I've popped down to the countryside to visit a mate for the weekend and the conversation soon turned to watches. He was wearing his Dad's Seamaster DeVille which looked great even though I'm not a fan of gold watches.
He then produced an Omega Seamaster 1/100 Polaris Seoul Olympics 386 that he bought new in 1988. It's complete with box, papers, receipt etc but isn't working. He says Omega changed the battery many years back but then a couple of years later the hands started "misbehaving" and the LCD displays blanked. He thinks it may be faulty rather than just the battery gone again.
Is there any value in getting this fixed and if so, where and how? He lives in a remote Devon village so depending on the replies here, I may end up sorting this out for him as I live close to London and "civilisation" ;-)
And here's his lovely Seamaster DeVille ..
The Seamaster Deville is pure class, I bought one last year after a lengthy search for a good 'un. They used to be easy to find, but not any more.
As for the faulty quartz Polaris, I think Omega Service Centre is going to be the only answer, and it won't be cheap. Personally I wouldn't know where to start.
The Polaris could be an easy fix. I have a movement for it.Originally Posted by walkerwek1958
If someone has a working movement that could be the best way forward. I don`t know of anyone who can fix these things!
Hmm an itch I'd like to scratch,,
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Fully servicable highly jewelled ETA movements.
They can be fixed.
Thank you Bernard, first plan of action is to try another battery. In case the movement is shot, would you be willing to sell yours?
Yes.
Yes, I get that bit, but what do you do if the digital readout doesn’t work?
Sorted via a few PMs, it's going off to webwatchmaker for a look
Is there any value in getting this fixed and if so, where and how? He lives in a remote Devon village so depending on the replies here, I may end up sorting this out for him as I live close to London and "civilisation" ;-)
No, weem not civerlized down 'ere. And since the Foxuntinban we pops off any aliens from London and the likes wat we finds trudgin round our silage pits. Us keeps a fair few Omega bits in the cowshed mind:
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Buy a cheap Tissot / Longines watch with the similar movement and the digital readouts. Sorted.
;-)
No, that’s replacing ageing parts that have failed with ageing parts that are likely to fail soon! This is why I won’t get involved with them, how do you guarantee a job like that?
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 17th August 2019 at 09:11.
These parts hardly age at all.
So why do they fail? My knowledge of electronics is very
limited.
Leaking batteries, fumes thereof.
And because of circuit failure.
LCD tech is quite reliable.
The original 34 yr old lcd clock in my Porsche is still perfect.
Usually the paper print cables give up (easy fix).
Ive not seen a printer cable in a quartz watch ! Here are some of the reasons for circuitry failure in a watch:
Circuits fail because of dry joints caused by shock or unqualified interference. Zebra strips (elastomeric connectors) get damp or dirty and prevent LCDs lighting. Coils get scratched and short circuit. Joints oxidise. Joints corrode through battery leakage. Quartz oscillators simply fail.
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Last edited by Webwatchmaker; 17th August 2019 at 07:15.
Funny enough but for quite some time people at Jaguar, Porsche etc. thought it was a good idea to print electronic lines on thin plastic/paper.
The carrier dries out, moves a bit, lines break or become bad and... Failure.
However, the display hardly ever goes wrong unless it has a mechanical impact (people hitting it with a bag etc.).
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