AD makes on the initial sale, you will understand why they give advice that is contrary to all the technical documentation that Omega has published. Better to tell the customer not to get it wet on the off chance they have to pay for the repairs under warranty.

Omega is clear that 50m is what the watch can go down to, no matter what other people on the internet might tell you who are pushing their own agendas.

The bottom line is that everyone has to decide for themselves what level of risk they want to take with a watch.

Omega also recommends that you have the watches pressure tested once per year to ensure that the seals are still working as they should, so if you plan to get any watch wet, no matter what the depth rating is, this is good advice.

Cheers, Al

Are you saying that the cost of any warranty repairs is met by the retailer?

Archer · Nov 27, 2019

Stufflers Mom
Are you saying that the cost of any warranty repairs is met by the retailer?

It depends on the set-up in a specific country. Typically coverage of the cost for sales warranties work is included in the margin of the authorized distributor of the products. In some cases the distributor is also a retailer.

Speedy repair advice

300e

Archer

mjb

300e

300e

rainking

Stufflers Mom

Claven2

Stufflers Mom

RichardMajor86

300e

Archer

Bugbait

Stufflers Mom

Bugbait

300e

Archer

300e

Stufflers Mom

Archer

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