Any old time watchmakers out there? I brought my Omega Speedmaster (circa 1976) in to Omega for service, and after five months and a small fortune they gave it back. They said they overhauled it and gave me a nice little bag of old parts, and it sure looks nice and shiny and new. The only little nagging petty tiny detail is that it doesn’t work. It might run for two hours and stop, or it might run for two minutes and stop. That’s worse than it was before the overhaul. Any idea what they did wrong?
Bump. I wanna know too.
Just about any repair business at least in my state is required to back their work to some degree or another. IF they returned a watch that only works for a few hours at a time they need to complete the repair promised.
Yeah, they didn’t fix it. It doesn’t take an old time watchmaker to figure out if it’s better to either fix or replace. But a bozo who sends a broken watch back? That just sucks. Get pissed off and call 'em. If they really stand by their rep, they will be happy to help you get it working again. And if not…
Good lord, this is a US$2-4 THOUSAND DOLLAR watch, right?
I will trade you, straight up, for my timex. It does much more, and only has a small amount of wear. Okay?
Not much to say except here’s my watch and bag of parts too:
My Speedmaster Pro (same era)
My bag of parts
It runs perfectly now. The one nagging thing was that I told them that there was a broken pin in one of the bracelet links, and I even emailed them and called them several times, mentioning the broken pin. I was so upset when I saw that they did everything but fix the pin.
I took it to a local jeweler in Princeton that handles Omegas and the lady there not only repaired the bracelet, and another Omega I brought in, but she simply handed them back and said “Have a nice day!” with a cheerful smile. No charge.
Unfortunately, my Princeton jeweler does not perform the hard core servicing of Omegas.
You gotta complain to the Omega folks. Get them to commit to a faster turnaround than 6 months, as well. Sorry about your watch.
You definitely have my condolences. The Speedmaster is an iconic and beautiful timepiece, and I’m sorry they didn’t get it right. I own a number of nice vintage watches (tho nothing as nice as a Speedmaster), but I have found that having them serviced can often be a crap-shoot. I’ll add my voice to those saying that you need to contact Omega and let them know they dropped the ball. Any number of things can cause a newly serviced watch to behave in the manner described, but I feel confident that Omega will do right by you. Probably a junior watchmaker serviced your piece, but the second time around they will likely have a more experienced watchmaker ensure your satisfaction. I’m sure you realize that the Speedmaster was selected as the “Moonwatch” because it is a high-precision chronograph which doesn’t rely on a battery. That watch is designed to last several lifetimes with proper servicing. Once you get it “dialed in” you will have a watch the envy of watch-geeks such as myself worldwide. Wearing that thing would make me feel like James Bond!
“Aaah yesh Pusshy, it’sh 11:09. No, shagging is shertainly not out of the queshtion” 
I can recall my uncle back in the 50s who was a watch repairman. On the occasions we visited him he was always wearing a half dozen watches or so on his wrist. My understanding was that he’d wear them for some period to ensure that they would continue to work before he returned them to his customers.
I somehow suspect that this practise has fallen into disuse.
If they charged you for it, then they ought to have done it right. If they made the problem worse, then they have damaged your property, and ought to pay you for it.
Take legal advice on getting your money back, plus compensation.
(how much money are we talking, anyway?)
*Take it back and tell them it doesn’t work. *
I would certainly take it back. Just as a brief note, I had an almost new automatic movement stop on me…I could get it to run for a few minutes and then it would stop. I even hand wound the barrel which contains the mainspring. Finally took it to a friend of mine who is a watchmaker, and he discovered a tiny speck of metal that had been left in the movement and finally shifted and stopped the watch. He told me it was not uncommon (even on upscale watches like yours) if the case has been opened and work done. Not to say that it is OK, but things do happen.
Watches…one of my hobbies…
My problem is this: I have a ‘diamond’ that came loose in my ‘Rolex’ and jams the watch hands.
I doubt I’d find anyone that wants to repair my ‘Rolex’. 
Sure is pretty, where the gold hasn’t rubbed off. And the movement has that nice sweep second hand like a Rolex…until it jams up against that damn ‘diamond’ again.
I was made to understand that Rolex tests run the watches they overhaul for six weeks to make sure they’re running accurately. (Or as accurately as they can.) I sent one of mine in for an overhaul and it came back in a month or so. It keeps good time, though that one isn’t a ‘certified chronograph’. I’ve never heard of a watchmaker wearing half a dozen watches at a time. Nowadays they put them on a watch winder.
You could always go to watchmaking school.
Generally speaking the obligation on the part of a shop is to correct the incomplete repair, not refund your money. I have had to do several followup repairs over the years, it happens, but I have never refunded a dime even when demanded. Professional services don’t work like retail, does your doctor refund his fees if you die, your lawyer if you lose a lawsuit? If he does effect the repair the second time he has still earned the initial fee.