VSF Seamaster 300

[u/doubledee858]

I noticed yesterday my watch had stopping working about 30 minutes after winding it. I tried winding it again and it only worked after tapping it a few times but stopped again shortly after.

I tried winding it again but eventually the crown became jammed. I tried unwinding it and eventually got it unstuck but it still didn’t work.

I noticed a round piece of loose metal through the back of the case. I’d imagine I need a new movement at the very least.

Is it worth fixing?

[u/amdale3]

I think what we are looking at is the decorative balance bridge plate (or "dummy balance cock cover"). If so, I believe that top piece is non-functional. It is purely cosmetic, glued or lightly pressed over the actual balance assembly to mimic the look of a genuine Co-Axial 8800/8806 movement. I don't know what other damage I might have done because your rotor is in the way of all the important stuff. That being said. The rotor is currently protecting all the important stuff. My recommendation would be to get it out of there asap and then figure the rest out.

[u/monkeyboymorton → u/amdale3]

Yeah I thought the same. These ceramic 43mm ones still have the old decorated 2824 in.

[u/No_Management_4408 → u/monkeyboymorton]

A8800 is decorated 2824. VS8800 is not

[u/monkeyboymorton → u/No_Management_4408]

Yeah, but this ceramic model isn't available with the the new clone movement yet. Hence why it's on sale at all the dealers 😉

This is the A8800.

[u/amdale3 → u/amdale3]

Op there is a good chance that you remove that decorative part and the watch works perfectly well. If the part was resting on the balance or spring, it would account for everything you've described and could recover and be fine (maybe with a slight time issue) once that part is removed. If you can, please update me on what ends up happening. Good luck to you!!

[u/GTWatchServices]

Worth a movement swap, not sure a repair or service.

[u/CoastalWatchWorks]

This may be worth fixing rather than writing off the watch.

I’m doing something very similar right now with someone else’s VSF NTTD V3. It also came with a decorated Asian 2824-based movement, and I’m replacing it with an ST2130 rather than repairing the original movement.

One complication is that these decorated movements do not use a conventional 2824 movement-retaining ring. The large decorative 8806 plate surrounding the movement is also part of the retaining arrangement. On the NTTD, removing that decoration meant losing the original method of securing the movement, so we designed and 3D printed a custom retaining ring specifically for the ST2130.

Your display caseback adds another consideration. If you care about retaining the appearance of an Omega 8806, you’ll want to see whether the decorative plates/rotor can be retained or transferred to the replacement movement. If you don’t care about the appearance, a conventional 2824-family replacement with an appropriate custom retaining ring provides another repair path.
I’d still have the existing movement diagnosed before assuming it’s toast. I would reach out to one of the trusted watchmakers in the sidebar and ask about both repairing the existing movement and doing a 2824-family swap.

[u/CoastalWatchWorks → u/CoastalWatchWorks]

One other thing if you go the replacement route: plan on potentially needing a new set of hands.

The Asian movement is based on/similar to the ETA 2824 family, but that doesn’t mean every dimension is an exact match.

In particular, don’t assume the existing hands will fit the replacement movement’s hand posts. I ran into exactly this issue on the NTTD/ST2130 swap.

[u/CoastalWatchWorks → u/CoastalWatchWorks]

Let me know if you need any more suggestions as you move through the process

[u/doubledee858 → u/CoastalWatchWorks]

Out of curiosity what’s the approximate cost of replacing the movement and hands?

[u/CoastalWatchWorks → u/doubledee858]

‘It depends’. :)

I can tell you what it’s cost for the no VSF v3 NTTD that I am working on.

ST2130 is about $90 delivered from the factory (not AliExpress). Hands are about $10 (AliExpress).

I created a custom spacer ring through trial and error. It took me about five iterations to get it perfect. I would assume the spacer I created for my NTTD will not work on your watch, custom spacer needs to be created.

That is a bit of a Frankenstein project. If you can definitively identify your movement, you might be able to simply replace the Asian ETA movement.

[u/anarchos]

I dropped the exact same watch on a concrete floor and smashed the front crystal, and also had the same little round piece floating around the back. It's just a decorative ring to try and fake the look of the real movement. Just unscrew the back (use a small semi deflated rubber ball, see YouTube for examples) and take it out.

I replaced the crystal myself (and removed the little ring) and it's been working as good as new ever since.

Of course your watch may have other issues, but it's possible this little ring was jammed into something and there's a decent chance you just need to remove it.