In 1966 the world of chronographs changed forever. No longer would people be burdened with the trouble of elapsed minutes or hours - only seconds are shown on this watch. Nor would they need to worry about the time taken for the traditional button pushes of Start, Stop, and Reset as the stop and reset are combined into a single push. Just make sure you’ve made a note of the time before you let go of the button as the chronograph hand will reset.
The watch was brought for service as its timekeeping was starting to degrade. Though in an initial visual check doesn’t show any major problems, poor timekeeping is a good signal that something is an issue and a service is definitely a good idea.
Taking a close look at the watch as it comes apart you can see evidence of some potential problems. The first issue is some rust forming on the escape wheel. if this comes away from the metal the flakes can cause large amounts of wear and tear if it were caught between moving parts. Even worse, it could also spread to other steel components in the watch accelerating the problem or causing pitting on the highly polished acting faces.
Next the jewels: you can see evidence of what used to be oil, but it’s absolutely bone dry. IT’s a testament to the quality of these old movements that they continue to run so well without lubrication but this will lead very quickly to greatly increased wear. Worn parts are getting harder and harder to replace: although we can manufacture replacement parts it’s definitely better to take care of the original components if you can.
Checking Components
Once cleaning is done all components need to be checked to be sure they really are clean, and that there are no further issues.
After all the rust was carefully removed from the escape wheel, thankfully there was no damage to the steel underneath. Once it was totally clean of any contamination the pinion flanks were given a light polish to ensure their surface finish was as good as possible.
Reassembly
Oiling the escapement by very carefully applying oil to one pallet jewel. This forms a small reservoir and quickly gives each escape wheel tooth a small quantity of oil as the watch runs.
Below you can see the final result of the serviced movement. You can see some gentle cleaning also removed the discoloured balance bridge so the whole movement is a consistent rose gold colour once again. This watch is a perfect example of why regular maintenance can be so useful in vintage watches. Though things may seem to be okay, it allows you to catch developing problems before they cause serious (and expensive) problems.
Bespoke Straps
One of the benefits of working with Hirsch are their flexibility. They offer a wide range of off-the-shelf straps but sometimes you want something special and this is definitely one of those times. What’s not to love about a strap with contrast stitching specifically chosen to compliment the amazing 60s omega dial? The client chose a leather type in grey and from a sample pack we chose a close match in colour to the classic Omega orange for the stitching - matching a seconds hand like this is a great way to customise a strap and make it just that little bit more unique and personalized.
This is a service we can offer with all our watch repairs so let us know if you’d like something like a bespoke strrap.
