Faulty bracelet? Ultimate PO lost!

[Masticore]

Hi!

Well, I recently ordered a great replica, an Ultimate PO, for a very good friend. Anyhow, he had it resized at a larger watch shop, but it could be that they resized it in the wrong way.

Anyhow, he lost the watch while bikecyling, he said he felt how the bracelet separeted, I'm guessing a loose bracelet pin went out. Well, it was dark, snow+snowing, and alot of people, he looked for about 40-45 min without finding it. [smilie=crybaby2.gif]

Soo, what do you guys think? Faulty bracelet, or did the people at the watch store do a bad job?

 

[trekracer20]

I think it's likely that the bracelet wasn't installed properly. The PO's bracelet has several opportunities for messing things up. I've installed the SS bracelet on mine when rotating between it and the rubber strap, and sometimes it's just extremely difficult to get both pins seated in their holes, while the end of the bracelet still sits up snugly next to the case making you believe everything is alright.

The SS brace is comfortable, but I personally like the watch most with a rubber dive strap. I'd probably replace my PO if I lost or broke it. I like it a lot.

MK

 

[supermanx]

Not sure on the ultimate po, but most reps come with really crappy springbars that bend easily... The bigger the watch/band the easier it is for it to come apart.

 

[OiRogers]

It is also possible the "sleeves" on the pin in each link weren't installed when the bracelet was resized, or they were just loose to begin with.... my 45mm "ultimate" had pins that slid about 1mm each day of wear... I ended up replacing the bracelet with another rep bracelet sourced from a different dealer and took care of the problem.. the original bracelet had sleeves that just wouldn't hold the pins.... a solid thump would move a pin visibly... over time I think a similar fate would have befallen my 45mm PO.

My 42mm 4th gen was Biotch and half to resize... the ultimate took about 3 minutes... I attribute a large amount of the time saved to learning from resizing the 42mm version, the rest to looseness in my 45mm versions overall assembly.

 

[caravaggio]

Even gens can have that problem

My gen Seamaster Pro had the same issue. I always found myself checking the bracelet many times in a day to make sure all was well.

While their designs are nice, I think Omega bracelets are lacking total reliability on this level, gen or rep.
I personally think the Seamaster bracelet is weaker all around than the PO bracelet and the best Omega bracelet could be the Speedy...

Maybe Omega needs to learn from companies like Rolex or IWC: use screws or a push pin system?

My 2 cents...

 

[rbj69]

probably the watch store guy didnt size it correctly, but i agree 80% of most of our reps have cheap thin springbars in them

joe

 

[caravaggio]

Agreed... springbars are cheap on reps

For example, on a big heavy watch like my Seamaster Chrono, what is the risk I will lose my watch???

Perhaps this is why I wear that watch slightly looser than my Sub...

 

[crick]

changing the bracelet on my rep PO was an easy snap with my springbar tool.

Tried to do the same on my Gen PO... wow... what a different story. I just gave up for fear of making scratches, but the springbars in the GEN PO is a LOT sturdier and the springs are a LOT stronger... guess a burgeon springbar tool is needed.

 

[Importr]

hmm - yeah I agree. Probably due to combination of badly fitted bracelet and flimsy parts, since the rider wouldve had his hand on the handlebar at the time of it disappearing...so thats rules out the clasp for disengaging.

...but why wear something as heavy as the PO to go biking anyway? I use G-Shock for that!

Maybe your friend should get back out there asap with a metal detector!

 

[d4m.test]

where's the tutorial for changing an ultimate PO's bracelet?

 

[Masticore]

I talked to my friend again, he said that he was pretty sure that some link went off, and not the bracelet from the case due a faulty springbar.

So if his memory servers him correct, it would have to be due some pins in the bracelet.

Well, anyhow, next time I'm asking the dealer to do the re-sizing.