Seiko issued to the Omani armed forces - sort of. Arabic mystery revealed

[Carlton-Browne]

This was waiting for me when I got into the office yesterday. It has what I'm sure I recognise as an Omani coat of arms on the dial together with some text. Can anybody tell me what this says please?

[Carlton-Browne]

Looks like we have a result thanks to the colleague of one member (Thanks Gav!). The top line says Sultan's Armed Forces and the bottom line says 10th National Day. As Sultan Qaboos bin Said ascended to the throne in 1970 this places this watch at around 1980. As it has the serial number 090395 that suggests it was made in September 1980 - just in time for the anniversary on November 18th. Now that I know what I have I suppose I should get this repaired.

Slightly disappointing that this is more of an award watch rather than something militarily issued in the conventional sense but I'm pleased nevertheless and a much better proposition than my other recent foray in this area .http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=omani

[markrlondon]

That's a good looking watch. It's nice to know something of the history of it, too.

[SimonK]

What language is the day of the week in? It looks like Farsi with the accents, but what is written doesn't seem to correspond to a day of the week in either Farsi or Arabic, as far as I can tell.

[Carlton-Browne]

My source tells me that it's Tuesday in arabic.

[Carlton-Browne]

A few more hastily taken photos.

[onlynik]

I really like that, thanks for sharing. I'm quite intrigued by watches with non latin script for days.

[watchlovr]

£70k if it said Rolex on the dial!

[Dazzler]

What language is the day of the week in? It looks like Farsi with the accents, but what is written doesn't seem to correspond to a day of the week in either Farsi or Arabic, as far as I can tell.

Simon - I ran Tuesday through the magic google function - looks right in Arabic http://translate.google.com/#auto/ar/Tuesday

[Cirrus]

I think anything that dates and locates a vintage watch is a great thing, and TV shaped 70s things are very much my thing anyway ;)

- - - Updated - - -

£70k if it said Rolex on the dial!

Slightly less if it also said Pizza Hut on the strap...

;)

[ralphy]

Looks like we have a result thanks to the colleague of one member (Thanks Gav!). The top line says Sultan's Armed Forces and the bottom line says 10th National Day. As Sultan Qaboos bin Said ascended to the throne in 1970 this places this watch at around 1980. As it has the serial number 090395 that suggests it was made in September 1980 - just in time for the anniversary on November 18th. Now that I know what I have I suppose I should get this repaired.

Slightly disappointing that this is more of an award watch rather than something militarily issued in the conventional sense but I'm pleased nevertheless and a much better proposition than my other recent foray in this area .http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=omani

You are spot on.

Issued in the name of Sultan Qaboos and to mark the 10th Anniversary of his rise to power (23rd July 1970). These watches were issued to Government employees of Saltanat 'Uman (Oman). 18th November is the Sultan's birthday (National Day).

Nice piece of Omani history you have there.

R

[SimonK]

Simon - I ran Tuesday through the magic google function - looks right in Arabic http://translate.google.com/#auto/ar/Tuesday

Yep, you are right, but as I am fascinated by language and words I googled 'days of the week in Arabic' and none of the various sites that came up had a word that looked like the one in the window of the Seiko.

[emstudio]

£70k if it said Rolex on the dial!

plus minus the amount ....

[Carlton-Browne]

This rather unexpected bump reminds me that I never got around to posting better photos.

[Carlton-Browne]

I know I had a few inquiries about mine (it's not for sale) and one has just come up on Ebay. I have no connection to the seller and I won't be bidding.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-S...0/253845952347

Mine was a non-runner too when I got it and keitht managed to bring it back to life.

[Thewatchbloke]

I brought one of these back to life for a customer at the beginning of August, it was his father's watch.







The replacement coil was a bugger to source!

[Gyp]

It never occurred to me that it would be a round dial inside a TV shaped case.

And amused that the chapter ring is notched to accommodate the date window :-)

Is there an "all done" picture?

I was quite tempted by the one on eBay as it's a little different, but not now it's close to £300!

[rightturnclyde]

Hi All,
I have one of these watches (also my Dad's!) - it hasn't worked for many years, but would love to get it brought back to life. Appreciate it would be a complex job needing to source old parts etc.
Does anyone know someone who could give me a quote for taking this job on?
thanks a lot
David

I brought one of these back to life for a customer at the beginning of August, it was his father's watch.







The replacement coil was a bugger to source!

[JasonM]

Maybe the watchmender whose post you quoted ?

[Carlton-Browne]

The answer is in the thread.

https://thewatchbloke.co.uk/

Or keitht.

[cbolt18]

Hi all,

The Seiko that The watch bloke posted is my Grandad's watch. He was a British officer training Omani soldiers in the 70's/80's. Unfortunately he's dead now and my Grandma doesn't remember much about the presentation of the watch. I'm assuming it was some sort of formal presentation.

I highly recommend The Watch Bloke for repairs. I wear the watch every day and really need to get the crystal replaced but I kind of like the scratches that would have been done by my grandad.

I'd like to hear about the history of your watch rightturnclyde. Is it exactly the same as mine?

Also @Carlton-Browne was your watch the same? I can't see the photos, maybe because it's an old thread.

[Artium]

Having learnt arabic it says:

-The armed forces of the sultan, 10th national day.


-Date wheel ---> Tuesday.

Hope this help.

[cbolt18]

Having learnt arabic it says:

-The armed forces of the sultan, 10th national day.


-Date wheel ---> Tuesday.

Hope this help.

Hi Artium,

Thanks for your reply, people above have said the same thing. I was hoping for some information on other people's watches as I've not seen one the same as mine!

Cheers

[Carlton-Browne]

Another one of these has popped up on Ebay with a little information about provenance:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224732774...wAAOSwKKJhsfjo

I have for sale a Seiko 8223-507A watch - with a very rare dial, a golden Khanjar and Arabic text. The text refers to the Armed Forces of the Sultan and the 10th National Day. The Sultan in question is the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said - this watch and others like it were presented to members of the Armed Forces on the 10th National day in 1980, the Seiko case reference dates the watch to September 1980.

This model of Seiko was also presented to and worn by Group Captain David Wood who had joined the Sultan of Oman's Air Force after leaving the RAF. The most famous Khanjar watches are probably those that were presented to the SAS who were involved with overthrowing the father of Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said as well as the conflict against the Dhofar rebels.


The colour of the Khanjar on the watch dials can vary including Red, Green and White - the colours that were chosen for Oman's new flag. As mentioned previously the colour of the Khanjar on this Seiko is gold.


The watch is in good running order but showing signs of its age, please see the photographs. Day and date change as they should.

I've dropped a note to the seller to see if he has anything else he can share.

[Carlton-Browne]

The seller was very quick to point out that his watch isn't the actual Gp Capt Wood watch (seems a decent chap) and his response led to me finding to this article by Ross Povey I hadn't seen before.

https://revolutionwatch.com/revoluti...olex-daytonas/

I think I fancy one of those Rados...

[cbolt18]

The seller was very quick to point out that his watch isn't the actual Gp Capt Wood watch (seems a decent chap) and his response led to me finding to this article by Ross Povey I hadn't seen before.

https://revolutionwatch.com/revoluti...olex-daytonas/

I think I fancy one of those Rados...

Damn, missed the eBay watch. First otger one that I've seen. That article rings a bell, I must have read it at some point. Thanks for the link.

Cheers