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Unworn Omega 125
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JwRosenthal
·I think you mean "Dawg-tor of Horology"! 😉
I think dropping beats is a good thing in rap, not so good in watches.
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Braindrain
·Since there's no governing body in Canada, I'm now Supreme Ruler of all Master Watchmakers.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerSince there's no governing body in Canada, I'm now Supreme Ruler of all Master Watchmakers.
Good to know.
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JwRosenthal
·Since there's no governing body in Canada, I'm now Supreme Ruler of all Master Watchmakers.
I've information balance staff, third wheel and barrel arbor
I know the kings of Switzerland, and I quote the fights horological
From Patek Phillip to Wittnauer in order categorical;
I figured I should mention for our friends who speak English as a second language- I have not lost my mind- the above was a play on Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.
Edited:
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BlackTalon
··This Space for RentI figured I should mention for our friends who speak English as a second language- I have not lost my mind- the above was a play on Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.
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M'Bob
·
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JwRosenthal
·I thought you were bustin' a rhyme for us. You killed the effect by indicating it was poached from a musical 😁
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Mouse_at_Large
·Prefer GoS 😜
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Sidnos
·I should have also said people under the age of 45, cause seriously- does anyone under 45 know G&S?
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Matty01
·
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DaveCollins
·On paper mot a massive watch, in practise very top heavy ... dominant arm ends us like a tennis players
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerYes I know how hands are removed. I'm a watchmaker and I do this for a living. While there is always a chance of something going wrong, there are methods that can be employed to mitigate risk. The specific risk you speak of is easily resolved by putting plastic on top of the hand you are removing, to prevent the violent snap when the hand is removed. I do this literally almost every day...
Just to follow-up on this, I took some photos yesterday to illustrate how I remove hands from chronographs.
The specific concern is that when very tight hands are removed, the sudden forces when they are removed from the posts will cause an acceleration that may cause luminous material to dislodge from the hand. This is primarily a concern on the central chronograph hand on watches like Speedmaster Pros.
These techniques are what Omega uses when removing hands, and what was taught in training when I was at Omega.
This isn’t a Speedmaster Pro, but a Speedmaster Date with a Cal. 1152 (ETA 7750 base). And here I’m about to remove the hands:
So the movement is in a holder that is made specifically for the 7750 series of movements, and I have gathered the items required to remove the hands. There are different tools used to remove hands, and I’ve tried most of them, but prefer hand levers as they give the greatest control. These are hand lever made by VOH, and they are the best I’ve found on the market. I use two sizes, so one for small hands one for larger hands. In addition I have hand tweezers that are highly polished for handling the hands, and some bits of plastic.
There is a small plastic baggie (I get tons of these containing parts, so they are always plentiful) and some other plastic parts there that Omega refers to as “pants” as they are shaped a bit like a pair of pants. These are made of a heavy plastic that is used for wrapping up watches for shipping, and when stacked they stick to each other, but not to anything else. I’ve stacked these and cut them into the shape you see, and the height can be customized by adding or removing layers.
I start by removing the sub-dial hands, as I don’t want them in the way when removing the other hands. I lay the plastic bag over the hands, and use the small hand levers to remove those. Next the most difficult hand is the central chronograph hand, and this is the one the OP was concerned about. I line up the hour, and minute hands under the chronograph hand to start:
I then place the plastic pants of the appropriate height onto the dial. What I want is to have the surface that the levers will work against be nearly the same height as the underside of the chronograph hand:
I then place the plastic bag over all of this, and use the small hand levers to tuck the bag under the hand, and then lever it off, like so:
Since this hand is on tightly, it will sometimes come off with some force, and you will hear a snap sound. The top plastic bag makes sure that the hand doesn’t move much at all during this process, in particular the end of the hand where there is often a section that is lumed.
Next is the removal of the hour and minute hands, and those are removed together. If you try to get between them to remove them one at a time, it is sometimes possible, but there is risk of possibly scratching the top part of the hour hand:
So back to just using the plastic baggie, and using the large hand levers to get under both hands, and gently pry them off:
This process protects both the hands and the dial, and if done properly shouldn’t result in any damage from forces require to remove the hands. There is always some risk involved in doing this, so in my experience this is the best method to mitigate that risk.
The hands are then stored away properly to prevent damage. There are several ways of doing this, but I use the same packaging that Omega uses for storing and shipping complete hand sets:
Using these methods has never resulted in lume damage like the concern that was expressed.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Al
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simonsays
·Even though Archer has demonstrated how a good watchmaker can carefully remove hands and mitigate most of the risk, if it was my watch I would be happy to leave it as is. This is NOS condition so why risk paint loss or any other problems at this stage?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerEven though Archer has demonstrated how a good watchmaker can carefully remove hands and mitigate most of the risk, if it was my watch I would be happy to leave it as is. This is NOS condition so why risk paint loss or any other problems at this stage?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Without removing the dial, hands, and disassembling the calendar parts under the dial, it's impossible to properly clean and lubricate at least 1/2 of the movement. If this watch is truly NOS, any lubrication inside is long gone - dried up over time. Running the watch will be damaging parts inside - there's no question of that. Watches running without lubrication or with dirty lubrication will result in worn pivots on train wheels, damaged plates, worn pivots on the balance, and even wear in the jewels themselves. I see it every day.
