zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

1)I do not feel that Omega's current generations
: ETAs are any worse than their past in house
: movements, if anything they are
: "better" from a performance
: standpoint, they just don't get the cudos
: from people like you who put a great
: importance on in house manufacturer...though
: as always I love to point out that Rolex
: simply bought out Aegler Gruen...

2)I would hardly consider the advancements they
: made with the Co Axial movements that of an
: "assembler" nor that of their tourbuillon.

3)Also last I checked Rolex still wasn't totally
: in house, they still sourced some components
: from other manufacturers, reportedly they
: have a few for dials....if you want total in
: house production one must go to Seiko.

4)I also disagree that companies that are
: "in house" have better quality
: control vs those that source, I have dealt
: with more than a few companies that were
: "in house" and had lousy qc than
: others which sourced parts (great example is
: montblanc when compared to others like
: pelikan and aurora...)

5)As far as the Co Axial is concerned, not to
: beat this dead horse again but the 2892
: which the movement is based on is already
: more than proven as many work flawlessly
: year after year after year...the
: modifications that Omega has made to this
: already proven technology only stand to make
: it better as witnessed in the many
: testaments we see posted here and elsewhere
: daily, also there is no denying the free
: sprung micro regulated balance is a winner
: over the previous design, just ask Rolex...

6)The so called "sudden stop" issue you
: mention Georges time and time again is IMHO
: laughable, even here it was reported what in
: a very very few cases at best? and as of
: late hasn't come up at all...your talking a
: small if not infintissimal percentile that
: has witnessed this problem let alone
: experiened it...

7)the 3303 is another issue all togther and
: really is a shame, but hopefully they get
: that ironed out...though regardless the
: Rolex variant from a street price standpoint
: costs over three times as much and that
: depends on if one can even get it? really
: not a fair comparison IMHO.

8)Your comment on Rolex being an investment must
: be a cruel joke, if you buy any model other
: than a Steel Daytona or an LV submariner new
: from a dealer you will lose money on the
: deal in the short term, only after a few
: decades might you break even and that is
: negated by the high costs of service when
: compared to brands like Omega and Breitling.

9) As far as Rolex service, my thoughts are good
: luck, with their stranglehold on parts and
: their reluctance to authorise independants
: for service I see many being left without
: options...at least with omega you have the
: option of Bienne, and while they might have
: one or two misses, typically the quality of
: their work surpasses that of any of the
: Rolex service centers quite handily.

10) Sorry Georges but we will have to agree to
: disagree...With my real world experience of
: Modern Rolex I have truly come to despise
: the company and their attitude towards their
: customers specifically their enthusiasts.
: Not to mention their cost of entry is
: through the roof....wheras Omega at least
: still represents a value for one's dollar
: not to menton they acknowledge and encourage
: their enthusiast base and make products that
: appeal to them...

1)In the past Eta was never rated and could never compete in terms of quality with Rolex inhouse and Omega inhouse movements. The eta 2892-a2 appeared in 1975 but at that time it wasn't able to mtach the quality of the Omega 1010 and 1020 calibres and even two years later when the first generation of rolex 28800bph appeared the 303x, the eta 2892 couldn't match their quality either. I can't compare a movement built inhouse with strict quality controls and a movement built in millions and with nothing exceptional in terms of quality, reliability, accuracy and finish.Products using ok quality movements will never get cudos from me, would Omega be using Lemania 8810 or perhaps Piguet 1150 ebauche as base or an inhouse ebauche for the coaxial then I would have a totally other opinion. The 2892-2 is good but it is far to meet the excellence of quality of its predecessors. Just ask any experienced watchmaker what they think about vintage Omega movements.

2) The coaxial was mainly tested in laboratories but not in daily wear and about the central tourbillon, is something that must be put part because it is built by highly trained watchmakers at Omega.But fact is that the coax 2500 is not manufactured by Omega but by Eta for Omega.

3) That was before 2000, now Rolex uses their own balance wheel, dials and crowns. You were the one in the past who said that a grand seiko was better than an Omega even if Seiko is just a middle of the range manufacturer

4)I was given by my uncle for christmas a 1993 montblanc meisterstück 146 that writes perfectly. Montblanc quality lousy? You gotta be kidding me. My uncle has several montblanc fountain pens from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's that never had problems. I also own a 1951 parker vacumatic that has never known a single problem. Montblanc makes top quality pens but if you don't know how to care about it then it is your fault. Pelikan makes nice pens as does Jean Pierre Lepine, Cartier, Parker, Waterman, Dunhill, Namiki, Sailor, Olga Aloy, Cross and Shaeffer. But don't tell me that italian pens like Montegrappa, Visconti, Omas, Aurora, Delta, Stipula and Ferrari Da Varese are better than Montblanc when these brands appeared later than montblanc (which is one of the oldest pen manufacturers with parker, waterman and shaeffer) and have never made iconic pens like the Meisterstück 149 widely reknown as one of the best foutain pens ever produced. Italian fountain pens are very nice aesthetically but the quality of the nib is far to meet the quality of the German, American and Japanese fountain pens and is not as smooth as them. I baught last saturday a 1992 Montblanc 149 at the price of 100€ from a guy because his son has broken the refill pump but the nib was in perfect condition so I sent it to repair. To be honest with you, I never considered Italian products (cars, pens, watches, etc) as reliable products despite their aesthetics

5)Proven?? The eta 2892 was and is just bought and used by firms who can't produce their own movement. The firms who buy this movement engrave the name on the movement rotor then case it and charge you more than a lot.Is the 2892 proven as the 3135? No. The 3135 was used in the Rolexes that took part in Comex missions as well as in expeditions. The testaments after 2 years are not siginificant nor revelant of what is the long term accuracy and Rolex used the free sprung balance wheel with microstella adjusting screws in 1977 so 25 years before Omega used it.

6)The fact that it happened doesn't make it laughable ask to John Rochowicz more details about the 1120 issue

7)The 33xx has the biggest rate of failures ever encounted in a chrono movement built less than 5 years ago. But the rolex4130 on the other hand hasn't known such failures.In terms of quality, accuracy and power reserve, the 4130 beats the 33xx and even the zenith ep 410 and yes teh duatona 116520 is expensive but flawless quality has always a price.

8)No, a Rolex is an investment just see how have grown Rolex prices. If you had bought a sea dwller in the 80's or early 90's you can resell it for big bucks and Rolex divers or gmt rarely lose their values. Today a fine 1675gmt with box and papers sells for nearly 2000-3000$ sometimes more. Fact is that Omega Bienne does sometimes amateurish work on vintage for example luminova dial and hands on a vintage or leaf non luminous hands instead of dauphine radium hands on a constellation. Breitling doesn't even repair its venus based navitimer and neither does it restore its cal 11,12 and 15 chrono. For such watches, you better have to know very experienced watchmakers. I am not also mentionning that Omega charges too much for restoration.

9)It depends who you are dealing with. I know an independant Rolex watchmaker who was working at Rolex before. But Rolex USA is Rolex USA so don't mix it with Rolex Europe please. It is known that Rolex service centers in Dallas or in New York have done crappy jobs.

10)Personnally if I had to buy a Rolex (wether it is a modern or vintage), I would buy a used one at my watchmaker, it will cost me less and he is a certified Rolex watchmaker so I don't have to worry. For me Omega is not what it used to be, there is too much marketing hype in today's Omega strategy. I just hope taht the firm will return to what it used to be, a manufacture.