Reply With QuoteIt a movement exchange expensive?
I am interested to know how reliable the quartz movements are in Omega watches as I am thinking about picking one up for a 21st birthday present, not my 21st by the way!
Interested to know what should be expected from the battery life before it needs changing and the cost to change it etc.
Any information would be appreciated.
The model I was looking at was the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra.
Last edited by boring_sandwich; 20th January 2019 at 11:26.
It a movement exchange expensive?
I certainly wouldn't say that 13 years life for a quartz movement is "very reliable"? I've got Soviet quartz movements that have lasted over 30 years...Originally Posted by henk
My oyster quartz is over thirty years, on borrowed time?
I may be wrong but thought Omega replace the module at service as a matter of course as its quite a bit cheaper than stripping it down, etc.
My quartz SMP300 is 7 years old and hasn’t missed a beat in that time, battery life seems to be about 4 years and Omega charged me £110 for this a couple of years ago. They did not recommend a service at the time but I reckon they will next time.
I think Paul, walkerwek1958, suggested service every ten years for a good quartz movement.
I have a Tag Heuer quartz which is running like the day it was bought 24 years ago. No service in that time, accuracy about 10spy!
My wife’s Omega quartz on the other hand needed a service after 8 years. £350. It ain’t the end of the world, and they’re beautiful looking watches, but if you’re asking how they stack up vs other brands’ quartz offerings I’d have to say “not great”.
I’ve also found Hamilton quartz movements to be significantly more reliable.
And I nearly don’t want to bring my GS quartz into the discussion, as if it’s unfair on Omega to do so... but why not? Similar price points; worlds apart.
Unlike mechanicals I see no problem in running a quartz till it gives trouble. That'll manifest itself as intermittent stopping, short battery life, stopping whilst changing the date over, or simply stopping and refusing to run. In almost all cases it's caused by the lubricant drying up and the movement requiring more current than the battery can supply to keep running. Usually they can be stripped, cleaned, re-oiled and they'll run fine again for years. However, if the circuit fails it's a new movement, ETA stopped supplying separate circuits a few years ago, a crazy move in my opinion.
I don`t know whether replacement movements are fitted as a matter of course by the the brand service centres, it certainly happened in the past with the cheaper movements.
Generally I`d expect a quartz movement to run for at least 10 years without problems, but my wife's Omega Constellation packed up after 7 years! Annoyingly, it happened the week before going on a holiday where she wanted to wear it, so I ended up hastily stripping it down and sorting it out. Working on small quartz movements is never fun......and needless to say I didn`t get paid!
Buying an Omega quartz is fine, but if it fails there will be significant cost involved, you have to be realistic on that point, but that applies to any watch thesedays unless you're prepared to bin it when it stops.
Ironically, my wife's Tissot quartz, a watch that's around 15 years old, has never been serviced and that still runs OK! It spent around 5 years not being used but it's still doing well IMO.
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 20th January 2019 at 13:09.
Thanks there is also a Tag Heuer calibre 5 that is liked so I may look at that option instead.
Who makes Omega's quartz movements out of interest? Assume ETA.
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Yep eta. Who supply pretty much everyone except the Japanese brands so to suggest Tag or whoever are more reliable than Omega doesn’t really make sense.
Last edited by Padders; 20th January 2019 at 22:50.
Cheers Padders. I guess Rhonda movements may find their way into some but I guessed it would be ETA in Omegas.
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LVMH are more willing to supply parts to repairers, but eventually ETA will stop supplying replacement movements to everyone except Swatch Group brands. That's how I understand it, but I`ve no idea about the timescales.
Swatch Group know how to piss on everyones fireworks, they've been doing it for a while.
Well Yes, I'd say that 13 years is dreadful! I have cheapo Japanese quartz watches that perform faultlessly after 25 years!
Isn't it about £15 to buy an ETA quartz movement? Or is that Ronda?
I've got one of the very first Bond SMP which is still working just fine. It's had one full service. Mind you, I've also got a host of early seventies GP, Omega and Seiko stuff that is still working just fine despite no apparent care at all.
WHisper it quietly but the Omega stuff from the early eighties onwards is mostly ETA flatline and thermoline with a little extra work. As such they are rock solid seven jewel stuff that is fully serviceable and, while you can pay through the nose, the fact is that the ubiquitous Omega 1538 is a rebadged ETA 255.461. While I wouldn't recommend just dropping the ETA into an Omega, I don't see a problem with having a new movement available as a spares repository. I certainly do. There are plenty of people who would service one for well under £100 and parts are still fairly plentiful and relatively cheap.
For example:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ETA-255-563...-/192174780101
Last edited by M4tt; 20th January 2019 at 14:38.
The ones used in Omega generally come in at around the ton new.
My mom has had an Omega Constellation for over 35 years, only needing battery changes.
Actually thinking about it my mum has an Omega De Ville that's around the same age. Never serviced other than new batteries every 3 or 4 years and it runs without fault.
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