I would agree if this watch was going to be kept in a safe and never worn, then servicing is not needed, but for a watch that sees any use, it needs to be serviced to prevent damage.
Cheers, Al
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simonsays
·I would agree if this watch was going to be kept in a safe and never worn, then servicing is not needed, but for a watch that sees any use, it needs to be serviced to prevent damage.
Cheers, Al
I think that this will be the case for this watch. It has safe queen written all over it! If it was mine and worn 7 days in a year I would think that was regular to high use.
Even if wear did occur to these movement parts, while distressing to a watchmaker, I would expect all these parts could be repaired or replaced at a later date. Omega is good at providing spare movement parts for vintage watches and the layman never sees it?
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI think that this will be the case for this watch. It has safe queen written all over it! If it was mine and worn 7 days in a year I would think that was regular to high use.
Well, this is what the OP wrote:
"He said as an occasional wearer, the watch could be used for decades without worrying about servicing."
If it was really going to remain unworn, then servicing it at all wasn't needed.
Even if wear did occur to these movement parts, while distressing to a watchmaker, I would expect all these parts could be repaired or replaced at a later date. Omega is good at providing spare movement parts for vintage watches and the layman never sees it?
To be clear, if someone wants to wear their own watch into the ground, I don't care one bit, nor do I find it distressing. Not my property, so as I often say in these situations, if you want to smash it with a hammer, I couldn't care less.
But these threads often perpetuate myths, and often lead people to believe in things that are simply not true. The fact that someone who is a trained watchmaker thinks that doing a partial service like this does no harm, and the watch will last for decades without servicing is puzzling. If anything, adding in oil without being able to properly clean things is accelerating wear, rather than reducing it. In my view he is giving a false sense of security, and allowing the OP to believe that he can wear the watch for a long time without issues - this is simply not the case.
If you, the OP, or anyone else decides to wear your watches when they are dry and wearing out, I have no issue with that. It's the perpetuation of myths that bother me, not actions of adults who can do whatever they like with their own property.
The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality will never go away with watch collectors, and that's fine with me. As I've said before, the vast majority of watches I get in have enough problems that they are either not running, or not running long enough, or not keeping time, etc. I do very little in the way of preventative maintenance. In the end it's not me that has to pay for the parts, and some of them are getting mighty expensive...so the argument you are saving money by letting it go and servicing when there's a fault is getting less and less applicable as time goes by.
Cheers, Al
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JwRosenthal
·Just to follow-up on this, I took some photos yesterday to illustrate how I remove hands from chronographs.
The specific concern is that when very tight hands are removed, the sudden forces when they are removed from the posts will cause an acceleration that may cause luminous material to dislodge from the hand. This is primarily a concern on the central chronograph hand on watches like Speedmaster Pros.
These techniques are what Omega uses when removing hands, and what was taught in training when I was at Omega.
This isn’t a Speedmaster Pro, but a Speedmaster Date with a Cal. 1152 (ETA 7750 base). And here I’m about to remove the hands:
So the movement is in a holder that is made specifically for the 7750 series of movements, and I have gathered the items required to remove the hands. There are different tools used to remove hands, and I’ve tried most of them, but prefer hand levers as they give the greatest control. These are hand lever made by VOH, and they are the best I’ve found on the market. I use two sizes, so one for small hands one for larger hands. In addition I have hand tweezers that are highly polished for handling the hands, and some bits of plastic.
There is a small plastic baggie (I get tons of these containing parts, so they are always plentiful) and some other plastic parts there that Omega refers to as “pants” as they are shaped a bit like a pair of pants. These are made of a heavy plastic that is used for wrapping up watches for shipping, and when stacked they stick to each other, but not to anything else. I’ve stacked these and cut them into the shape you see, and the height can be customized by adding or removing layers.
I start by removing the sub-dial hands, as I don’t want them in the way when removing the other hands. I lay the plastic bag over the hands, and use the small hand levers to remove those. Next the most difficult hand is the central chronograph hand, and this is the one the OP was concerned about. I line up the hour, and minute hands under the chronograph hand to start:
I then place the plastic pants of the appropriate height onto the dial. What I want is to have the surface that the levers will work against be nearly the same height as the underside of the chronograph hand:
I then place the plastic bag over all of this, and use the small hand levers to tuck the bag under the hand, and then lever it off, like so:
Since this hand is on tightly, it will sometimes come off with some force, and you will hear a snap sound. The top plastic bag makes sure that the hand doesn’t move much at all during this process, in particular the end of the hand where there is often a section that is lumed.
Next is the removal of the hour and minute hands, and those are removed together. If you try to get between them to remove them one at a time, it is sometimes possible, but there is risk of possibly scratching the top part of the hour hand:
So back to just using the plastic baggie, and using the large hand levers to get under both hands, and gently pry them off:
This process protects both the hands and the dial, and if done properly shouldn’t result in any damage from forces require to remove the hands. There is always some risk involved in doing this, so in my experience this is the best method to mitigate that risk.
The hands are then stored away properly to prevent damage. There are several ways of doing this, but I use the same packaging that Omega uses for storing and shipping complete hand sets:
Using these methods has never resulted in lume damage like the concern that was expressed.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Al
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