Thoughts on older Omega Seamaster

So I have this Omega Seamaster-Professional-Chronometer-300m-Helium escape valve watch that is not working correctly. It is not a quartz movement either...it's a mechanical/automatic watch I have no idea what caliber this watch is. It was purchased new from an authorised Omega dealer here in the United States, back in 2001-2002 as I recall, so I know it's a genuine Omega. I am the first owner.

Back in 2003 I bumped the watch accidentally on a wooden door jamb as I was going through the door way. The crown hit the jamb...and it did not hit hard. Next thing I know the watch is gaining time like crazy...it gains close to 3.2 hours a day.

When I purchased the watch I thought I was buying a rugged, dependable, high-quality watch. I was under the impression that this watch can be used for occupations like saturation diving...and sat diving has to be one of the most harsh enviroments I can think of. So it should stand up to anything I was going to do with it (I'm not a sat diver or professional/recreational diver for that matter). So a little bump/knock puts this watch totally out of commission?

What did I get for my money here? I'm I kidding myself that sat divers would actually use this watch on the ocean
floor. I'm I kidding myself that the Sea Master is a good, rugged watch?

Is this all Omega marketing hype "Seamaster Professional" ...300M...Helium escape valve... To be honest, I,ve gotten better service out of $300-$500 Seiko and Citizen dive watches.

I thought Omega's were supposed to be good watches.

I have not worn or enjoyed the watch since 2003 and is still not functioning. When I e-mailed the Omega factory in Bienne, Switzerland back in 2003, they were gladly willing to fix it for like $500 at the time. My description of how the watch got out of order and it being the watch that it is, fell on deaf ears; I thought it should have been repaired for free at the time since I had only owned and worn it for like two years.

So any thoughts on my rant above will be appreciated. I look forward to any and all comments.

The diving aspect of the watch is probably about the watch dealing with high pressures. That’s not the same as being knocked against a door. I suspect you just got unlucky and bumped it in perfectly the wrong way/angle. You could probably bump a thousand of these watches and not damage them.

I’d put it down to a bit of bad luck. I wouldn’t expect omega to repair it for free I don’t think.

Thanks for your thoughts on this, Japanred. I understand your point about the diving aspect of the watch having to deal with high pressures, but sport or professional diving has other harsh demands put on it and it's not just a depth thing alone.

It is a bit of bad luck and I just need to get it fixed and move on. Thank you again!

Contact a local, competent watchmaker and have him take a look at it. Chances are it can be fixed for cheaper.

It kind of is all about pressure. Underwater, movt slows so nothing equivalent to a bump against a door happens.
Braindrain is right, find a local independent who knows what he's doing.

My thought would be to get if fixed. Hope this helps.

Bit of a weird analogy but here goes. I work in a hospital and see lots of people with broken bones. Some people walk out of 100mph car crashes with not a bruise. Someone falls down a full flight of stairs and walks away fine. Someone once slipped off a curb about 3 inch high and broke 9 bones in their foot. There’s no rhyme or reason to this. Sometimes if you just knock it in perfectly the wrong way you are in trouble. It’s been a bit of bad luck that’s all. An independent could probably repair cheaper and then a service will be due. I wouldn’t let a bit of bad luck spoil the experience of the watch.

Best of luck OP. Ignore the troll who’s also responded.

You would be wrong with that assumption. The reason it was posted twice was that I thought I was posting in the "Modern Omega Watches" section when I was actually in the "open discussion" section.

Just a thought but maybe you could ask the mods to combine the two threads into one to stop duplication of information?

If it bothers someone they can ask the mods themselves surely?
I don’t see the issue here.

Sorry for suggesting a bit of common sense, why have two threads on the same subject from the same OP, why not just combine into one thread. My apologies for trying to be sensible.