My Seamaster Planet Ocean Big Size has the 2500 Co-Axial movement and it's 14 years old
and I have never had a problem. It still is within COSC and has never been serviced.
I probably just jinxed myself

 

My Seamaster Planet Ocean Big Size has the 2500 Co-Axial movement and it's 14 years old
and I have never had a problem. It still is within COSC and has never been serviced.
I probably just jinxed myself

Right there with you at 10 years.

 

I've had my Planet Ocean with the 2500 movement for nearly ten years. It's worked flawlessly, keeps very accurate time and has given me no problems.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

I have SMP 300 coax with 2500C movement. It's over 10 years old. Has been serviced once and never lost a beat

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I like what I'm hearing...

I have a 38mm Aqua Terra with the 8800 movement. Lovely watch and the technology is impressive. But I have the 36.2mm quartz version of the Aqua Terra as well and I just prefer the case shape and size. So I'm strongly considering getting a 36.2mm Aqua Terra with the 2500 Co-Axial movement and selling the 38mm new model.

 

I have a 2005 Railmaster that still meets COSC standards. It's my favorite watch for all the right reasons.

 

If you plan on sending it into Omega, they will replace any worn parts regardless at no extra cost of the initial service fee from what I remember. I personally think the 2500 is a workhorse and never had issues with the movement.

 

I've had a Seamaster with the b and d movements for a short time, worked flawlessly when I had them, had a planet o with a d also great, had an aquaterra with d and it was amazing, such a nice dress watch.

 

Touch wood I dont jinx myself, but I have a 2500 42mm PO, had it since 2012. it is powering along and never had any issues

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So... is the advice that any of the co-axial Omegas are fine as long as they have had an Omega service ?

 

I purchased a 39mm AT Omega with a 2500 movement in 2008 and it's never been serviced. For the first 10 years I wore it most days of the work week but on and off since.

A few years ago I noticed that it doesn't wind manually well but after a few shakes it picks up and runs.

With the hopes that this also doesn't jinx me, it's running spot on for the last 48 hours.

 

Not to be the party pooper, but the 2500C movement in my Planet Ocean was troublesome. I bought it used from a well-known WUS vendor after it had been completely serviced. it was 15 seconds slow, so after a couple of months I took it to my local watchmaker who demagnetized it and said it was “giving strange results on the timegrapher”. I then sent it to Omega for a full service. It came back after three months and stopped running two weeks later. Back to Omega again and it was in good working order when it was returned but I had lost faith in it and sold it.

Stuff happens. I believe that the vast majority of 2500 movements have been very reliable. I wasn’t as lucky. Still, I love Omega designs and now own three: Planet Ocean 8500, Speedmaster, and Seamaster Diver 300M.

 

I own a PO with the 2500D. I also had a 2500C. Never had any issues. I’ve owned the D for 6+ years. I’ve heard that by the time they got to the D they had it figured out.

 

My first "real" watch was a 2500 PO and it ran perfectly for years. No complaints whatsoever. The timekeeping isn't as "stable" as the newer 8500 movements in that the position can vary greater than a watch with a co-axial movement. But I used this to my advantage, where it ran 1.5 sec fast during the day, but when resting crown down overnight, it made up those 1.5 sec. I netted out +0 seconds a day because of it and loved that aspect.

 

I have an SMPc that I've owned new since 2018 with the 2500D movement and it's running great, within COSC specs and haven't encountered any issues.

 

2500 A&B were known to be problematic. I have had numerous SMP's and PO's with 2500 C&D - never had any issues.

@502 to Right how old is that Aqua Terra?

 

Railmaster with 2500A here, still going strong.

 

Are you sure it's an A? I thought all the A's went into the De Ville and that they had serious problems right out of the box. Has it been serviced by Omega at any time?

 

The 2500 D won’t be an issue since it has the 3-level co-axial escapement. The previous 3 versions all had major issues, which were mitigated with various lubricant changes, but never fully eliminated. They have reached a point where failures are far less common than they once were, but the most reliable version is the D.

 

I had a 2500 PO and it was problematic. When it was returned to Omega the AD did mention something to do with lubricant and it spooked me. From my experience with watches (all brands) if youre unlucky enough to have a problem with one it can rear its ugly head again even with slightly different symptoms. NOT the case with the Omega though. It was returned to me and performed flawlessly for many more years. I think you would be unlucky if you did have problems with it.

