1967 - Omega Chronostop - Ref 145.007 - Cal 865

Quite often with watch repairs, personal projects get put aside with the intention of getting around to them next but inevitably another job comes in and such projects sit waiting longer and longer. However with Christmas and new year out of the way it was time to finally get around to one of the projects that had sat on the " To do " shelf for far too long.

In today's blog we take a look at a very nice and unique Omega model, the Chronostop. Unlike other chronographs the Chronostop works much in the way a timer does, in place of a start/stop button and a separate reset button the Chronostop only has the single operation pusher. In order to use the chronograph the button is pushed once to start it, push it a second time and hold it to take a reading, then upon releasing the button the mechanism resets to zero.

On all chronostop variants there is no continuous seconds nor is there a sub second to measure the minutes, if you needed to mark the minutes then you would have to recall them yourself. Whilst modern chronographs pack far more functionality i still believe the Chronostop has a place in a watch collectors heart.

Stats & Specs
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Omega Chronostop - Reference 145.007 - Decimal Scale Bezel
Stainless Steel Casing/Hesalite Glass ( acrylic ) / Black Leather Strap
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Calibre 865 ( Calibre 920 used after 1968 )
17 Jewel Manual Winding Chronograph - 21,600BPH
Total Production of all Chronostop variants - 185,000

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Servicing & Clean Up
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Removing the case back we can see the gasket has completely gone and become hard with age and constant temperature changes over the years. Fortunately the movement runs well and only requires a good clean and fresh lubrication >
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Fortunately the casing is also in fairly good condition so will only require some slight cleaning and freshening up, the movement can be removed and some new case clamps can be ordered ( originals are rusty and one is snapped ). >>
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Gasket , crown, and pusher all removed we can take away some of the bigger pieces before a nice warm ultrasonic bath.
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With the casing broken down and movement safely removed it was time to inspect the movement whilst stripping it down for cleaning......
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It is important to note when disassembling such a movement that any springs under tension should be let  down prior to removal. Whilst removing levers i like to replace the screws so as not to get confused during assembly which screw goes where !

Other than some dry deposits and a little minor wear the movement was in excellent shape and i was predicting good timing once the movement was finished. Below are photos during reassembly, note how well the plates and parts have come up, nice and bright :)
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With the movement reassembled and tested it was great news to see that it was functioning just as it would when it left the factory in 1967, so now only to add the dial and hands back on and refit in the newly clean casing. The original hands were actually damaged so new genuine hands were sought  and a new Omega glass to finish the watch >>
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Movement now with dial and hands attached and casing ready there was only a nice strap to find, fortunately a fellow watch friend ( www.fullywound.co.uk ) managed to find me something perfect to finish the watch. After so many weeks sat waiting for attention it was great to finally get the watch back to wearable state, considering the era the watch is surprisingly large ( some 40mm+ ) but does not look out of place with today's pieces >

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With everything said and done i must admit i love this watch,  it may not have the functions of a modern chrono but it has its place and now with such pieces becoming rarer its even better to have one in working and wearable order ! Hope you enjoyed this blog :)

With such a busy start to the year i appreciate an updated blog has been long over due but i do have more planned to come and hopefully sooner than the latest instalment so keep coming back !