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Omega Marine Chronometer thoughts:
If you are thinking about acquiring one of these interesting watches, these few comments may be of some
help.
While the Marine Chronometer's sapphire crystal and dial did not seem to change during the production
run of the watch, the case and bracelet apparently did. The first watch cases with the 1511 movements seem to have a different slope to the top and bottom of the front of the cases, It also seems that the later bracelets (or factory replacements) are slightly narrower where they meet the watch case, and they also may be of the cheaper 'folded' construction. The original bracelets seem to have followed the 'big Omega' chunky house style of the time, and consisted of thick and solid main links with hidden flattened tubular intermediate links 'embedded' on the inner surface of the bracelet. Small and rather weedy 12mm long spring bars held the whole lot together. The big chunky Omegas of the early 1970's all had this type of bracelet, and one can swap the links between different models of watch.
If the case of the watch looks new it has probably been re-finished at some point. Not a total disaster I
suppose as the factory seems to do this as a matter of course during a service. The obvious place to confirm this is on the case back. While these 2.4 'Megaquartz's were all Omega 'Constellations', they did not have the traditional Omega 'embossed observatory' logo on the case back. Instead they came with a very plain brushed rectangular back with a very shallow embossed Omega sign within a 2 line rectangular frame. Refinishing over the years usually removes most of this logo.
The watch glass will usually look good as this is sapphire (exotic for 1974), unfortunately the paint on
the dial side can sometimes flake or fade (some examples also seem to have yellow hands). As far as I can see, the 14K gold bezel is a puerly decorative feature, and just serves to underline the marine chronometer 'theme'. The gold bits 'echo' the traditional brass fittings of a boxed mechanical chronometer perhaps - it does look nice though. (For a while I did think about getting Gary Sellick of Salt Lake City to make me a 'proper' miniature chronometer box for my watch, I but acquired a very nice woden box from Omega instead - at about half the price wanted by those selling the same boxes on ebay.
While the engraved serial number on the little 14K plate at the front is supposed to be that of the
movement, it is not impossible after a quarter of a century to find that these in fact do not match. Not the happiest discovery for the collector perhaps, though a 'proper' Marine Chronometer movement (CAL 1511 or 1516) will only fit a Marine Chronometer case, and Omega regard a non-matching watch as still quite 'correct'. One might imagine that the factory would sometimes just replace a complete movement in the event of a serious problem (or to save time / cost). Actually non-matching Marine Chronometer numbers are quite traditional in the maritime world, as many a classical mechanical chronometer will have ended up with a mixture of numbers.
The Bescancon observatory won't thank me for this, but one can still get copies of the original rating
certificate if yours is lost. I think that this is a quite remarkable service in this day and age, though you might have to wait some months for them to dig the figures out. However, you will have a nice new hand written duplicate certificate at the end - bravo!
Omega do though still seem to look after these watches, and there is evidence that they are even
manufacturing some new parts for it. Servicing can take a while though, as all watches these days have to be sent back to 'the factory' in Switzerland. Expect to spend some money as well (my overhaul cost £390). But unlike when you get your car serviced (often at less cost!) Omega don't bother to give you a list of what they have actually done, very poor show that. From what I could see with mine, they installed a new 'phasing' pusher and re-finished the watch (without asking). Hopefully they changed the oil and put new plugs in as well... Actually I have the feeling that work on these watches is 'farmed out' to local individual watchmakers that are experienced with these movements.
Battery:
Omega fit a RENATA 386 (but mine didn't last a year), though the thinner 344 will also work.
To set the watch:
The crown has 3 positions:
1) Pressed in: normal running
2) Pulled out to the first position: this allows you to move the hour hand independently (the minutes and
seconds are not influenced) and also to set the date. (The watch does not have a quick date change.)
3) Pulled fully out: the watch is stopped, the minutes (and hours) can be set. This position is used
normally only after a battery change.
The push button near the crown is to precisely adjust the seconds: while the button is pressed (say with a
cocktail stick) the seconds are stopped, when you give pulses to this button on each press the seconds hand will go ahead one second.
That's the theory, but even after an overhaul the seconds hand seems to have a life of its own. I have
found that the best way to set the watch to the second is to slightly turn the minute hand anti-clockwise until the seconds hand (actually) stops. Then you can start the watch by pushing the crown fully in. Judicious jabs of the pusher can get the watch to show time to the second.
Indeed, it seems rather too easy to reset the time on this 'chronometer'. On a real chronometer you can
only change the hours and minutes, and this has to be done by unscrewing the front glass (one 'of course' never touches the seconds hand). It is a pity that Omega didn't make the crown and seconds pusher a little less accessible with some sort of bracket or cover, rather than festooning it with gold beezels and serial number plates. But that's the jewelry business for you. If I had a milling machine I would make a new back with some sort of side protection cover. After all, one should only need to adjust the watch after replacing the battery. And of course with a real chronometer one never set the thing to the second anyway, you just note the machine's error against a known standard . But there again we are not in the eighteenth century -
'Set the topgalants Mr Christian'...
Oh, and a last note on regulating the beast. I found that the biggest influence on the timekeeping of my
example was ambient temperature. Of course Omega expected you to keep the watch on your wrist and adjusted the going accordingly. However as my watch spends 99.6% of its time safely in its box, I found that it consistently gained (which was the opposite of what one would expect). Assuming the two small screws holding the ring surrounding the trimmer to be also locking screws, I though it unwise to attempt to meddle. I am therefore grateful to Craig Rodgers for discovering that the trimmer is quite easily adjusted by simply turning the large main slot with a screwdriver. Clockwise to go faster and anticlockwise to go slower, though as with all these types of trimmer: very small movements are needed. And now I have a watch that has lost less than a second in 3 months. |