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Thread: Constellation Timekeeping

  1. #1
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Wakefield, West Yorkshire
    Posts
    22,498

    Constellation Timekeeping

    Those who have been paying attention will recall my post last week, featuring the service and sorting of the 1972 Omega Constellation I recently acquired.


    I'm v. pleased with the watch, it's been my 'go to' wearer for the past 8 days interspersed with wrist time for one I was testing. I didn`t spend much time regulating it, there's little point until a watch has run for a few days and settled, initially I thought it was losing a couple of seconds/day. However, I was surprised to see that it's kept excellent time over the week, and after 8 days it's lost a total of 5 seconds. It's losing a couple of seconds during daily wear but gaining slightly overnight in the dial-up position, to give a good overall average. I usually aim for a small gain based on 16hrs on the wrist and 8 hrs dial up overnight, I haven`t checked this one rigorously on that basis but clearly it's not worth regulating it further or messing around. I`ll settle for this............but what does the positional variation actually look like? I did a quick check when I assembled the movement and knew it was close. I'd previously inspected the hairspring v. carefully, adjusted the curb pins and checked the hairspring was centred between the curb pins, so there was nothing obvious to go at if it was way out. Anyhow, after one week's running here are the figures:

    Dial up: +5secs/day, amplitude 274°

    Dial down: +4, 275°

    crown up: -9, 242°

    Crown down: +3, 244°

    Crown at 3: +1, 240°

    Crown at 9: -9, 239°

    Crown up and crown at 9 (crown left) figures are a bit low, I`d prefer to see a maximum span of 10 secs, but given the age of the watch these numbers are fine and I`ve no intention of trying to make further adjustments. The amplitude's OK too, a 30° drop between flat and hanging positions is fine and the results are fairly consistent. Fitting a slightly stronger mainspring would push the figures up but it's not necessary to do so.

    One nice feature about these movements is the swan neck adjuster, it's possible to alter the rate by around 1 or 2 secs/day and there's no risk of losing the original setting. This makes it entirely feasible to fine-tune a watch, it's very easy to do. A magnifier and a very thin screwdriver are all that's needed, make a note of the screw-slot position and move the screw one eight of a turn to change the rate by a couple of secs/day.........but I think I`ll leave this one alone!


  2. #2
    Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Warwickshire
    Posts
    2,305
    That’s impressive, those vintage Omega movements are really very good.

  3. #3
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Wakefield, West Yorkshire
    Posts
    22,498
    I think the chronometer versions had a better poised balance, and were adjusted more carefully to get within chronometer spec.

    Much as I like these movements I think the later 1010 series perform better, but that doesn`t make them more desirable.

  4. #4
    Master Bernard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    the Netherlands
    Posts
    3,168
    Quote Originally Posted by walkerwek1958 View Post
    I think the chronometer versions had a better poised balance, and were adjusted more carefully to get within chronometer spec.

    Much as I like these movements I think the later 1010 series perform better, but that doesn`t make them more desirable.

    The 1010 series are often seen as inferior. They surely were made in a cheaper way and there were initial issues with the winding gears iirc.

    I know several watchmakers dislike them.

  5. #5
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    hull
    Posts
    13,427
    interesting to see a pic without the rotor, the one you sorted for me is still going strong! jealous of your bracelet though!



    Quote Originally Posted by walkerwek1958 View Post
    Those who have been paying attention will recall my post last week, featuring the service and sorting of the 1972 Omega Constellation I recently acquired.


    I'm v. pleased with the watch, it's been my 'go to' wearer for the past 8 days interspersed with wrist time for one I was testing. I didn`t spend much time regulating it, there's little point until a watch has run for a few days and settled, initially I thought it was losing a couple of seconds/day. However, I was surprised to see that it's kept excellent time over the week, and after 8 days it's lost a total of 5 seconds. It's losing a couple of seconds during daily wear but gaining slightly overnight in the dial-up position, to give a good overall average. I usually aim for a small gain based on 16hrs on the wrist and 8 hrs dial up overnight, I haven`t checked this one rigorously on that basis but clearly it's not worth regulating it further or messing around. I`ll settle for this............but what does the positional variation actually look like? I did a quick check when I assembled the movement and knew it was close. I'd previously inspected the hairspring v. carefully, adjusted the curb pins and checked the hairspring was centred between the curb pins, so there was nothing obvious to go at if it was way out. Anyhow, after one week's running here are the figures:

    Dial up: +5secs/day, amplitude 274°

    Dial down: +4, 275°

    crown up: -9, 242°

    Crown down: +3, 244°

    Crown at 3: +1, 240°

    Crown at 9: -9, 239°

    Crown up and crown at 9 (crown left) figures are a bit low, I`d prefer to see a maximum span of 10 secs, but given the age of the watch these numbers are fine and I`ve no intention of trying to make further adjustments. The amplitude's OK too, a 30° drop between flat and hanging positions is fine and the results are fairly consistent. Fitting a slightly stronger mainspring would push the figures up but it's not necessary to do so.

    One nice feature about these movements is the swan neck adjuster, it's possible to alter the rate by around 1 or 2 secs/day and there's no risk of losing the original setting. This makes it entirely feasible to fine-tune a watch, it's very easy to do. A magnifier and a very thin screwdriver are all that's needed, make a note of the screw-slot position and move the screw one eight of a turn to change the rate by a couple of secs/day.........but I think I`ll leave this one alone!

    ktmog6uk
    marchingontogether!



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