Vintage Omega watch issue - help needed

beed84

So, I have an Omega Geneve which I believe is from around 1975. I managed to pick this up a couple of years ago in a charity shop and fortunately it keeps excellent time. However, several months ago I noticed an issue with the date complication. When it tries to change from the 1st to the 2nd, it flicks back to the 1st. You can manually change it to the second, but it would be out of sync that way. Does anyone know what the cause would be and whether or not it'd be a relatively easy fix? The reason I ask is that I'm thinking of selling it on to raise some funds. Obviously I'd get more if the date worked properly. Even I didn't sell it, I'd still like the date to function as it should.

@Neil You're our watch guru. Do you happen to have any ideas?

lewism

It might be worth getting serviced even if it does keep good time - you don’t know when it was last serviced, if at all and it will solve the problem. Given that it’s only got a date complication, it should come in at well under £100 at a decent independent place.

lewism

Also, I really like old Omegas so pics would be nice!

spark240

lewism said:

Also, I really like old Omegas so pics would be nice!

Yep...I have a couple of 70's Geneves...lets see it !

Flanging_Fred

I found an old 1970s Geneves in a charity shop too.

 Mine needed a service and we used people called Watch Kings on eBay and they did a great job. They also did Mrs Fred’s Geneva too.  The only issue was they were a little slow but they fixed both watches when others said it couldn’t be done for a sensible price.

lewism

Right, which charity shops are you lot going to? Mine just have lots of old tat and at least two copies of “Night Flight to Venus” by Boney M!

beed84

Okay, here it is:

beed84

lewism said: It might be worth getting serviced even if it does keep good time - you don’t know when it was last serviced, if at all and it will solve the problem. Given that it’s only got a date complication, it should come in at well under £100 at a decent independent place. Thanks. Looking at it now makes me want to keep it. Might invest in getting it serviced down the line and hold on to it instead.
Flanging_Fred said: I found an old 1970s Geneves in a charity shop too.

 Mine needed a service and we used people called Watch Kings on eBay and they did a great job. They also did Mrs Fred’s Geneva too.  The only issue was they were a little slow but they fixed both watches when others said it couldn’t be done for a sensible price. Thanks for this too. I will look in to this. 

lewism

That’s a very nice watch. When I was about 17 I got a Seiko that years later, when I got into watches, I realised is a pretty blatant copy of that design. You don’t really see clean, simple uncluttered design like that now, even on Omegas. Google WatchGuy, I’ve used him for servicing my Omegas in the past. Worth noting that independents will often use “generic” parts (often still made by the same Swiss manufacturer as the original parts but just come in unbranded packs) as Swatch (I forget the actual parent company name, but they manufacture most of the base movements for Swiss watches) have restricted supply. Talk to whoever you choose to service your watch about this beforehand.

Neil

beed84 said:

So, I have an Omega Geneve which I believe is from around 1975. I managed to pick this up a couple of years ago in a charity shop and fortunately it keeps excellent time. However, several months ago I noticed an issue with the date complication. When it tries to change from the 1st to the 2nd, it flicks back to the 1st. You can manually change it to the second, but it would be out of sync that way. Does anyone know what the cause would be and whether or not it'd be a relatively easy fix? The reason I ask is that I'm thinking of selling it on to raise some funds. Obviously I'd get more if the date worked properly. Even I didn't sell it, I'd still like the date to function as it should.

@Neil You're our watch guru. Do you happen to have any ideas?

At that date it could be a 5XX or 1XXX movement but either way it will need a service and possibly a part if the finger that changes the date has bent/broken off.

One thing I would add is to never manually change the date between 9pm and 4am as you can damage the mechanism.

Hope you get it fixed OK these are good quality watches and your blue dial looks lovely, most are silver. 

beed84

Thanks @Neil. I'll look into getting it serviced, then, as that seems to be the general consensus - I'm wearing it now and decided I'm going to keep it. Out of interest, how come the mechanism can be damaged if you set it between the times you mentioned? I'm genuinely intrigued.

randella

lewism said:

When I was about 17 I got a Seiko that years later, when I got into watches, I realised is a pretty blatant copy of that design.

 @lewism ; I'm wearing one of those right now

'Uncluttered' is exactly what I like about it.

I don't need to get into watches though.  Between guitars and woodworking my money seems to evaporate quite quickly enough as it is.

Neil

beed84 said:

Thanks @Neil. I'll look into getting it serviced, then, as that seems to be the general consensus - I'm wearing it now and decided I'm going to keep it. Out of interest, how come the mechanism can be damaged if you set it between the times you mentioned? I'm genuinely intrigued.

The day/date gear for most watches begins to engage at 9pm and does not fully disengage until around 4am, well after the date has changed.

If you use the crown to change the date during the period it is under tension you can damage the day-date gear or the disc itself which can become brittle with age anyway.

To illustrate, here is a pic of a date wheel (not yours) which shows how  easily the plastic teeth can be sheared off by setting at the incorrect time period. 

beed84

Neil said:

beed84 said:

Thanks @Neil. I'll look into getting it serviced, then, as that seems to be the general consensus - I'm wearing it now and decided I'm going to keep it. Out of interest, how come the mechanism can be damaged if you set it between the times you mentioned? I'm genuinely intrigued.

The day/date gear for most watches begins to engage at 9pm and does not fully disengage until around 4am, well after the date has changed.

If you use the crown to change the date during the period it is under tension you can damage the day-date gear or the disc itself which can become brittle with age anyway.

To illustrate, here is a pic of a date wheel (not yours) which shows how  easily the plastic teeth can be sheared off by setting at the incorrect time period. 

Thanks for this. It's very helpful and interesting to know. Seriously, it's fascinating how someone managed to devise a way of making something like that work. The work that goes in to watches with god knows how many complications goes beyond my comprehension. Must be a nightmare!