zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

A long awaited AT co-axial midsize (blue dial) came today. It is a gift for my father but I got a chance to play around with it. It is simply a beautiful watch. It is much lighter than my Speedmaster Date and the weight feels great in the hand. The sapphire case back is also a treat. Now for the but...

This is going to be a bit long as I try to describe the watch's behavior with as much detail as possible. Hopefully, owners of the AT can help.

Something weird is going on while adjusting the time. I've read the manual and understand that the 2500 calibre movement has three positions (i.e. wind, date, time), and in the time position you may adjust the time forward or backwards. In the manual, it says that once you pull the crown out to the time position, the second hand should stop.

However, this is not the case with my dad's watch. The second hand does not stop when in the time position. Instead, it stops in a few seconds. Sometimes, it stops when I adjust the time backwards. Once, the second hand started and stopped sporadically. On top of this, when I push the crown back into the first position, the second hand will not start back up again. It would take a while for it to start up again, anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes.

After experimenting with the watch to see if I could get the movement to behave consistently, I found that I can by giving it a slight shake. Specifically, after I pull the crown out to the third position, if I give the watch a slight shake before I adjust the time backwards, the second hand would stop reliably. After I push the crown back into the first position, if I give the watch a shake, the second hand will begin to move again.

I think before while I was trying to adjust the time, the starting the stopping of the second hand seemed random to me because I was unknowingly applying this "stimulus" to the movement that would get it to stop or to get it going again.

Any thoughts on this? I have had no such experience with my Speedmaster and am guessing the watch is not supposed to require a shake in order for the movement to behave while making time adjustments. Please let me know if this is unclear. Thanks in advance.

Andy