Couldn't agree with you more Jon, I think they where probably gearing up for production when something didn't meet expectations, likely with the movement and they changed tac completely! I did wonder if it could be to do with the twin batteries and maybe the consumption of the 1500?
Overall just over the moon with it, such a great piece, just trying to pluck up the courage to get the hand sorted (to stabailse time keeping) and get the movement transfered in to the chrome case, but I think I can wait on that one :D
There may also be the possibility of another 2.4 Proto from the same guy, totally standard case set (1510) and waffle dial but with a proto movement, more specifically a standard movement but with proto bridge and circuitry! Will wait and see
Cheers Tom
Hi TomOriginally Posted by dickstar1977
Lots of people have asked me for more pics and particulary a wrist shot
Cheers Tom
Excellent - I'm now clear on the size of this rare beast....very interesting piece !
Look forward to trying it on over a pint or two shortly :)
All the best - Neil
Yep i agree Tom, either way the 1500 is a real historical timepoint and its great to finally see one outside of captivity :)
hee hee, get it done! you;ll be glad you did i reckon.
LOL, too cool. That will be a pre production prototype i would think, if you can get that youd have almost a full set. :) When chatting to the seller it might be working asking him if he knows of my watch as it may well have been him that sold it a few years back, if you can get to talk directly to the original Omega employee then we might get to the bottom of the reasons for the changes too. Big ask but you never know our luck :)
Thought you might all like to see the results of my latest 2.4 aquisition, as I mentioned earlier I have been looking for another puprite dial (electric blue) for sometime after foolishly selling my first one! I found one in not great shape in spain, as you can see missing the crown, the motor unit wasn't funcitoning and had been removed and generally it was in a bad way:
6 weeks at STS which included a full refinish of the case set, replacement crystal, seals etc, a complete strip and rebuild of the movement, which included the totally dismantlement of the motor unit and it's rebuild and returned good as new with a two year warranty; and here are the results:
There are a few other variations of the MQ2.4 I still need to bag, there is a waffle dial variety with a marine chronometer bezel (only seen this in pics, also the 18K Megaquartz Stardust and finally the 18K Marine Chronometer, but so far I am pretty pleased with my little 2.4Mhz collection :D
Rightly so!
Hard to beleive the result of the revamp :shock:
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
Thanks mate
Yep I am amazed at the job they did, more amazed thought that they managed to strip the motor, repair the hair springs, rebuild it and get it working perfectly again!
Results are great and I forgot how much I love the electric blue dial
Cheers Tom
I have to admit that while I have loved this thread and the story behind your search Tom I was not particularly taken by the watch, it's looks didn't really appeal to me. Until I saw the wrist shot that is! I think that wears brilliantly and has literally a massive presence. IMHO the watch is transformed when on the wrist compared to when it is off.Lots of people have asked me for more pics and particulary a wrist shot
So here they are:
Will get some movement pics properly when I dare take the case back off again :D
Cheers Tom
You lucky b@$!@&d and to make me doubly jealous you have also added a wonderful before and after of a 2.4, if STS are not paying you they should be.....
D
Tom, stop sending your watches to STS...they have to work on mine... :wink:
Beautiful watch, btw... 8)
Great to see another 2.4 has been saved Tom! The guys at STS really do stunning work on these as I know from my own experience of sending my watches there. For anyone thinking about sending theirs in for any kind of service you should beware that Omega Bienne no longer looks at these watches and that STS is the only place in the world who has the parts and more importantly the skills to do this work. Sure its not cheap, but like many things in this world, you get what you pay for and the watch will run properly for years after that service since they go right through the movt, something only really possible with these early quartz with rebuildable parts etc etc. Amusingly I love my 2.4s and have another that i bought recently as a beaten up estate sale mess that is now on the way to STS as i type, I dont think they will like its looks, but its a good watch underneath the grime... as they usually are :)
I was chatting with a non wis mate the other day and he suggested that after me expounding the virtues of these watches (for what may have been a little too long after a few beers) that are 'like a good kind of sickness' LOL! Ive owned several and have sold very few of them, like Tom I just love wearing them. The size helps of course, but there is something about that rifle bolt tick... so far far away from the schhhh-tick of a boring swatch. It really is Quartz bliss, if such a thing exists for a WIS! As an aside, Im gearing up for doing a presentation locally about collecting Omega watches from the '70s and im debating wether to tell the crowd about them, maybe i should just keep quiet and hope no one locally notices them when they come up for sale...?!nah! I reckon the poor saps might have to listen to me getting excited about em! :D Might even mention digitals as well... the 70s was a mental time, from the first watch on the moon in 69 to an LCD speedy by the end of the decade... ahem... :D
Amazing work indeed! I really need to use them one day. Tom can you give us a sense of the cost involved? With a non-working watch there was no way around it, for a working watch that looks used I'm not entirely convinced it's worth the expense (£700 I think based on some of your previous posts) to make it look new again with the bonus of a cleaned movement of course.
Also, on the 1500 prototype how does the seconds hand move, sweeps like the 1301 or ticks/fires like a 151x?
Talking of oddly shaped Omegas, I missed an STS serviced 1300 on eBay UK last week, it went for a low €700!
