We did have a thread on the orientation of the etched Omega logo a few years ago, as I recall. On my Speedy, it's upside-down.
Just playing around with my new(ish) iPhone 13 camera & noticed this…
Which I hadn’t noticed before.
These new iPhone cameras are pretty impressive.
z
Last edited by zelig; 14th October 2022 at 13:52.
We did have a thread on the orientation of the etched Omega logo a few years ago, as I recall. On my Speedy, it's upside-down.
Mine is wonky also. I’m usually OCD about these things, but this doesn’t bother me.
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I thought you were talking about the central chrono hand being off-centre!
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I think it’s fine - it’s the rest of the watch that’s off centre
I agree in it’s too small a detail to bother but …..isn’t watchmaking all about the detail and precision?
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If you want to stay happy, never look at a watch through a macro facility.
Cheers,
Neil.
Does it really matter whether the symbol is correctly aligned......honestly! I`ve fitted plenty and I`ve never bothered, pressing an acrylic crystal into a case can be tricky, my priority has always been to get the crystal to go in evenly to avoid the risk of damaging it. Considering the potential for an OCD owner to complain I now make every effort to get it straight, but if the crystal's gone in nicely there's no way I`d remove it just to attempt to correct a minor misalignment of a symbol that can only be seen properly under magnification. Folks who perceives these issues as an indication of quality are fooling themselves.
Owing to the distance between the dial and the hand it's all too easy to perceive a slight error when in reality it's the parallax effect you're seeing. I dislike fitting chronograph hands for this very reason, getting the hand on correctly is a tricky job but on some watches I struggle to decide whether it really is correct or not. I cover one eye, place the watch on a flat surface, then get my open eye over the centre of the watch and trust what I`m seeing.
Mine's completely upside down but I can only see it when I look through a loupe.
Which I only do to check which way up my omega is.
So that's ok.
Mine was bang on; I’m afraid it would bug me, yes. If a manufacturer can’t get the alignment right, they shouldn’t but a directional logo on the crystal - I don’t see how it’s any more acceptable than misaligned printing on the dial.
Both my Seamaster and Speedmaster are wonky, that said zooming in on the crystal makes you realise how badly scratched they are, the Speedy needs a good clean as well! Yuk!
Thanks for the insight into your lack of care and professionalism as a watchmaker. Perhaps you could enlighten us with your professional qualifications and put an end to cynics thinking that you are likely an unqualified cowboy who stalks the forum touting for business.
They come new from the factory with the symbols facing any old how so I don't actually see the problem.
I wouldn't be surprised if the two in Sinnlover's pic are the original crystals too.
Cheers,
Neil.
Mine doesn’t have an Omega symbol on the crystal? Perhaps Walkerwek1958 removed it as a little prank when he serviced it for me? (And an excellent job he did too…and he knows how precious I am about my Speedie!)
My watchmaker realigned the crystal for me when I had a dial swap.
I wouldn’t really care if he had or hadn’t. This was in the days that I could buy a watch for a grand, modify it, sell the original bits on then sell the watch on and maybe break even/lose £100-200 in the whole package but enjoy the watch for a few months before moving on……
In terms of originality... if Omega don't align them when new, surely lining the omega up makes the watch less original?
Mind you, I'm sure that argument wasn't made for the wonky Seiko chapter rings a few years back.
MFB Scotland just doesn’t like me!
He’s entitled to his opinion to dislike me but ill- founded sideswipes at my competency as a watch repairer are unnecessary.
Refitting an acrylic crystal can prove to be a challenge, some are are very tight-fitting. I’ve ordered genuine Omega crystals that have proved difficult to fit, even with a press care is needed to locate the crystal and apply pressing force evenly. In this situation its all too easy to misalign the logo and frankly I don’t care too much if that happens provided the crystal has gone fully home without damage.
I don’t think this forms a basis for questioning my competence or ability as a fixer of watches, does it?
Just revisited a few comments on this thread.......ouch!
I’ve invited one of my critics to have a phone discussion to clarify his comments, that'll be interesting.......if it happens!
All too easy to snipe at people from your keyboard with absolutely nothing to back it up.
Regarding the Omega symbol in the crystal, does anyone know what year Omega started using it? Strictly speaking, an Omega watch that predates that time shouldn’t have the symbol but all Omega- supplied replacements have it so that conflicts with the concept of originality! on that topic, the replacements supplied from Omega are often a different profile from the original and they don’t look quite right, a generic Sternkrautz is sometimes a closer match albeit without the symbol.
Trickiest acrylic crystals to fit are those with a cyclops, that HAS to line up exactly and that can be a challenge.
The logo crystal was first seen around 1950, watches before that didn't have it, but of course a logo crystal could have been fitted at Service time.
The Hesalite crystals on Omega like these are aligned by the factory, you just need to understand how. Each crystal comes with a tension ring which has a visible split in it. The alignment is to put that split where it is least noticeable, ie not at the 12:00 point but somewhere between 5 and 7. A plastic crystal logo can come with any orientation and still meet the ring alignment rule but I tend to work on the basis that if a logo is perfectly aligned, it is either a coincidence or more likely the crystal was replaced by someone in the aftermarket who isn't aware of this. The few Omegas that have sapphire crystals with logos* do tend to be aligned from the factory AFAIK.
*the Trilogy RM and SeaM are such
Last edited by Padders; 16th October 2022 at 22:43.
If the tension ring is a split one I aim to align the split to coincide exactly with an hour marker/ baton. However, according to a previous poster it’s unlikely that I know what I’m doing!
Looking forward to a discussion with this guy.
Still no response from bobc, I’ve given him chance to discuss his disparaging comments but he’s gone v.quiet.
Clearly, he took exception to my post and that prompted an ad hominem attack, don’t know what his motive was and it looks like the cat’s got his tongue, he’s not prepared to enlighten me.
Rather than clear the air, have a frank exchange of views if necessary, then move on he’ll lurk around and continue to make snarky comments when I post stuff, a predictable and somewhat sad MO that’s all too common on forums like this.
To those of you who own Omegas with acrylic crystals, don’t draw the wrong inference if your Omega symbol isn’t lined up as you’d like, this does not reflect on the competence of the monkey, cowboy or competent watch repairer who fitted it, if it’s fitted correctly with no cracks and the watch is waterproof you don’t need to fret. The crystal needs to be pressed fully home and sit flat in the case, that’s the important bit............... despite what bobc might try to imply. Could always ask how many he’s fitted, but I think we can guess the answer!
My 2015 Speedmaster had a wonky logo. Did bother me a bit when I noticed it but life goes on. Until 2 years later I had a chrono reset issue and sent it back to Omega for fixing. They replaced a few components including the pushers and glass. The etching on the newly installed glass was perfectly aligned. Seems someone cared enough to make it right.
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