zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Hi,

: I recently came into possession of a
: constellation chronograph that looks just
: like this:
: http://store.yahoo.com/justbrands/12425000.html

: I have not been able to find this watch on
: Omega's website, is the 1270 an authentic
: omega movement?

: Also, in normal operation, the large hour and
: minute hand work normally, but the large
: second hand does not move - instead, the
: small second hand on the chronograph moves
: in its place. Is this normal? If not, how do
: I fix it so the large second hand is the one
: that moves normally?

: Additional information: if I hit button A on
: the side, then the large second hand begins
: to move (along with the other two small
: hands), and in about half a day, these three
: hands stop moving.

: Any ideas?

Janhaus,

You have a chronograph watch. What that means is that the watch has a "stop-watch" function built in.

The small dial that moves in "normal" operation is the real second hand. The large "stationary" second hand is used for timing a particular event, say how long it takes you to down a keg of beer..... Button A starts/stops the timer.

The Large hand has to be the stop-watch funtion because a small dial wouldn't provide enough room for the "tick" marks. Using a large hand makes it possible to differnicate between say, 1.0 seconds and 1.1 seconds.....

The watch stops half-way through a day because it needs to be "wound". There's a spring inside the watch to provide constant energy to move the hands. So when it isn't wound over a period of time, the watch dies.

Half a day sounds to little for an Omega though. Mechanical (watches with springs) usually have a "power-reserve" of 44hrs. Using the stop watch function only uses about 2% more energy, not 50% like yours.

The watch probably needs service.

Be aware that I have never had any experience with these watches before, so I could be wrong. Also be aware that I'm a very intelligent man:-).

Hope that helped.