# Omega Speedmaster Maintenance



## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

I have inherited an omega speedmaster - pre-professional , it is manually wound. I was looking for a bit of advice for looking after it, specifically:

- what are the recommended service intervals, I am based in herefordshire the previous owner always serviced it in a local watch shop in sussex. any recommendations for servicing for the herefordshire area ?

- i don;t wear it that regularly, which is best for the movement.. to allow it to wind down to a stop between each wear, or ensure i wind it regularly to always keep it going ?

thanks

kes


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## Scouse (Jan 6, 2011)

Hi Kes,

Personally, I would keep it in a warmish place and wind it up around once a week. This should keep the oil at the correct viscosity and stops it from gumming up. As for a reputable person to service it in your area, I haven't a clue, but I expect somebody on the forum will help you out very soon. Enjoy the watch and good luck to you...............


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## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

thanks


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## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

I have had a good look through the forum but can't seem to find an answer to this, probably because it is a stupid question but...

having inherited the speedmaster, I am quite keen to confirm the date it was built and it's model number, from looking at photos on the web I have a pretty good idea. I know if I take the back off (which I am not keen to do) I can get the serial number which will tell me loads about the watch.

As I was in London today i stopped at a watch shop in Burlington Arcade and the Omega store round the corner to see if they could help, I was quite happy to pay for this. I was a little surprised to find that they both could help provided I paid between Â£300 - Â£400 for a service and they would return the watch to me in 5 weeks with the information I need. I can see how watch shops must get frustrated with people wandering in and asking information on watches all the time, so I guess this does dissuade muppets like me from bothering them.

Is there a cheaper way to do this ? have I just been going to the wrong watch shops ? or am I asking the wrong questions ?


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## Agent orange (Feb 11, 2006)

Any good independent worth their salt will remove the case back and give you the movement no. and case back number. If they refuse to or want to charge an outlandish fee just walk away. It might be worth getting it checked over at the same time to see if it needs a service while you're at it.

Cheers,

Gary


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

kes said:


> I have had a good look through the forum but can't seem to find an answer to this, probably because it is a stupid question but...
> 
> having inherited the speedmaster, I am quite keen to confirm the date it was built and it's model number, from looking at photos on the web I have a pretty good idea. I know if I take the back off (which I am not keen to do) I can get the serial number which will tell me loads about the watch.
> 
> ...


You can try Swiss Time Services, they will do a complete overhaul not just a service and will be cheaper than the Omega store. Failing that someone like Steve at Ryte Time.


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## Defender (Jan 27, 2009)

kes said:


> I have inherited an omega speedmaster - pre-professional , it is manually wound. I was looking for a bit of advice for looking after it, specifically:
> 
> - what are the recommended service intervals, I am based in herefordshire the previous owner always serviced it in a local watch shop in sussex. any recommendations for servicing for the herefordshire area ?
> 
> ...


Hi there,

I'm guessing your Speedmaster is a 321 rather than the later 861, as the 'Professional' was added in 1966 when the crown guards were added.

I've had my 1965 ST 176-003 for nearly 33 years, currently fitted with a later 'Professional' dial:-










Enjoy it, they're a lovely and now valuable watch to own :yahoo:.

ATB,

Defender :astro:.


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## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

thanks for the suggestions, I took the watch into the jeweller in Hereford, who have had it a week and are charging me Â£12 to take the back off and get me the serial number etc. Which seemed a bit cheeky, but getting a bit bored of what i had initially thought was a simple request.

thanks Defender for the pic. Yes, that's the same watch, have attached poor photo, you can see the crystal and bezel are a little more worn, other than that the same. My stepfaher originally bought a rolex, unfortunately, he had a lot of problems with it during it's first year, at the end of the year the Jeweller let him swap it for whatever watch he liked, he chose the speedmaster. He took part in club races with a vintage aston martin during the 60's and 70's and i gather the speedmaster proved invaluable. He wore it every day, the only change was in the mid eighties when the original bracelet broke, luckily the local jeweller had an original replacement bracelet that had been ordered by a customer in the early 60's and had never collected. it had sat in a drawer since then, he was able to buy it for the original 60's purchase price.

kes


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## Philz (Oct 20, 2009)

Nice story to go with the watch so good to hear it had proper use and was not just decorative.


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## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

thank you for all the help here. I think i have got closer to understanding what year my spedmaster is from.

The number on the movement is 17302011 which places it in 1959 to 1961 - which should be a CK998, however the hands would appear to be from a ST105003 from 1965 onwards (i couldn't spot a difference in the dials). 1959 is also closer to my stepfathers 21st birthday so also makes sense.

so either Omega used an old stock movement or perhaps the dial and hands were replaced at a later date (i think the latter is more likely).

the caseback no is: 2998-2 , not sure if that can help work out which year.

does this make my omega a "frankenwatch" ?!

I have also found out the "shop in sussex" that serviced it is was Allnutt's in Midhurst, so I shall be happy to drop the watch in there for a good clean and service when i next go down to see my mother at the end of the month.


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## simonsaysbet (Jul 13, 2010)

That is a lovely watch and the story makes it even better! That is in no way a fraken watch! That would be a watch made out of stuff from the parts bin(like frakenstein's monster) Having the hands replaced in a service is in no way the same.Maybe your step father wanted it to look a bit more up to date,and got rid of the alpha hands. It doesn't look like the hands were replaced recently. According to Roman Hartmanns table your watch is from 1959-62. The most likely date being 1960 from the movement. I think the case backs are normally more accurate for dating later speedmasters, when they started stamping the date into them! Great watch and worth several thou!


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## Scouse (Jan 6, 2011)

Hi Kes,

Nice to see that somebody helped you out in the end. It's a lovely watch mate. Look after it and it will look after you.


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

I see that the dial has faded to a chocolate brown, these fetch a premium over the normal black


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## kes (Jan 10, 2011)

thanks everyone - simon thanks for the reassurance. It's certainly been a fascinating journey learning about the watch, I thought it would be such a simple process. I found it so frustrating not knowing exactly which model it was and when it was made. I love it.

Off to sussex next weekend to get it serviced at Allnutts, and also dig out all my childhood watches... the 1980 casio calculator, 70's ingersoll and seiko's might be seeing the light of day for the first time in years..

kes


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