Omega spare parts quality

IMG_6831Now that Omega dosen’t supply spare parts to the independent trade any more, I can at least let you in on a little secret. The quality of some of their spare parts is outrageously bad…

First, the pusher 086ST0079. It’s a push-fit pusher for the Speedmaster Reduced. 50% of those shear at the bottom of the screw thread when you try to unscrew them. Firstly, please don’t supply them assembled, and secondly, don’t screw them together like there is no tomorrow. The screw will break. At £35 a pop, an expensive pleasure. So changing one costs you an average of £70, as one out of two break.

Next in line, some crystals for older Omega watches. Here we have an 063PZ5000. You press it into the case, and it just breaks. The cheap Sternkreuz tension ring for £4 (the Omega one costs £33) fits like a glove, every single time. The Omega ones break, every other time.IMG_6831

This one broke nicely around the side of the rim. Good that Sternkreuz can make generic crystals that are of decent quality, and that fit.

Next on the list of grievances – hands. Omega can’t supply hands that just fit. They always have to be broached. Same for the 550 rotor bushes. They also have to be broached to fit.

Great stuff, boys. Maybe it’s best you don’t supply your spare parts any more, so we can use decent quality generic parts 😉

46 thoughts on “Omega spare parts quality

  1. Do you have glass /crystal and dial for omega – genéve automatic ref. 162.0010 – men – 1970-1979
    Waiting for your early response and Thanking you in anticipation
    Best regards
    Tayyab

  2. Does anyone know where I can obtain a single link for a stainless steel bracelet on a Ladies Omega blue and white Geneve Dynamic watch. The date of the watch is approx. 1970’s?

  3. Hi I’m Kenny
    I have a omega 007 seamaster the small pin on the strap has come out I think that it’s a
    1502/824 clasp screw lock that locks the strap onto your wrist

  4. Another Omega crystal broke while fitting it in the case.. Drives me a little nuts.. Now fitting a generic crystal as I can not afford loosing money like that.

  5. broach1
    brəʊtʃ/Submit
    verb
    past tense: broached; past participle: broached
    1.
    raise (a difficult subject) for discussion.
    “he broached the subject he had been avoiding all evening”
    synonyms: bring up, raise, introduce, talk about, mention, touch on, open, embark on, enter on, air, ventilate; More
    2.
    pierce (a cask) to draw out liquid.
    “he watched a pot boy broach a new cask”
    synonyms: pierce, puncture, tap; More

    • 3. a cutting tool for removing material from metal or plastic to shape an outside surface or a hole
      And there is of course the verb to go along with that. So if I say that I have to broach hands and rotor bushes, I refer to the action of widening the hole with a broach.
      Anyhow, I didn’t know we had a blog for grammatical discussions here. I’m a craftsman.

  6. I have an Omega 176.014 “TV Dial” when I bought it, the crystal needed replacing. The Independent watchmaker purchased an original replacement and installed it into the watch. To my amazement the second and minute hand did not line up with the painted tachymetre on the crystal. As the crystal is square it can only fit one way. In the end the watchmaker had to trim the crystal. I googled my watch and saw several images where the second and minute hand did not line up with the tachymetre.

    My point? From my experience Omega parts certainly have quality issues.

  7. Pingback: INHORGENTA 2016: Die Einschränkungen in der Ersatzteilversorgung und ihre Auswirkungen - Uhren-Blog über Design und Technik

  8. Hi, Christian. I have a question, you say it just break, do you mean the crystal or the tension ring? is the tension ring suppose to have a cut out, or is it ha solid hole ring? I can see on my watch that the tension ring have a break.

  9. Christian, about the crystals for older Omega watches. you may have answered your own question, old stock genuine crystals could suffer from environmental issues such as UV, temperature and humidity during storage over many years, causing them to become brittle. The generic equivalent may not be on the shelf as long.
    As for the Omega 550 rotor bushes, there is some information on http://www.omegaforums.net as to why they need to be broached to fit, check Archer and Ketiljo posts. Keep up the good work.

    • Right … the packaging of the crystals that break doesn’t look old at all, but fairly new. They just don’t fit.
      I’m familiar with the reasoning on the Omega bushes. Let’s put it that way – other manufacturers make parts that fit. You put them into the movement, and that’s it. If my rotor post is worn, I want to replace it, and have a bush that fits perfectly over the new post. Broaching isn’t great, as it doesn’t create a straight hole, so it’s pretty bad, even if I go in from both sides. You can always find excuses, but it’s better to compare what you get from Omega with what you get from other manufacturers. And in that comparison, Omega fails.

  10. It seems to me Omega is intent on making their own repair operation as profitable as possible and see independent repairers as unwanted competitors (who apparently can often do the work as well or better for a lower price). The next step would be to make parts that cannot be duplicated by generic manufacturers, at least not easily, or that require special proprietary tools to service. If this is their strategy, I think it is utter folly, but time will tell.

  11. Before I go on I would like to say I read every post and more often than not enjoy every bit (despite me knowing very little about watch mechanics).

    However, it’s not very professional to slag off companies – the tone of your output now seems to reflect a bitterness regarding your rejection by SWC/Omega Service Dept. Would your attitude be this way if you were a registered Omega service centre?

    It’s a little sad to see as this blog wasn’t always snobbish or brand-bashing. I would prefer to focus on watches and their mechanical and stylistic intrigue.

    Alas, it is your website.

    • I think it’s ok to speak out if the quality of parts isn’t as it should be. There is nothing sacred when it comes to watch manufacturers, and the more people point out things like that, the more they will try to do a better job. Surely you will point out if something you buy is of inferior quality?
      Of course, if I had a parts account, I wouldn’t be able to say things like that for fear of losing the account. Not really a good argument why I shouldn’t speak out.

      • I am merely a watch enthusiast who owns four watches – one of which being a Swatch – so that is the closest I could come to being any sort of Omega affiliate.

    • Not very professional to slag off companies….?
      Sounds like dictatorship to me.

      So…. if you and your family or friends own a certain make of new car that had nothing put problems, and cost you many thousands in repairs and lost time with the car being of the road you would never “slag off the company”

      Please….get real

      • Would you see it as OK for Omega to publish a negative opinion of watchguy.co.uk’s work to the world?

        I think waiting until you have been cut out of a group before you publish negative posts about their parts is just not cricket. And it is just my opinion.

  12. maybe the swiss watch companies plan would back fire and they would have to supply us independent watchmakers with authentic parts if we start a campaign to use generic parts.

  13. Christian, I think you’ve just hit on the marketing angle that independent watchmakers need to use. For years, people have been saying, “If you go to an independent, make sure he has a Rolex/Omega/whatever parts account and doesn’t use generic parts.” Instead, we have to get people thinking, “You should go to an independent, to ensure that you get reasonably priced and better quality aftermarket parts, instead of the overpriced junk sold by Rolex/Omega/whatever.”

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