Omega 53 RAF issue

[ditchvisitor]

I have the opportunity to purchase this Omega 1953 RAF issue, (excuse the rubbish photo!) I just wondered people's thoughts on it and what ballpark price I should be offering? It's very original and in great working order.

[brownip]

Hi

It's a bit hard to say rom the info you've given It really depends on completeness and originality, Have the fixed bars been removed and repalced with spring bars? Has the external caseback engraving being polished out or altered in any way? Have you seen inside the case to check that it's the correct case reference, that the the soft iron movement cover and spacer are in place and that the movement is the correct calibre and serial number for a '53?

If all of the above check out Ok I'd estimate between £900 and £1100 depending on condition of dial and movement. However, I'm not a milwatch collector so couldn't be sure that that reflects current market values. Hope it works out Ok for you, they are cracking watches.

Cheers

Ian

[RABbit]

If that is an original thin arrow (TA) and everything is as Ian says, I'd say its worth around 1500 nowadays. The fat arrow (FA) would be in Ian's estimate range if in excellent condition.
We would need better and more photos to appraise it properly.

[mindforge]

I don't know anything about these watches but there was a similar one in very good condition in the window of Austin Kaye in the Strand in London and it was up at 1500 pounds.

[RABbit]

I'm at Austin Kaye now and there is a FA at £1995. Way over priced. They also have two Omega WWWs at 1300 and 1600 which is utterly laughable.

[ditchvisitor]

Thanks for the replies, I'm off to see it again now and will get some more pics/info and report back.

[RABbit]

Another thought. Have a close look at the dial. An original TA dial will always show some ageing and tiny rust spots. If the dial looks fresh it will be a recent official Omega redial done in Bienne about 10 years ago and would probably be worth no more or less than a FA.

[brownip]

If that is an original thin arrow (TA) and everything is as Ian says, I'd say its worth around 1500 nowadays. The fat arrow (FA) would be in Ian's estimate range if in excellent condition.
We would need better and more photos to appraise it properly.

Sorry - should have done more than glimpse at the photo before replying. TA's are indeed a lot more rare and one in decent nick will probably be in around the £1.3-6K mark depending on condition and completeness. The originally issued ones with the thin arrow had radium in the lume and most were replaced by the MOD at the time with Fat Arrow tritium lumed dials. As RABbit says Omega did for a while offer tritium replacement dials in the original thin arrow configuration to owners at service, but these have long since ceased to be available.

I've only seen TA dials in photos and yours isn't all that high res, so can't comment with any great deal of certainty but having looked at it again I'm not 100% certain that the dial is legit, is the arrow a bit too big and the Omega logo and lettering a bit less crisp than the Omega produced dials? I'm sure a milwatch expert will be along soon to put us right.

Cheers

Ian

[RABbit]

I'm out at the moment but have an original TA at home so I can compare it with any high res pictures you can get.

[ditchvisitor]

The guy wasnt around today unfortunately, will try again tomorrow, the face is very old and pitted with some rust spots if I remember correctly. Thanks for all the help guys, will get some good photos and post them up as soon as I can.

[philjopa]

You might also want to ask around on the MWR forum as there's a lot of knowledgeable guys over there.

[Tenko]

I'm at Austin Kaye now and there is a FA at £1995. Way over priced. They also have two Omega WWWs at 1300 and 1600 which is utterly laughable.

I saw those in Austin Kaye on Tuesday. I too thought that they were over priced. Did you see the Lemania chrono, what did you think of that?

[RABbit]

The Lemania chrono looked very nice but it was over 2000 from memory; I think 1200 would be closer to the mark. It was a 6BB and I want to get one of these but not at that price. There was an original CWC chrono too at 900 which is much closer to the market value (probably a good buy with the warranty) and what I think was a modern reproduction CWC chrono at 700. A couple of Hamilton tonneau shaped W10s as well at around 350, about 100 overpriced IMO.
It's the biggest display of military watches I've ever seen in a shop window.

[Tenko]

The Lemania chrono looked very nice but it was over 2000 from memory; I think 1200 would be closer to the mark. It was a 6BB and I want to get one of these but not at that price. There was an original CWC chrono too at 900 which is much closer to the market value (probably a good buy with the warranty) and what I think was a modern reproduction CWC chrono at 700. A couple of Hamilton tonneau shaped W10s as well at around 350, about 100 overpriced IMO.
It's the biggest display of military watches I've ever seen in a shop window.

Thanks. I was looking at that Lemania. I was very taken with it but was mindful of the price. I tried the CWC too but the crown had been replaced with one that was totally not in keeping with the watch which spoilt it for me. However, they did offer me a very good price for a watch that I was considering selling which would balance out their overpricing on the Lemania somewhat. I might go back over there and have another look.
thanks for your opinion though.

[RABbit]

I didn't try them on, only window shopping. I missed the CWC crown. If I had the readies I would have taken a closer look at the Lemania. I don't think Austin Kaye will discount by much; I tried on an IWC Aquatimer a few years ago; they wouldn't budge.
Good luck and post some pics if you do buy it.
(Sorry to the OP about a post hijack. Any more news on that '53?)

[Tenko]

I didn't try them on, only window shopping. I missed the CWC crown. If I had the readies I would have taken a closer look at the Lemania. I don't think Austin Kaye will discount by much; I tried on an IWC Aquatimer a few years ago; they wouldn't budge.
Good luck and post some pics if you do buy it.
(Sorry to the OP about a post hijack. Any more news on that '53?)

Yep, will do. Apart from the price, it has had a good polish which might also put me off but lets see.

Likewise, sorry to butt in on the thread. Would be keen to hear more on the 53 too.