 

OP here.

Thanks for all the replies. They have removed my fear of buying a watch with the 2500 movement.

For anyone interested, here is a video from 2016 between Tim Mosso and watchmaker Mike Michaels from WatchBox (then WatchUWant) discussing the Omega co-axial movements. Mike, who is Omega certified, explains the issues with the 2500A and 2500B models, the lubrication evolution, and how the issues have been corrected retroactively.

 

OP here.

Thanks for all the replies. They have removed my fear of buying a watch with the 2500 movement.

For anyone interested, here is a discussion from 2016 between Tim Mosso and watchmaker Mike Michaels from WatchBox (then WatchUWant) discussing the Omega co-axial movements. Mike, who is Omega certified, explains the issues with the 2500A and 2500B models and how those issues have been corrected retroactively.

Unfortunately as is often the case with these guys, the information is incorrect and very muddled. I would seriously caution anyone to take these videos with a very large grain of salt. I don't know if it's because they are multitasking, or nervous being filmed, but I've seen a few where they spout nonsensical answers to the questions being asked.

This video they are very confused over the various letter versions of two completely different movements they talk about at almost the same time. They are correct when they say that on the 3313C, this is when the transition was made from the 2 level co-axial to the 3 level co-axial, and this is stated at 13 minutes or so when Mike says this:

"They fixed when they got to the C, that's when they went to the tri-level".

Note that he is referring the 3313 A, B, and C here, and on that movement, going to the 3 level escapement ("tri-level") happened at the C revision. He then says that when you send in a 3313 A or B, it will be "upgraded to the 2500C because they don't want to see it again either." This is clearly false, because the 3313 is a column wheel operated vertical clutch chronograph, and you don't "upgrade" that with a 3 hand automatic 2500 of any kind, so he clearly misspoke there.

He erroneously describes the earlier versions of the co-axial as "single layer" in the video. They are actually 2 levels, as they shows in the hand drawn sketch at the beginning, when they say "that's why it's called co-axial."

The claim is then made by Tim that the for the "3300C and 2500C are the thresholds of reliability for those calibers."

First, there is no 3300 co-axial movement, it's a 3313 that has the co-axial escapement. Secondly, the 3313C does get you the 3 level escapement, but this is not so for the 2500C. The 2500C is slowed to 25,200 A/hr, but still retains the 2 level co-axial escapement. As I noted in my previous post, it is the 2500D that finally gets rid of the 2 level, and upgrades it to the 3 level.

For those who may doubt this, here is the information from Omega, and you will see that the D is the only version of the 2500 that is noted to be 3 levels:



Now Mike does give a rather disjointed but accurate view of the issues with the 2-level escapement's lubrication. Sticky black residue forms on the intermediate escape wheel teeth, and the co-axial wheel teeth of all 2 level escapements. This is what eventually stops the watch.

Unlike the 3313 that Omega chooses to upgrade, they do not upgrade the 2500 calibers to the 3 level design.

Cheers, Al

 

Had a PO 45.5mm with a 2500 movement for 15 years. Never an issue. Mine fell out of COSC at around 10 years and I serviced it around 13. It's been great, so good I never felt the need to determine if it's a 2500C or D.

 

2500D for 8.4 years, not yet serviced, running perfectly. I do remember researching the issue a lot before I bought it, and deciding that the 2500D was OK. And it has been.

 

I have a 2500 PO from 2009 and, while under warranty, it just stopped. It came back from service perfectly. Still working beautifully.

 

My recently sold PO had the much cursed 2500C caliber inside and it didn't miss a beat in 9 years of ownership.

 

During my research I watched your video discussing the PO with the 2500 movement. What a coincidence.

 

This is a great thread! I own a Planet Ocean with the 2500D. I also owned a 2500C before this one and sold it when I had a chance to get the same watch with a D movement. I knew the D was less problematic than the A-C but never knew the specifics. I never had an issue with the C as most have stated but apparently it was a matter of time.


A few questions while we are on this topic.

When did Omega switch to the new D three level movement?

How similar in design was the 2500D to the successor 8500? I assume if the 2500D was great they wouldn’t have moved to the 8500?

 

I have owned two 2500 Co-Axial movements and neither have caused me any issues.