Ferdinand sent in this pre-moon Speedmaster. On first sight, the hands look odd, as the bright green luminous compound just doesn’t look right.
Apart from that, the watch looks in good condition, but doesn’t reset properly.
Feast your eyes on the state of the movement! All screws are original, very few scratches, screw heads undamaged – this is probably the best 321 I’ve had in my workshop so far.
The amplitude isn’t bad, but all the jewels are dry, so the movement will need a service.
The hands have been re-lumed with bright green luminous compound.
The dial is still in great shape.
Time to take the chronograph apart.
The hammer, which resets the second and minute recorders to 0.
Now I can take the wheel bridge off.
The mainspring doesn’t look too bad, but I will replace it with a new one.
You can see that the old mainspring is slightly out of shape.
Now I take the bottom plate apart. On the right side sits the hour recorder, which is driven by the barrel.
The last parts to come off the plate.
Now all goes into the cleaning machine.
Whilst that’s happening, I use some paint stripper to take the old luminous compound and paint off the hands.
Hands painted. They now have to dry before I can apply the new compound.
The new mainspring – Omega original.
The jewels are in place and oiled, and the balance swings freely.
I put the keyless works in so that I can wind the movement up.
The base movement is beating again.
Now I can put the new pushers into the case. These are push-fit, and not screwed in, and they aren’t easy to get into the case…
With the base movement beating, I can start on the chronograph layer.
Now the rest of the bottom plate goes back on.
The dial is ready for the hands.
The case ring is back on the movement.
The newly painted and re-lumed hands are back on, and looking a lot better than the bright green stuff we had before.
The new pushers now need cutting down to the right length. After grinding off what is too long, I polish the surface, and re-cut the slit for the screwdriver.
Now I can case the movement with a new case back gasket.
How does one adjust the friction spring that screws on the barrel lid, setting the hour recording wheel which fits on the barrel arbour ?
If the clutch slips, either replace the spring, or remove it, and slightly bend the two tips downwards.
I would like to ask the question by explaining the fault. When the watch is wound the hour recording hand advances. I have stripped and assembled the watch many times to no avail, making very fine adjustments to the tension spring. What am I doing wrong? Thank you
Hi Bob,
My if the hour recorder advances, the spring tension is fine – otherwise, it wouldn’t advance. My money is on the brake. Take the dial off, and check that the brake engages properly when the chronograph is stopped. If not, you can adjust the brake position. Just make sure it disengages properly when the chronograph is in running position. Let me know how it goes!
Excellent restoration . Congratulation for work well done ! I have a Omega Speedmaster 145012_67 SP. Should have. 321 movement but someone in the past has changed the movement with a 861.If you have or in the future have a 321 for sale please contact me . Kind Regards. Louis
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Without doubt, this along wth the WW2 Hanharts are my favourite chronographs. I love the way it is ‘all dial’ without any case showing. I also like the understated markings and hands. Lovely work and the restored hands look perfect.
Absolutely stunning!!!! What an amazing piece by Omega. This model is my dream watch and to see one so lovingly restored brings tears to my eyes (yes how very sad). This calibre is micro mechanics at its best.
What a lucky owner 🙂
It didn’t look so bad with the green lume 😉
Odd about the pushers… I assumed they were case + movement specific, so would be the correct size out of the box. You live and learn!
What a lovely speedmaster. Great job on the hands, they look fantastic.
Are the pushers supplied as a standard length to be cut down to fit or was this an unusual case?
The pushers come in a standard length, and you always have to cut them down to the right size.
Thanks Christian. Lovely to see such a pristine 321.