Vintage Omega 166.023, 131.019 & 2635-1 Seamaster

As many have seen, I've been on a watch-cleaning-machine-repair-journey. The WHOLE point of that was to make my watch servicing adventure more enjoyable 😀 So far I've been sticking to mostly Seikos (though the above project has a vintage Longines and Tissot in a 1/2 done state!), while looking out for good deals/good candidates for repair!

So far I've found 3 good Omegas that I think I'll enjoy working on. The 2nd just showed up today, so I figured I'd take a few pictures and share them!

This is the old one, a 166.023. I have the crystal tool, but haven't taken it apart yet, as it is a 'some day'. It is a GF case and runs fine, albeit slowly. There are also some dirty spots that could be cleaned up, so it'll be a fun one to gift when I'm done with it! I probably overpaid for it in its current state, but I thought it was really cool.



Second is this sick 131.019 (sick as in ill!), which came in today. It was quite affordable, so I thought at worst, it is a beautiful movement that'll be fun to play with. Balance pivots seem fine, and it swings freely, albeit as if it is really dirty. Sold as a non-runner, I've also noticed it is missing a case-ring or something. The movement seems to slide around when playing with the crown. It winds and sets, but doesn't run. I suspect it'll need a cleaning and some replacement parts:



Finally, is this 2635-1 I got a good deal on from a seller in Albania (along with a neat chronograph in need of TLC). I've always wanted to play with a Bumper automatic, and this one was cheap enough to play with. It is quite a looker in the photos, so I hope its something I'll enjoy when I get to that part of my watch repair journey.


Anyway: Thats the 3 Omegas I have just waiting for me to have a chance to repair 😀 So far I've succeeded at 4 Seikos, an AS1066, plus a junky Ronda pin-pallet alarm watch, all of which went from running/barely running to working, plus the Longines Admiral (with a 503) & a 90's Tissot with a ETA 2846 disassembled on my bench 😀

The latter two are waiting for the new cleaning machine to be ready before I re-assemble, plus abuut another dozen in my 'todo' pile 😀

I started on pocket watches (total mistake!), did the 6792 (or whatever that huge movement is) off a Chinese one for better practice.

I then did some NH35s I had sitting around as better practice.

Then a 7s26 in a NOS non runner, then a handful of 5606s. My next Seiko are a set of 4 6106s that I hope I'll get 1 good one out of.

I am definitely a "try first, learn from mistakes" type. I watched quite a few YouTube servicers and thought it seemed entertaining so I gave it a shot. I have found Archers past posts to be super good resources as I get stuck on something.

IMO, there is a lot I don't know, but "just trying it" was the best teacher so far.

I'm a software engineer but get stuck in on interesting skills so often I know the bare minimum of a ton of things 😀

I haven't figured it out yet! Its still in the mail! It looks pretty neat and I want to give one a shot, and it came pretty cheap so was worth the try.

SO, I've been keeping an eye out for a movement ring for the 131.019, but haven't really seen one. Anyone have any good ideas on where to get one?

Alternatively: IF I were to make my own, does anyone have a handful of pictures of an Omega case ring? And know what materials I should use? I know a lot of the Seiko ones are stamped steel or plastic, but I assume Omega used machined brass, right?

I could make one reasonably easily based on measurements, but would love to see some sort of photos/etc to help figure how it is supposed to sit/fit on everything/etc.

Hmm... Then there is definitely something wrong in mine, the movement is flopping all around in that one. Is it really supposed to be held only by case clamps?

Welp, you made me go out and take a look, and what I found was informative!

I centered the movement and tried to tighten the case clamps slightly, and the watch started running! I was... shocked until I turned it over and discovered the minute and second hand had fallen off! After a moment of reflection, I realized what had happened. SO, I pulled off the bezel and removed it (as it is a frontloader, which should have been immediately obvious from the clamps).

There I found there was only 1 dial screw, and it pretty rusty. I loosened it (after removing the hour hand!), and pulled slightly at the dial, and it popped off.

Looking closer, I noticed this dent:

It JUST so happens to be in the exact spot of the missing dial foot! I got a feeling that someone tried to pull the watch out of the case not knowing it was a frontloader, and tore the dial foot off, pulling the dent into the dial at the same time.



They then repaired it with double-sided tape:



SO, looks like I have some work to do 😀 I'm guessing the double sided tape gave up at one point and stopped doing the trick, which is what bound up the hands.

Fortunately, it looks like it has 2 pretty solid lines on the timegrapher, so i suspect that this means that it is dirty, but nothing seriously wrong:



WHEN I get to this watch (projects keep piling up!), I'll have to look into getting dial screws, and either fixing the dial foot, or finding a nice replacement (maybe even with new hands 😀 ).

I am stlil not sure about the case ring, but I suspect you might be right that it doesn't have one, and that the previous repair screwing up the dial was why this was floating around.