Hey
Thanks for the comments chaps, regards service, as Jon says the only place who now service these officially are STS, the standard service runs at around £500 + VAT but this does include the works and a two year warranty, the motor units and circuits can run at around £250 each if they need rebuilding or replacing and the dial restoration on a stardust is £500+ VAT (has to go to Switzerland)
Although they are not cheap, they are worth every penny, as Jon says they as amazing pieces and IMHO one of the most important watches of the last 50 years, technologically unsurpassed in terms of accuracy with such simplicityin terms of the movement and with a design that has influenced dozens of other watches since
Regards the proto, fundamentally (although the movement shares no components or design layouts with the production model) it is the same principal as the 1510, 'rifle bolt' ticking included as well as timezone adjustment, just not the second trimmer produced in the production models
Cheers Tom
Great article thanks for sharing :D
@dickstar1977 - thanks for the info on STS and on the 1500. £500 isn't too bad for the "Works" and a two-year warranty. Didn't know the "Stardust" dial had to go back to Switzerland, or that it could be restored for that matter. I understand that many of them got cracked over the years.
No probs
Dont forget that the service excludes VAT so if you live in the UK expect to pay 20% on top (oh how I love the tax man!)
The Stardust dials are prone to cracking, this comes in two forms, lacquer cracks which appear are tiny almost unnoticeable lines on the dial, and the more serious dial crack, usually noticeable as actual fractures on the surface of the dial, almost always caused by bad re-casing of the movement! Becuase the paint is so thick on the dial, it is almost a dial on a dial!
Don't be deterred if you find one with some 'fine lines' on the dial but do always move it in the light and you will virtually always see cracks if they are there!
Cheers Tom
Thoughts you guys might like to see my Prototype post STS, the Director kindly agreed to 'have a go' and after a lot of bespoke work she looks like this! The movement and dial has been recased in to the new silver/blue case which IMHO is stunning and much more wearable for me!
I love it:
]
It has had a case change, dial clean and bespoke battery contacts made by hand, and keeping bang on time on the wrist! So pleased
Tom, I think all the superlatives have already been used......that's an amazing piece :thumbright:
Hi TomI love it:
It has had a case change, dial clean and bespoke battery contacts made by hand, and keeping bang on time on the wrist! So pleased
Absolutely fantastic job from STS....that looks amazing and the case change to SS has brought it right up to date in a retro way and made it so much more wearable !!!
Congrats...
Neil
Cheers chaps
I'm chuffed to bits!
Tom
:D It looks better in a silver case, very pleased that the man at STS was able to service it so that this piece of Omega history can remain functional and wearable. Myself I would love a stardust in the collection but the odds are slim on that one.
Looks wonderful Tom! So pleased we have STS around to help with these watches, most other watchmakers run a mile from any old electric and yet STS do us proud time after time. Good on em. :)
I hear you there Jon, STS have done a super job, the watch has been on my wrist since Friday and hasn't missed a beat! I wears really nicely and although the case does have some storage marks it looks amazing. Interestingly the case is plated/coated I would imagine brass or base metal, appears almost blue silver in sunlight
Cheers Tom
I love reading stuff like this rather than the normal crap we are subjected to.
I am very pleased indeed for you Tom especially as I have learnt something new today.
Wear in good health.
Andy
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thats just the coolest case ever! Looks superb, enjoy it!
I think you mentioned in another thread that the "Elephant" was eating through batteries, is it still the case? What batteries does it use, the 386, the 354 replacement, like the 151x ?
So how's your 2.4Mhz collection coming along, it's already unique with the "Elephant" ;-) I was going to start a "Omega's 2.4Mhz : All the Models" topic to list all the models with ictures but I don't really feel qualified. Might give it a try to get the ball rolling using info in some of your previous posts if you don't mind.
Only have two here, but still looking for a 1511 or 1516...
The Stardust has since passed through the expert hands of Piotr so it looks much nicer. Since we'd discussed "cracks" on the Stardust dial, I closely inspected mine after getting it back and can't see any in normal light, but with a very bright flashlight (ultrafire) there are definitely some hairline "cracks" that appear. Hopefully "cracks" in the lacquer only.
Nice to see this thread again,i would be keen to follow this topic.Its a pity that there is'nt a book dedicatedto the 2.4 Megaquartz like the Ploprof book.
Your passion clearly comes through in your post. Really enjoyed reading about your collection. Group shot please !
I agree, Id buy one if there was... :)
One day, one day...
Terrific post, good luck with the collection!
Wow. What a fantastic thread - the more I read about the "interesting" end of the quartz market, the more I like them. I've already recently scratched my tuning-fork itch, I shall have to keep an eye out for a Megaquartz next. And prepare my remaining kidney for sale, obv.
I've not been around on here all that long, but so far I am finding it a mind-broadening experience. And not just because of the Boys' Room. :D
Almost made me cry :lol: Seriously if ever there was a touching story about collecting watches, then this has got to be up there.
Brilliant collection, congrats on the purchase, and good luck with the future.
Thanks for all the comments chaps, Jon, I have seriously thought about doing a Megaquartz book more than a few times, your PP book was a real inspiration for getting these sort of things done!! I have had a couple of emails from John Othenin-Girrard, the chap responsible for the MQ2.4 but his mails have been quite short! I am going to try and contact him again for more info, would be great to haveI agree, Id buy one if there was... :)
Watch this space
Cheers Tom
That would be superb Tom, Even if its not the biggest book ever, it would be a great addition to the world i think. :)
Great idea about the book Tom, i'd buy one.
I'll look out for it next year :D
Hi Tom
I'd let you borrow this one to photo then.... :)
All the best - Neil
Superb, think we need a pic here too : Omega Constellation 'Stardust' roll call ;-)
Most likely of interest to readers of this topic : Omega 2.4Mhz Megaquartz - Collected Pictures and Facts in the Reviews section ;-)
Nice quartz timepieces... 8)
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