Interesting, Georges. What is the movement in the Blancpain, a FP 1185?

Thanks!

 

Interesting, Georges. What is the movement in the Blancpain, a FP 1185?

Thanks!

That is correct. You also find the 1186 the rattrapante movement in their rattrapante models.

 

You might be on to something here, Georges. I recall reading somewhere about similar complaints on other Piguet based chronos, I'm just not sure... Can somebody post the link?

An article on Piguet chronos in TZ by Walt Odets:

LINK

 

My understanding is that Omega's 33xx failures stopped sometime in 2002 and after this they have had no problems. Am I in error? I would genuinely like to know because I have been thinking of buying the Speedmaster "The Legend" Schmucher edition, which has this movement, I believe, although I can't remember right at this particular moment (3313 maybe?). I realize there have been some posts in the past about this problem (thank you G. Z.). I happen to be itching to buy a chronograph lately, so if I am misunderstanding, please do let me know and I can find another model with a different movement.

 

By the way, is it just Omega who is having problems with this movement? What about Breguet, Blancpain, etc.? I was just wondering. I realize the other brands might modify the movement differently. Anyone know? Thanks.

 

Hi Oikos

Perhaps those threads answer your question:

http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=36229
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=33465
https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=19533
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=37464 (me predicting the possible problems of the rattrapante problems)
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=39207
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=40788
Those are the all threads on the 33xx where the problems has been debated. Before the crash on WUS there were also some good threads about the 33xx problems.

hope this helps

regards

georges

 

My understanding is that Omega's 33xx failures stopped sometime in 2002 and after this they have had no problems. Am I in error? I would genuinely like to know because I have been thinking of buying the Speedmaster "The Legend" Schmucher edition, which has this movement, I believe, although I can't remember right at this particular moment (3313 maybe?). I realize there have been some posts in the past about this problem (thank you G. Z.). I happen to be itching to buy a chronograph lately, so if I am misunderstanding, please do let me know and I can find another model with a different movement.

Hi Haakon

The 33xx problems were supposed to be resolved in 2002 but fact is that they still happen, just check Chuck watch weblog http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.com/. The 33xx is based on the frederic piguet 1285 which is especially made by Piguet for Omega (OMEGA owns a part of the Piguet manufacture). The earliest problems were teething and chrono resetting problems but now it appears that the winding system and rotor are also critical points if you read Time Flies 33xx problem. Since 2001 that movement which was given so much credit was vastly overrated and proved itself very inferior in terms of quality, reliability and ruggedness to the 321, 1861 and all older Omega vintage chrono calibres. 3301,3303 or 3313have also suffred from problems. The three only alternatives to the 33xx are the Daytona, the Zenith EP or the Ebel 137.

hope it helps.

regards

georges

 

By the way, is it just Omega who is having problems with this movement? What about Breguet, Blancpain, etc.? I was just wondering. I realize the other brands might modify the movement differently. Anyone know? Thanks.

Breguet uses the Lemania 1350 like Ebel. Audemars Piguet and Blancpain use the Frederic Piguet 1185. Chuck also described in his weblog the problems of the 1185. AP and Blancpain simply decorate the 1185 movement but don't modify it.

 

Breguet uses the Lemania 1350 like Ebel. Audemars Piguet and Blancpain use the Frederic Piguet 1185. Chuck also described in his weblog the problems of the 1185. AP and Blancpain simply decorate the 1185 movement but don't modify it.

Hello,
Breguet only uses the 1350 range in the type XX,for the rest of the gent's collection it is the lemania 2310 and its tourbillion derivate,but i think,not sure off it, but in the gent's MARINE chronograph the 1185 was used
Cheers

 

Hello,
Breguet only uses the 1350 range in the type XX,for the rest of the gent's collection it is the lemania 2310 and its tourbillion derivate,but i think,not sure off it, but in the gent's MARINE chronograph the 1185 was used
Cheers

Thanks for the precision:-! . I always thought it was a 1185 that powered the marine chrono but wasn't too sure, thanks for the confirmation.

 

Thanks for the precision:-! . I always thought it was a 1185 that powered the marine chrono but wasn't too sure, thanks for the confirmation.

No problem,i know it's sometimes very confusing:-S figuring what is what, with the little info manufacturers give, but iff one is a little "tenace"(like most of us fanatics) everything comes in placeB-)
Nice week-end.

