So recently picked up a PO 8500. I’ve been keeping track of the time keeping over the last two weeks, and it’s been running an extremely consistent -3.5 to -4 secs a day regardless of use or position. Now I know that this is right outside the window that this watch should be running at, but the Watch was allegedly purchased new less than two years ago, so I don’t really want to take it for a service just yet. Everything seems to work just fine. Should I be worried about this? I know it’s probably just fine, but I just want to get a second opinion for my peace of mind. Thanks for any help

 

Nope.

 

If you have the warranty card, you could always take it to an OB. My local OB has an on-site watchmaker and he does regulating for free as a gesture to the local Omega enthusiasts.

 

No warranty card. I believe the original owner purchased it grey market. I’m not too worried about the time keeping, although I would prefer the watch to gain time rather than lose it. I was quoted $150 to regulate the Watch, which I think is absurd. I’m glad that the two response imply that nothing is wrong and it just needs to be regulated. That’s all I really needed I guess. Thanks for your help

 

No, I would not worry about that at all.

 

Well, in fact the timekeeping data you noted is no where near enough information to determine that everything is okay, and it only needs regulation. While it's certainly possible that's all it needs, if you have concerns, then take it into a boutique that has a boutique watchmaker (preferred over a boutique technician) and have them run some timing checks, and if all is okay they can regulate it.

Timing specs for the 8500 are that the daily average rate should fall between -1 and +6 seconds per day, so this is not right on the edge of the specs, but well out.

Cheers, Al

 

For some reason I was thinking the range was -3 to +4. I didn’t know I was that far off. The boutique near me is one that just sells watches. They don’t even adjust bracelets.
I’ve looked at other boutiques within a 3hr radius and non of them appear to have a watchmaker on site. I called up a private watchmaker with an omega parts account and he said that there are a lot of little things that could go wrong with a regulation that it just wasn’t worth it for me to do it. He said there was no guarantee that he could make it better and that I could be paying him to make it worse. He insisted that since it has been very precise, that he wouldn’t touch it till service. What do you think about that? Also what do you think a fair price range is to regulate a Watch? I am located in New England.
Thanks,
David

 

I've posted this before, but I'll post it again...

Watch repair is a bit like a game of tag - the last watchmaker to touch the watch is "it" and any subsequent thing that goes wrong will fall in the lap of the last watchmaker, regardless if the problem is related to the work done or not. For this reason, and some others, many watchmakers will not do smaller jobs like regulation, etc. I don't blame them for that - everyone has to decide how they choose to run their own business.

However what the specific watchmaker you contacted said is a little disturbing. Yes there is a chance that you can create a poise error while adjusting the rate, because this involves moving screw on the balance - they have to be moved exactly the same amount to avoid creating this error. That however is something that any competent watchmaker should be able to do. My guess is that he just didn't want to come out and say no, so he made up an excuse.

I won't comment on pricing, because many people on forums like to tell watchmakers how much they should charge for their services, without having any idea at all what's actually involved in servicing a watch.

Cheers, Al

 

Sounds reasonable. I’m going to India in about a month and I found an omega watchmaker there who regulated a tissot for me. I’ll go back to him and ask him to check up on my watch and hopefully everything will be ok. Thanks for all of the help