hi all,
I have just bought a 1964 Omega automatic, 550, 165.002, 17J

When I try to wind it the sound is like grinding metal and not a nice clean click.

Any help and advice would be great thank you.

 

Welcome,

What were the terms of the warranty you received, IF there was a warranty? The watch could be up to about 40 to 50 years old, and likely has a lot of miles on it. Diagnosing what the problem might be from your description of what you hear, is not possible. Depending on the terms of your warranty (if there is one), you may not have time to have it checked out, and a diagnosis completed. If there is a warranty, you might decide to return it. If there is no warranty, then find a competent watch repair guy, and have him look at it. You could end up spending a bundle on repair!

Image courtesy Dr. Roland Ranfft's movement archive.

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Omega_550

 

Thank you. This watch was bought from a very well respected watchmaker on eBay. I have bought from him before and that omega is wonderful and running perfectly.

 

Hand winding an automatic often sounds different than on a manually wound watch. Typically it is higher pitched, and more rapid, as opposed to a distinctive click-click-click. It is possible that you are simply hearing that difference.

Alternatively, something may be wrong.

 

Again, the only suggestion I have for you is to find a competent shop near you, and ask for an opinion as to whether what you are hearing is a matter for concern. Either that, or notify the vendor of your concerns, and ask him if you might sent it back for his opinion. Pretty much your decision.

 

So the seller assures me. I am doing my homework and cross referencing opinions and knowledge. He has offered a full no quibble refund, but I adore the watch and I'm trying to get more info / help before I accept the refund.

 

I'm planning on letting it run down. And stop completely. Then see if the winding sound which is bothering me is part of a larger problem I.e. The wind doesn't charge the watch. So that is my next step. The seller has given me two weeks grace to find a solution for myself, if not then a full refund will be in order.

 

From the information you have offered to those of us on this MB, our "opinions" are based on guesses! Knowledge comes from an actual examination of the watch. From the response of the vendor, I would offer the opinion that you don't have much to worry about.

 

Hello and welcome...

The movement in question will not have a nice clean click. It will be more of a whirring sound, as you are moving quite a few parts, and some in the automatic winding system will spin quite quickly as you manually wind the watch.

How loud this sound is will depend on how the watch is cased. I have several of this family of movements in the shop right now, and some are quite quiet, and some are quite loud. The smaller, thinner dress watch cases will typically be louder when compared to say a dive watch like a SM300.

If you can take a video of it that has the sound, I can tell you if it's something to be concerned about or not.

Cheers, Al

 

Although the provisions are there for handwinding, you should only do so very slowly and carefully.

The gearing from the rotor to the mainspring is set up so that the weak energy of the rotor as it turns round can overcome the force in the mainspring. It takes many turns of the rotor to only move the mainspring winding gear by one tooth, and many more turns of the rotor to move the winding gear one full turn.

When you wind manually from the crown, you are turning the mainspring winding gear very quickly and it is rotating all the gears up to the rotor, the autowinding gears spin quite fast and they can be damaged. Done often enough and with a dry movement can result in serious damage and even broken gear teeth in the autowinder.

So what you feel may be normal, it could also indicate worn/dry/damaged winding gears.

I have had a number of these through the shop lately and they do sound and feel rough when handwound, it's simply the design of the autowinder. I don't recommend handwinding other than a few slow careful turns before wearing if the watch is run down. But it is best to simply swirl the watch for a few minutes and wind it with the rotor.

 

I also own a Seamater with a 550 movement. Only time it was hand wound was when I picked it up after having it serviced. I cringed at the watch maker as he did it. Just didn't seem right. Aside from that one time, I just shake it and set the time and go. As this was also a recent purchase, I have only done this twice. I have been wearing it all this week and just tried to wind it, no go. Have to assume it is fully wound.

 

In a properly serviced watch, hand winding the movement is not a problem. It does not have to be done particularly carefully or slowly - these watches are designed to be wound using the crown after all, and don't have to be treated with kid gloves. Certainly excessive hand winding can cause additional wear, and is worse for some watches than for others, but honestly the issue is being overblown here a bit IMO.

You say that the watch can't currently be wound using the crown, right? If that is the case, there is a fault - an automatic watch with a slipping bridle mainspring will never come to a stop like a manual wind watch would, so rather than indicating it is fully wound, it sounds to me that there is some problem with this watch. Depending on how you are shaking the watch to get it started, I would have more concerns about that than the manual winding...

Cheers, Al

 

Looking at the crown, it will turn counter clockwise, but not clockwise. Would this be correct? If not, when I first tried to ajust the time, the crown came out,2 piece crown. I did manage to reinstall it and I have used it to reset the time once since than. Should I be concered?

 

Turning the crown CCW does not wind the watch - turning it CW does. If it doesn't turn CW, then yes there is a problem. This could be related to the movement itself, or possibly the split stem and how the two parts are engaged - if the movement is not aligned properly in the case this can contribute to issue related to the split stem. I would take it back to your watchmaker. He may want to replace both halves of the split stem also.

Cheers, Al

 

Will do, thanks again AL. As aways a big help.

 

Ok, SO i double checked. It does wind in the clockwise position. Just not as reasily as a normal manual winder. And yes, I remember the sound of all the gears moving now, cringe . It is more of a whirring sound than a clicking noise. So It appears is was just my unfamiliatity with this watch and movement. Always learning though. And again, as I stated, perferr to shake and go with an autowinder. Have been doing this with my Bulova Kirkwood for going on 3 years.

 

A best practice is to hand wind slowly and gently with any automatic, winding fast can and will cause damage whereas winding slowly is unlikely to damage anything.

So why take a risk and wind fast when there is a real risk of damage to the movement? Makes little sense, and from a customer perspective they appreciate the insight, especially when they are the ones that have to pay for the damage caused by handwinding.

Shake and wear works just fine as well.

 

Odd - I've never seen any manual for any watch say that you should wind it slowly or "gently" - not exactly sure how you wind gently to be honest. If people just wind the watch normally it will be fine.

 

Forgot to mention in my original post. When I received the watch in the post (packaged very well in a ton of bubble wrap) the second hand was detached.

 

I wind my auto's just like my manual's.. I really don't understand how you can wind too fast by hand. Now, if you wind your watch with a cordless drill.....