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Thread: Identifying old pocket watches (inc an Omega)

  1. #1
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    Identifying old pocket watches (inc an Omega)

    I was at my mother in law’s house at the weekend and as usual I was talking about watches. She’d just found a box of old pocket watches in her loft, and I said I might be able to find out a little more about them for her.

    She inherited them all, one which looked particularly interesting to me was this Omega.

    From what I can find out from Google, it’s an early 1920’s in 9ct Gold. However, I can’t seem to find one the same online. This one has fatter font Roman dial than most of the others. The hands are quite blue in real life.

    Any expertise most welcome. She is not sure what to do with them so I suggested a watch enthusiast may appreciate them (cough, me, cough).

    Amazingly, after a few (gentle) winds it ran smoothly!

    Hopefully the photos work...









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  2. #2
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    That’s lovely. Do you have a picture of the movement?

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  4. #4
    What a lovely watch. It would be wonderful to learn something of its history.


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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by alfat33 View Post
    That’s lovely. Do you have a picture of the movement?
    Alas, I do not unfortunately. I daren't try to pop it open, the mother in law was holding her breath enough when I took them out of the Ziplock she'd kept them in!

  6. #6
    Master
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    Very nice but if she is that uptight about them she may not realise that in the main pocket watches don't have significant value these days. Many (most) are scrap metal value only. There should be a premium over scrap for an Omega but there is a good chance the wristwatch your were wearing is worth more than any of them. The other silver ones may be worth 10s not 100s of £ sadly unless they are something special.

    The Omega hallmark looks like that for Birmingham 1928-29 so your date guess is probably right. The case is a UK made Dennison case, hence the ALD mark. These were made in Birmingham, which tallies with the assay office used. This is normal for UK 9K Omegas, Rolex and other Swiss makes up until the 1960s since there used to be high import tariffs on gold and cases were often made locally.
    Last edited by Padders; 24th April 2018 at 13:03.

  7. #7
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    I like the Waltham. Brendan (@webwatchmaker) seems to work on them quite a bit, he may be able to help with some more details.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Padders View Post
    Very nice but if she is that uptight about them she may not realise that in the main pocket watches don't have significant value these days. Many (most) are scrap metal value only. There should be a premium over scrap for an Omega but there is a good chance the wristwatch your were wearing is worth more than any of them. The other silver ones may be worth 10s not 100s of £ sadly unless they are something special.

    The Omega hallmark looks like that for Birmingham 1928-29 so your date guess is probably right. The case is a UK made Dennison case, hence the ALD mark. These were made in Birmingham, which tallies with the assay office used. This is normal for UK 9K Omegas, Rolex and other Swiss makes up until the 1960s since there used to be high import tariffs on gold and cases were often made locally.
    Thanks Padders. I think she's not expecting any value from any of them, as she's not trying to sell them at the moment. It's more curiosity and as I suspected, the Omega being the valuable one of the bunch. She knows nothing about watches, so even finding out the age and material has been interesting for her so far.

  9. #9
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    Little update as the mother in law is visiting and brought the Omega along with her.

    I’ve popped the back open, couple of movement photos below.

    She has decided she would like to sell it to help with some bills (I wish I could buy it from her!)

    So any help with value would be appreciated so that she knows she’s getting a fair deal.

    Hopefully the pics are useful, as a total amateur it’s lovely to see the movement going.












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  10. #10
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    Also just spotted this series of very faint engravings, including the last one signed Omega. Maybe service history?





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  11. #11
    Apprentice
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    Those hand engravings are very interesting. I've got a Waltham watch in a very similar looking A.L. Dennison sterling silver case (my case is from 1918). I've had it for years but only recently noticed similar tiny engravings inside the case. They're not quite as legible as yours, and they're scattered rather than in a list (the photo just shows one). I was wondering what they were, but servicing records seems to make sense.



    Regarding your own Waltham, you can look it up by movement number on pocketwatchdatabase.com where they'll give you some details about it such as year of manufacture etc., along with a valuation estimate if you register for free. Unfortunately they don't have any details on Omega.

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