HE Valve Position confusion

[Dr Yan]

i have several Seamaster reps.
The he valves are in the same place on all of them ie right on 10 oclock.

i have always believed that on gens the SMP HE valve was close to 5 on 50 of Bezel and closer to 0 of 50 on PO.
I was in an AD recently and i had a good close look at some seamasters.

i was interested in the HE valve positioning because it is very difficult to see details from the omega website or catalogues.


Both pO and smp seem to be in the same position, Slightly above 10 o clock.right on the 0 of the 50 on the bezel.

The chrono however seems to be in a different position.
below 10 o clock, smack on the 5 of the 50 .
i havent seen any reps with the correct placement , does any one know of any?

do i need to stop looking at watches so much?

 

[tommy_boy]

do i need to stop looking at watches so much?

hehehe. You may be on to something there.

I have three Omegas with HE valves, one of which seems to be from a different factory than the other two.

I won't wear them into an AD for several reasons. But I can tell you that a very experienced watch maker has seen two of them, and he said nothing to me.

My point is, if you like them, wear them. Getting too hung up on the 1:1 thing could drive you nuts or too the poor house. Or both!

 

[If you see Kay]

you are correct in that the gens have the He valve around the 0 on the 50, but the PO and the SMP's angle of the He valve are not the same. The SMP valve looks and is off kilter and doesn't look like it is lining up properly. The PO on the 5th gen PO (ie Sead's) is the most correct.

WBK has an SMP with the He valve in a relatively correct location, but not having seen one in person, but only pics, I cannot confirm. I can confirm that the He valve in WBK's SMP is not "off kilter" like the gen.

You can probably see the off kilter best on this pic

or this one.

I know nothing about the chronos, though.

 

[takeo]

Chronos Planet Ocean has it below 10 marker, all other SMPs have it above 10 marker. Mostly all current reps, except the Ultimate Planet Ocean, have the He valve in the wrong position.

 

[lan61t]

i got one question about HE.

Can you actually open the HE valve?
Because on my PO, the HE seems stuck

 

[Time4Direct]

Yes they normally unwind although they don't work as such or do anything . Would only be needed if you went deep like a 1000ft and I have a feeling if it's a rep the HE would be the least of the problems with the watch

 

[fakemaster]

I can see why you are confused. I personally have been looking at the GEN SMP, AT THE AD, ever since I fell in love with it in 1995. I can tell you that the valve has not been in the same place over the years.

Getting too hung up on the 1:1 thing could drive you nuts or too the poor house. Or both!

+1

 

[tommy_boy]

Yes they normally unwind although they don't work as such or do anything . Would only be needed if you went deep like a 1000ft and I have a feeling if it's a rep the HE would be the least of the problems with the watch

Or the least of your problems overall, at a thousand feet! :cute:

 

[Dr Yan]

i got one question about HE.

Can you actually open the HE valve?
Because on my PO, the HE seems stuck

I have never seen a gen HE Valve.
I have a rep po with a valve that "works".
It appears to have all the mechanical ability to work.
Its an interesting little mechanism, the crown unscrews .
i have dismantled it , wish i had photographed it now.
The crown screws off the he valve aswell, and you can see that there are two mating surfaces that will seal together when closed.
there is even a gasket in the crown.
I wouldnt trust it in a shower dont mind anything else Though.
i have a po that is waterproofed and the he valve crown does not move much on that one , i think its epoxied , maybe yours is too.

 

[Mobius]

The only thing that I am absolutaly sure of is where my CH4 valve is located! LOL!

Seriously though, the HE valves in the rep world are truly migratory (might have to start a "HEV" watching club). I think its more from eyeballing a photo and guesswork than 1:1 comparisson on many models. Though this trend seems to be changing a bit for the models that suffer more scruteny (i.e. DSSD, UPO, etc.)

 

[takashi]

Only the chrono SMP has it exactly at 10 o clock position, the rest are all having slightly above 10 o'clock position.

As suggested, one of the current rep with correct He valve placement is the UPO and SMP Chrono (exactly at 10).

Others like SMP from closed factory, PO 4th gen are already discontinued.