Omega Men’s 3222.80 Speedmaster Chronograph Dial Watch

Second Repair within One Year
13 C05 Omega Speedmaster Day Date.I bought the watch in August 2012 & by Dec the watch failed to completely change the day. Specifically, only part of the day is visible in the window. See attached photo from another buyer […]Apparently this is not an uncommon problem with this model. After $35+ for postage, insurance & tracking & about two months I received the watch back. In August, FIVE months later, the problem reoccurred! In addition it now runs fast. Based on an observation over one week the watch now gains ten minutes per month or about 2 1/2 minutes per week, completely unsatisfactory!Note, as recommended by others, I & other owners should not change the watch settings between 8pm & 3am to prevent interference with the day date change. Thus, if your watch stops between those times, wind & then wait until the next morning to set it to the proper time. I am EXTREMELY disappointed with the watch & would advise you to buy a less complicated Omega.[…]Appalling Operating InstructionsA massive 424 page Operating Instruction (owner’s manual) accompanies the watch. However, you need not fear the thickness. Only 43 pages contain instructions written in English. Of the 43 pages, 14 pp cover the table of contents & warranty information. So 29 pages covers the instruction for this watch and 65 other models. SIXTY SIX (66) models are covered in 29 pages of instructions.To use the manual you must first identify the “Calibre” (sic) number of the watch. The calibre number appears on a red plastic card found inside a pouch inside a compartment, inside the red leather box in which the watch arrived. After identifying the calibre flip through the entire Operating Instructions (the part written in English) looking for the Calibre Number to find which specific instruction applies.However, you are not necessary done setting your watch. The ham fisted effort to cram the instructions of a couple to a dozen watches into generic instructions allows lapses or gaps in how to set or use the watch. The Speedmaster Day Date indicates the: time, day of the week, numerical date of the month, & month. However, the manual ONLY covers how to set the time & numerical date of the month, i.e. 23 (for the twenty third day of a month). You must figure out/ guess how to adjust the day & month. Remember not to make any adjustments between 8pm to 3am or you may cause a failure in the day of the week display which will require repairs by an expert. There is no instructions as to how to use the stop watch for the Speedmaster Day Date but the instructions exist for other models.The next horror comes from the “pictograms.” On a separate red plastic card Omega indicates all the features of a model by using a series of symbols. To determine the features, requirements, care, or use of a feature on a watch one must look @ the pictograms on the red card, then search for each one located somewhere in the Operating Instructions. There does not appear to be any consistency in the order of the pictograms on the red card & the instruction. Fun! The distinctive features of the pictograph are each is only a few millimeters in size, difficult to see, & there are many that are similar. So plan on spending sometime on this.To help in the identification of the pictograph, I used a magnifying lens @ first. Then I took a photo of the pictograph card & zoomed into the symbols. However, consider this, should an owner of a mid luxury watch that cost a few thousand dollars have to do so.Not all pictograms are in the manual so its relevancy remains unknown.The final insult, Omega deemed it worthy that they create video instructions posted on you tube for their newest models. However, the supermajority of their models owners must do without. E.g., see, […]

Only thing missing is a GMT hand!
This is the most complicated mechanical/automatic watch I own. I bought this exact model a little over 2 years ago from an authorized dealer overseas. I remember debating over the blue versus black dial and eventually the blue won. The detail on the dial and inner dials is amazing and complement each other well. This watch in this color is unofficially part of the Michael Schumacher collection as well. Unofficial I think b/c there is no signature on the back but it shows up in his collection on Omega’s website, at least it did awhile ago. There are 8 hands total: hour, minute, second, 24-hour, timer minute, timer hour, timer second, and date hand. This chronograph does not keep elasped time but it does reset to zero instantly upon button push. The month and day are easy to read but the date is difficult to read due to small arrow tip and busyness of the outer edge of the dial. I often mistaken the date markers as minute markers when setting time. The lume on the markers is not bright due to their size at the tips of the hour indices but they are duable. The reserve is very good when you wind it up. I’ve gotten 3 days before. I do have 4 minor complaints. One is the small crown. To manually wind this watch, you must keep the crown in. It hurts my fingertips winding it even though there are no crown guards. Two is setting the date. If you go past the date accidently, the only way to go back is to set the time back a whole 24 hours. Three is the rotor weight/awareness. You get a weird vibration feeling from the rotor rotating with sudden hand movements followed by a quick halt, like when you put your hand on a table right after you sit down. It can last for a few seconds. I do not get this feeling with Rolex or Panerai. My guess is the weight of the rotor in this movement is more significant on the Omega. Four is the type of pins connecting the removable links. I would expect a watch of this price and caliber to have screw-in pins but instead it has tap-in hairpins. It is not user-adjustable unless you have the right tools. At any rate, I think this is one of the best looking non-“Co-Axial” Omega’s out there and will likely stay in my small collection for good unless someone made me a ridiculous offer (lol). You can definitely tell this is a quality watch by the detail, weight, and tightness of the bracelet and clasp.