Monday, October 2, 2023

The Omega Dynamic III Chrono

 I just read some blog posts talking about how reliable the movements in these watches were and I have to put out a warning for potential buyers. 


I was one of the original purchasers and it was literally the worst watch I ever owned, and really soured me off of any watches that have to be serviced by the Swatch Group watchmakers. 

TL;DR - The chrono versions could suffer from some weird case/module mismatch which was not fixable. I was not the only Omega Dynamic chrono owner to suffer from this problem.  The watch would run fine for 12 to 18 hours and then freeze.  Use or lack of using the chrono module had nothing to do with the freezing problem. It just couldn't keep time for 24 hours straight.

After 3 rounds to Swatch and another 3 rounds with local watch makers I eventually sold it on e-bay for a couple of hundred bucks as a parts watch.  The last time it had come back from Swatch the hand on the minute subdial had literally broken off and was rattling between the face and the glass. 

As you may have read, this watch is not an integrated movement but a basic ETA with a chrono module from Dubois-Depraz.  Not really a negative for me, but it did add to the height of the watch.   It turns out that the Dubois Depraz module is not actually fixable/maintainable.  If it goes bad they throw it away and replace it.  So, as a general maintenance issue you best hope you'll be able to get a replacement module. 

As much as I love the face on this watch, if you are looking for a vintage, two sub-dial chrono I really think you should look elsewhere.  Plenty of great vintage watches that are going to be much more reliable and service friendly. . 

It is fair to say that there are owners who have bought this watch and never had an issue with it.  I know you are out there.  I wish I had been one of them because I'd never have sold mine.

No comments:

Post a Comment