# The Megaquartz Has Arrived



## Dr.f

Something in the early quartz story seemed to fire my imagination eventually leading to me buying this Omega Constellation Megaquartz off eBay. It seems fairly original but I haven't checked the timekeeping thoroughly yet. Here's some pics.










I got my watch guy to take the back off so here's the movement. It's a cal 1310, I'm not sure if you can see it from the photo. Next pic.










The case feels really solid as it should do, hewn from a bit of solid steel. I particularly like the contrast between the round face and square case. The case has quite a few marks from its 30 years of use. The crystal and dial look good. Next pic.










I think the strap is original and it looks like it needs a bit of refurb. It may need a service in time. I have seen STS recommended; any other suggestions?


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## William_Wilson

Does the strap say Omega on it? Oh, what year is it?

Later,

William


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## Dr.f

Strap has number 1246 stamped onto it but no letters.Buckle has omega logo on it .I'm afraid didn't make note of movement number so don't know year(yes,silly i guess but was only looking at cal. no.)


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## GASHEAD

Very nice, well done. I believe that Paul on this forum (Silver Hawk) also services Megaquartz - comes highly recommended.


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## Agent orange

Very nice Dr.f 

Here's my example.










Model no. 196.0015

Movement cal.1310

The original straps came in leather, sharkskin and alligator and unfortunately are very difficult to find these days, as are the clasps.

Cheers,

Gary


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## Dr.f

That case looks in great condition.I think mine is on an original omega strap but i've recently acquired another megaquartz (bought by mistake off e bay !!) which i'd like to put on an original omega so that gives me something to look for.


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## Agent orange

Thanks Dr.f 

I had the case and bracelet gently refurbished a year or so ago by my local watch guy.

Your strap is definitely an Omega but unfortunately it's not the correct one for your MQ. It should match the case width at the lugs, here's mine by way of an example. This was the watch before refurbishment btw.










The straps are usually marked 1216 and the clasps No.27. HTH.

Cheers,

Gary


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## Dr.f

Agent orange said:


> Thanks Dr.f
> 
> I had the case and bracelet gently refurbished a year or so ago by my local watch guy.
> 
> Your strap is definitely an Omega but unfortunately it's not the correct one for your MQ. It should match the case width at the lugs, here's mine by way of an example. This was the watch before refurbishment btw.
> 
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> The straps are usually marked 1216 and the clasps No.27. HTH.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Gary


Thats interesting.I had looked on net and asked on TZ but had'nt got any info yet.I guess i can't complain for Â£200 off e bay.Do you know where strap 1246 should be?

Looks like i've got something else now to keep an eye out for.


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## Agent orange

Dr.f said:


> Do you know where strap 1246 should be?


I've no idea I'm afraid. At a guess I'd say it was for a smaller Omega from the same period, maybe a Megasonic.












Dr.f said:


> Looks like i've got something else now to keep an eye out for.


Therein the madness lies 

Cheers,

Gary


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## webvan

Mine is a 1229 but impossible to find, been looking for a couple of years so I'm thinking of going with the bracelet for my own MQ, reference should be 1239/202 and 1210/202 should work too.

Strap :










Before :










After refurb :


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## Roamer Man

webvan said:


> After refurb :


That's one fine refurb job. Truly amazing...

Must have been quite pricey, but well worth it.


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## Dr.f

That refurb is really impressive.Mine has gone to Swiss Time Services for full refurb and NOS strap , should get it back in a few weeks so i'll post some pics then.


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## webvan

Looking forward to your pictures.

Yes that refurb was superb and the most amazing part is that I'd sent it in to a friend to have the movement tweaked (there was something wrong with the seconds hand) and it came back looking pretty different...needless to say I owe him a big one ;-)


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## danboy

webvan said:


> Mine is a 1229 but impossible to find, been looking for a couple of years so I'm thinking of going with the bracelet for my own MQ, reference should be 1239/202 and 1210/202 should work too.
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> Strap :
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> After refurb :


Thats a nice watch pal.


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## MerlinShepherd

They look nice, but I feel that the whole point of an Omega is the beautifully crafted movement. Housing quartz movements behind classic dials and in superb bodies seems to defeat the point... or am I on my own? What do others think?


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## ETCHY

MerlinShepherd said:


> They look nice, but I feel that the whole point of an Omega is the beautifully crafted movement. Housing quartz movements behind classic dials and in superb bodies seems to defeat the point... or am I on my own? What do others think?


There's beauty in quartz movements too particularly the earlier ones. Their early/ pioneering technology & the way they were constructed is what adds to their beauty for me.

People tend to think now of quartz as cheap & mechanical as expensive. Go back 30-40 years & the opposite was true.

Dave


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## Dr.f

Heard from STS today,watch will be back with me next week so watch this space!!!


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## Dr.f

My watch has now returned from STS and as promised here are pictures of it post-refurb. It had a complete movement service with case polishing, new crystal, new pushers, new crown and they also sourced and fitted a new genuine Omega calf leather strap. I must say I am very happy with it and feel it was well worth the money. Here's the pics.








































Well, that's all for now.


