New member, looking for advice on Omega family heirlooms

[craigg]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to learn how to get these two watches going again - both family heirlooms. The first is a fairly standard Omega Seamaster Quartz Cal. 1430 31 32 (circa 1990's) which refuses to operate after a battery change. Am I able to swap out the quartz PCB myself? The other - an Omega Seamaster (Ref: 861 652 - ST145 016) from the late 60's is missing a pusher or at least part of a pusher. Not sure where to start on these. I would love to have a go myself, but will go to a watchmaker if its safer. Thanks in advance. Craig

[AndyGSi]

Welcome to the forum.

Family heirlooms are not really the watches to be learning on.

With the quartz were there any signs of the old battery leaking and are there any signs of life with the new battery?

Are the insulators still in place under the battery?

 

[watchweasol]

Hi. My advice would be to take them to a watchmaker/repair agent who can test and assess what the problem is. As you are new to the art of watch repair and as such will have no test equipment to Cary out any meaningful diagnosis. Then based on the outcome you can make a decision a  as to what to do .   If it is your intention to have a go at repairing these watches,  it would be at the present time best to side line these two and learn a few skills and how a quartz watch works. By all means find a few cheap watches on eBay, that way you . That way you can learn without fear as the cheap watches are disposable. I would suggest that when starting out in watch repair start with working movements that way if it does not work after your administrations it’s probably you’re fault.

witschi_training_course.pdf

228_Omega1430.pdf 346_omega 1430, 1431.pdf

[Neverenoughwatches]

As has already been mentioned these two watches are of too much importance to mess around with. Valuable both monetary and sentimental. Almost all newbies trash the first watch they try to repair, so frstly you need some good practice under your belt and some badic tools. Working on watches is at a scale that only a fraction of the population have ever tried, let alone become proficient at. If you are in a rush to get them fixed then find a reputable professional to have a look. If time is unimportant then buy a few cheap quartz watches to develop your handling of small parts, quartz movements generally have smaller parts than mechanical ones. The coil if it's unprotected, not lacquered will be the most delicate piece there. Good luck and dont rush .

[JohnR725]

3 hours ago, AndyGSi said:

Family heirlooms are not really the watches to be learning on.

The unfortunate reality and watch repair is as you're learning things will get broken. The problem with working on family heirlooms is you may have to Explain to the family why there heirloom is no more. Or in this particular case because both of these are Omega watches they will be extremely expensive depending upon how much damage is done while you're learning.

6 hours ago, craigg said:

I able to swap out the quartz PCB myself?

In watch repair it's usually best to determine what the problem is and then work out a solution to the problem. So for instance when was the last time either of these watches were serviced?

Analog quartz watches like any mechanical watch would need to be serviced from time to time. Then the definition of servicing is complete disassembly proper cleaning proper lubrication and of course reassembly with ideally having proper quartz test equipment. Because the unfortunate reality with electric watches is you need to test equipment to make sure things are functioning properly. 

7 hours ago, craigg said:

Ref: 861 652 - ST145 016

Then you hear a case reference number has been upgraded it is really 145.0016. It's found at the link below and you will notice that the parts are listed as both yellow and white as one case number could be a variety of materials. But as yours is stainless steel it would be white and looks like the pushbutton is 086ST0011.

http://cgi.julesborel.com/cgi-bin/matcgi2?ref=OME_CS^145.0016A

Then here's one on eBay although I would verify with the seller that it actually does fit your case. Or for that matter whether the seller would take it back if it doesn't fit.

So you have to work out some way to unscrew the old one which is typically lock tied it in the mobile will definitely have to be removed from the case the new one put in and in the moment put back in and hopefully no other damage was done like a water getting in for instance.

Oh and in case you're curious about how easy it would be to service that movement I'm attaching some servicing information. Definitely not your best interest to start watch repair with a chronograph.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265273876522

205_Copy of oRIGINAL_Omega 861 cousins.pdf

[craigg]

Oh wow, I'm overwhelmed by the response. You are all correct, i should not attempt to repair these myself. I will visit a watchmaker to preserve the history of heirlooms. Also many thanks for sharing the links and downloads. Aamazing community!