 

Hi Oikos

Perhaps those threads answer your question:

http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=36229
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=33465
https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=19533
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=37464 (me predicting the possible problems of the rattrapante problems)
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=39207
http://chronocentric.com/forums/omega/index.cgi?read=40788
Those are the all threads on the 33xx where the problems has been debated. Before the crash on WUS there were also some good threads about the 33xx problems.

hope this helps

regards

georges

Thanks for the extensive links, Georges! Very interesting read :-! :-! While I have read some of them, I obviously missed a good part.

Maybe I should have been more specific with my earlier question, is the Piguet c. 118x prone to the same failures as the Omega c. 33xx? Can anybody post any links? ( Aside from the Blancpain failures in TZ LINKED in Chuck's weblog )

OT: I've had a couple of watchmakers tell me they prefer Rolex's cal. 15XX to the newer c 3xxx movments. I'm interested to hear your opinion on the mattter, Georges.

Thanks!

Bryant

 

Hi Oikos

You are welcome.
Yes the blancpain 1185 powered chronos have also encountered these nightmares, but remember it is the smallest chronograph mechanism ever put in a watch. It will never be a heavy duty chrono movement. I knew someone who has a special edition Flyback (the very rare monaco yachting edition) chrono with it, he used to play golf with it often. After three months, the watch stopped. He went to the watchmaker and the watchmaker opened the back on saw that the rotor unscrewed. The 1185 is fragile, it belongs more to dress watches than tough or heavy duty chronograph movements. The piguet 1185/1186 are very delicate movements and they don't offer the same robustness than the lemania chrono movements or the zenith (zenith new models are aesthetically pieces of crap) or rolex chrono movements.

About rolex yes the 15xx series are often favored by watchmakers for these reasons:
-they have pivots made of harder steel
-as opposed to newer movements (30xx-31xx) who have pressure hardened steel pivots, the older movements (15xx-10xx and their predecessors) have red heat hardened steel pivots
-they have better, functional finish to older movement, even if the newer ones might look better on the surface.
-most of these movements were assembled by hand not by machines
-they had better quality of jewels used in the movements in the past
The preference of this movement 15xx against the modern series of movement 30xx and 31xx was confirmed by charly, the masterwatchmaker of Rolex France and someone I know at Rolex Bienne.

Hope I answered your questions.

regards

georges

 

Thanks for the replies, Georges! Although I often find myelf disagreeing with some of your opinions, your posts makes for such interesting food for thought, and just makes these forums so much richer. :-! :-! :-!

 

Hi Haakon

The 33xx problems were supposed to be resolved in 2002 but fact is that they still happen, just check Chuck watch weblog http://chuckmaddoxwatch.blogspot.com/. The 33xx is based on the frederic piguet 1285 which is especially made by Piguet for Omega (OMEGA owns a part of the Piguet manufacture). The earliest problems were teething and chrono resetting problems but now it appears that the winding system and rotor are also critical points if you read Time Flies 33xx problem. Since 2001 that movement which was given so much credit was vastly overrated and proved itself very inferior in terms of quality, reliability and ruggedness to the 321, 1861 and all older Omega vintage chrono calibres. 3301,3303 or 3313have also suffred from problems. The three only alternatives to the 33xx are the Daytona, the Zenith EP or the Ebel 137.

hope it helps.

regards

georges

Thank you for your extensive postings on this issue, they are very helpful. I have gone through the links and read Chuck's weblog as well. Can't tell you how much I appreciate your contributions on chronograph movements--thank you very, very much. You are offering help in the true spirit of a forum like this.

 

I have had no problems whatsoever with my 3303 powered AquaTerra Chronograph.
It has been accurate to about 2 seconds a week, and at over one year old it has been the best, most accurate mechanical watch I have ever owned. It it's not being babied either.

While I do not disagree with the fact that there were some problems with the 33xx, let's not forget that even RollsRoyce has a repair shop.
And let's not forget that for every problem movement there are thousands of happy owners out there that have never had a bit of wrong happening with their watch.

If somebody has a strong dislike toward something, they will find a way to pinpoint everything that ever went wrong with it.

 

It is not excusable for a +3000$ watch to fail in less than a 6 months period. I am not the only who says that this movement despite it is a great technical achievement is far to be something fully reliable. You may have not encountered problems but other had and Omega hasn't clearly resolved these problems till yet. That movement hasn't got the lemania reliability.