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## webvan

Wow, looks great, well worth it indeed! The strap looks like the one that CousinsUK have, I was about to pull the trigger on it the other day but found a NOS 1239/202 bracelet for my Seamaster Megaquartz. What was the ballpark price for the restoration? I assume it would be less than the Â£700 they charge for the MQ 2.4Mhz.


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## Dr.f

Not cheap,including strap it was Â£520.A lot but it does look like new and is guarenteed for 2 years.


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## Bootsy

Looks stunning, one to keep!


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## Agent orange

Very nice indeed Dr f, congratulations :hi:

Here's my example which now resides on an original shark skin strap with deployment.










Quartz of this vintage are in a totally different league to the rather disposable offerings of today. They really were built incredibly well and to an extremely high standard. I guess the fact that so many are still going strong 40 years later is testament to this. to I really must wear it more often.

Cheers,

Gary


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## julioa007

Roamer Man said:


> webvan said:
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> After refurb :
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> That's one fine refurb job. Truly amazing...
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> Must have been quite pricey, but well worth it.
Click to expand...

Awesome MegaQuartz... I am leaqrning so much in this Forum, thanks guys.


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## jude

a good buy at that price. Im very sceptical of buying vintage watches from ebayers.. But cant help trawling


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## Dr.f

Yes ,its fun,but in my experience sevicing costs for these watches quickly exceed purchase price so it helps to bear that in mind.


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## Chromejob

Dr.f said:


> Yes ,its fun,but in my experience sevicing costs for these watches quickly exceed purchase price so it helps to bear that in mind.


Well, purchase price for a used watch needing servicing, I would expect to be low.... It's the buyer like you who then sends it off for first class refurb who raises the value of the watch ... I presume.

Regardless, your pics of the watch back from STS are superb, it's truly looking almost new ... and as an historic watch with a very high quality movement, its value isn't measured just in "going price on the market." It has a certain beauty and charm that aficionados and collectors will appreciate. Well done. :cheers:


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## Dr.f

Yes i think so and am glad to have it back in this condition .


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## Littlelegs

:clapping: Really like the look of the refurbed megaquartz. I've one inherited from my late father in law which I'm going to send to sts. It's a megaquartz geneve 32khz. The strap isn't genuine and the watch has been diagnosed with a faulty/broken coil. I just hope they can sort it because of its sentimental value for my wife and we hope to pass it on to our son(who he never met unfortunately) once he's an age he can appreciate it.

Those look great :thumbsup:


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## Dr.f

Good luck with that.If you can manage it pre and post pic would be interesting.


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## Littlelegs

Sts reckon they can fix it but it's not cheap, so going to be saving the pennies up. Will post before and after once it's all done :thumbsup:


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## Dr.f

Look forward to seeing that.STS are not cheap but quality is very good(in my limited experience,others may know better)and you get a 2 yr guarentee


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## JudgeBaxter

FAO Littlelegs

STS do fine, fine work, but if you want to get it running again, you may find contacting either Silverhawk or KeithT on here worthwhile as they both have superb reputations for resurrecting these early quartz peices and may have spares available.

Not sure on case refinishing, but if they can't, they will know someone who can I'd wager, and overall the cost would be substantially cheaper than STS for 95%+ the same standard of casework......On the mechanical side, if they have the parts I'd say they would do just as good a job as STS would mechanically.

Anyway, plug over, but definitely worth giving either a call if you'd like to get it running again.

Rgds,

David.


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## Dr.f

Things now gone full circle and up on SC if anyone interested.


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## sswiss

...and it looks sweet, if I hadn't recently picked up Constellation MQ I would be seriously tempted.


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## Dr.f

Sadly sold that Megaquartz and of course bit sorry about that now but opportunity for Omega Marine Chronometer came up and this what i got.



















Which now off to STS for refurb so will post pics again in few months time.


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## webvan

Do you have it back ? ;-)


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## Dr.f

Not yet ,but should be soon.


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## Dr.f

Arrived today,looks like a new watch! Pics tomorrow.


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## Dr.f

Well here it is.Had the full refurb,bracelet rebuild and polish,case polish and service.Very pleased.




























I think the bracelet is stiff enough!!


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## Trigger

That is quite superb.


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## Thomasr

All that effort and you didn't take the fingerprint off the bottom left of the dial before taking a photo

:tongue2: :tongue2:


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## Dr.f

Bah,here's some more pics on the 1215 strap.


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## Dr.f

And a strap wrist shot


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## dowsing

That's a beauty John!


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## Dr.f

And picked up another one! A non-runner so didn't break the bank.Nice not often seen dial and case and bracelet are good.


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## Dr.f

Ahhhh,sadly now on sc.


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## Dr.f

After all that i tried really hard to like it but nicer to look at than to wear for me.


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## azimuth_pl

Nice watches and restorations. It's not that difficult so you gents could start on your own step by step and save a fortune.

I restored that blue dial MegaQuartz for Webvan a few years back and I was very pleased with the outcome.

STS is great and has a full professional workshop with tools worth thousands so they need to charge big money.

But as mentioned here in an earlier post you can achieve a 95%+ result within your household and for a fraction of the STS price.

And it's also lots of fun....free of charge


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## GeeBeeFlyer

Wonderful piece!

Wayne


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