cartshed
WIS
Veins of Vodka
Posts: 1,918 
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Post by cartshed on Jul 9, 2013 5:12:37 GMT -8
I've fancied one of these for a while & just wondered if anyone here has owned or has experience of working on them. From a bit of research I've done, it seems that they have an unusual case design which opens from the front & needs specialist tools to get into, or an air compressor & line, which sounds a bit drastic to me. Really like the look of these but don't want to buy one & find out that any future servicing might cost nearly as much as the watch. I'd be interested to know if there are any known problems with this model. Might be a bit of a long shot asking here but I know some of you are very knowledgeable about other brands. All advice & opinions are very welcome. Thanks Dave .jpg) |
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Post by kingrat on Jul 9, 2013 11:56:35 GMT -8
That Omega looks HOT, but it also looks like a money pit. Stick with SEIKO
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Post by Groundhog66 on Jul 9, 2013 13:32:24 GMT -8
I know nothing about them, but it sure is a handsome piece.
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Post by saul on Jul 9, 2013 15:44:45 GMT -8
If it rocks your boat go for it. Unless it is a basket case or you decide to have Omega service it there really shouldn't be any undue costs more than any vintage Seiko. Spencer is just finishing up a rehab on a 1953 Seamaster for me and the costs haven't been any worse than (less than even) on any 6138/6139/6117/6106/6309/6105 restore.
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cartshed
WIS
Veins of Vodka
Posts: 1,918
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Post by cartshed on Jul 9, 2013 16:38:07 GMT -8
If it rocks your boat go for it. Unless it is a basket case or you decide to have Omega service it there really shouldn't be any undue costs more than any vintage Seiko. Spencer is just finishing up a rehab on a 1953 Seamaster for me and the costs haven't been any worse than (less than even) on any 6138/6139/6117/6106/6309/6105 restore. Thanks for your input Saul & I agree with you about service costs. If I do buy one, I wouldn't be sending it to Omega for a service, you could probably buy a reasonable second hand car for the sum they'd want. I've spoken to my watchmaker about this model & he doesn't have the right tools to open this case or an airline to 'blow' off the case-back via the crown tube (which sounds like a potentially destructive method to me). I think I'm secretly hoping that someone here might just say that they know how to open this model as it's a strange design that I think has to have pressure applied to the crystal to push the whole movement, dial & case-back out of the case before it can be stripped with specialist tools. From the research I've done on this model, it seems that the Royal Navy specified this design as they thought it gave better water resistance. It might be a case of too many drunken sailors over designing something that's a timepiece, not a submarine. |
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Post by joehorner on Jul 13, 2013 5:25:30 GMT -8
I don't know the model personally, but if it is a "blow apart" case then you don't need an air compressor, you need a Bergeon 5011 case pump. These are an absurd price for what they are (around £90 for what's basically a very small bike tyre pump with some plastic nozzles to fit case pipes) but I would have thought certainly not too expensive to get if it means refusing a job!
They're generally only needed for single piece cases though, if the back is a separate piece then there's usually a more appropriate way to open them!
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cartshed
WIS
Veins of Vodka
Posts: 1,918
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Post by cartshed on Jul 13, 2013 7:12:48 GMT -8
I don't know the model personally, but if it is a "blow apart" case then you don't need an air compressor, you need a Bergeon 5011 case pump. These are an absurd price for what they are (around £90 for what's basically a very small bike tyre pump with some plastic nozzles to fit case pipes) but I would have thought certainly not too expensive to get if it means refusing a job! They're generally only needed for single piece cases though, if the back is a separate piece then there's usually a more appropriate way to open them! Thanks for posting Joe. As a watchmaker, you might find this article interesting, about opening the dress watch version of this watch. Would you call this a single piece case ? forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?173039-Omega-Cosmic-2000-Case-Opening-Fun-amp-GamesIechyd da |
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Post by joehorner on Jul 13, 2013 10:55:54 GMT -8
Ahh, that case  No, it's not strictly one-piece, but (as designed) you shouldn't have to remove the back to get into it - pop the glass, turn it over so the dial ring drops out, then remove the seal (damage doesn't matter because, obviously, you're replacing that, aren't you?) and the movement comes out the front. Haven't seen one for over a decade, but that was the one that my old boss introduced me to the Bergeon pump for. They weren't exactly easy to shift even back then and, reading that post, I guess another 10 years of seals hardening and rings gluing themselves inn place has got them to the almost impossible stage by now! Although, as that link shows, there's always a way if you know roughly how it fits together and take things steady  |
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cd_god
Is a Permanent Fixture
Finna set up a HOOD next door to your richie phuk suburban mansion
Posts: 12,260
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Post by cd_god on Jul 13, 2013 13:20:33 GMT -8
What a horrible case design that you have to blow it apart to open it.
If Omega didn't want watchmakers other then their official service centers working on their watches they should have just done what Rolex did and not sell parts to anyone and refuse to work on any Rolex watch that has aftermarket parts on it (diamond dials, bezels, PVD cases, etc) until the owner pays to have genuine Rolex parts installed in their place.
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