Vintage Omega experts needed...

[stix]

This Omega Seamaster is for sale locally and it's mint however, to me eye for a watch that could be from the 60's, it looks too good to be true. Any experts here that could advise?

Cheers

• https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ball...ega/1226444069

[walkerwek1958]

Looks like it may be a 166.010 with correct period rice-grain bracelet, from around 1966-1969. Case may have been refinished, dial may have been refinished (can’t tell from the pictures). Bracelet looks to have some wear in it, which suggests its a genuine old one rather than a more recent replacement, and the clasp looks correct. The bracelet may not be original to the watch, there’s no easy way to tell. As it’s gold- capped I would be looking for signs of wear- through to the base metal, and deep scratches. Light marks can be refinished, the gold’s around 200 microns thick (allegedly!) so light refinishing is feasible, but beware of anything that’s been polished to death.

Can’t see why it’s too good to be true, I’ve had similar ones on the bench and I’ve restored a few to look like this. It’s worth contacting the seller and getting the full story if possible, I’ve no experience buying from Gumtree but that’s what I’d do.

Could be a good buy but unless there’s clear evidence to the contrary you should always factor in the cost of getting the watch serviced properly.

No substitute for actually handling the watch and looking closely!

Edit: seconds hand is too short, obviously been replaced, should be at least as long as the minute hand to look right.

[stix]

Looks like it may be a 166.010 with correct period rice-grain bracelet, from around 1966-1969. Case may have been refinished, dial may have been refinished (can’t tell from the pictures). Bracelet looks to have some wear in it, which suggests its a genuine old one rather than a more recent replacement, and the clasp looks correct. The bracelet may not be original to the watch, there’s no easy way to tell. As it’s gold- capped I would be looking for signs of wear- through to the base metal, and deep scratches. Light marks can be refinished, the gold’s around 200 microns thick (allegedly!) so light refinishing is feasible, but beware of anything that’s been polished to death.

Can’t see why it’s too good to be true, I’ve had similar ones on the bench and I’ve restored a few to look like this. It’s worth contacting the seller and getting the full story if possible, I’ve no experience buying from Gumtree but that’s what I’d do.

Could be a good buy but unless there’s clear evidence to the contrary you should always factor in the cost of getting the watch serviced properly.

No substitute for actually handling the watch and looking closely!

Edit: seconds hand is too short, obviously been replaced, should be at least as long as the minute hand to look right.

Many thanks for all the advice and I suppose it just looks too shiny/new to me for it's age hence my reservations and thoughts of possible re-dial. I have tried to ask the seller but no joy yet. I was factoring in a service and I would like to have a look at the movement as well if he'd let me remove the case back, which is unlikely. I like it a lot and if the price was negotiable then it could be an interesting buy.

I really appreciate the advice

[stix]

I think the second hand is being distorted by the light, angle and crystal in that photo as it looks like it continues, just very faintly. Could be wrong.

[walkerwek1958]

Looking at movements is fine, but it can be misleading. Ideally, a nice clean movement with all plated parts matching will be what you see, but it could still contain worn parts. Look for a circular witness mark on the rotor, that's a sign it's been rubbing against the caseback owing to a worn rotor bush. Sometimes a movement has been restored to high standard with a replacement rotor and auto-winding bridge, those parts almost certainly won't quite match the rest of the movement but it doesn`t mean the movement's bad. It can mean the movement's been built from a pile of parts but not necessarily so. The movement in one of my Constellations isn`t too pretty, the rotor bush had been replaced but the wear marks were obviously still present, and the movement's a bit tarnished in places, but after rebuilding it runs beautifully.

Check the hand-winding, if it feels 'gritty' that's a sign that the reverser is either worn or seriously lacking lubrication, sometimes they're OK after cleaning and re-oiling but sometimes a replacement is required and they're getting expensive.

I own several watches with this movement and I`ve worked on plenty, one saving grace is the high quality of the materials used, they stand up to wear and tear remarkably well but they all tend to be worn in the same places. The rotor bush can be a problem but that's because they don`t get lubricated.

[RS404]

Its not like its especially cheap. Vintage Omegas like this aren't worth as much as you might think. There's plenty about.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[ollipekka]

Its not like its especially cheap. Vintage Omegas like this aren't worth as much as you might think. There's plenty about.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Agreed. The buyer stands to lose money after service, so buy the watch if you like it, not because it is a good deal. (good advice to buy any watch)

Good thing with gold plated is that they're not polished to death, because the gold plating will wear out before any significant loss of material takes place. First places where gold plating wears thin is the crown, lug ends and bracelet. None of those are visibly worn.

My eye is not trained enough to spot whether dial is fake or not (i'm leaning towards not fake). The 562 doesn't come with a proper quickset date. Instead it comes with primitive quickset date where you move the hour hand between 21 and 02 to change the date.

Buy it if you like it. I, personally would look for a stainless chronometer version which costs about the same and can be passed on easily if it turns out you don't like it.

[Robbo12]

Nice watch! I think its been restored but as Paul said you really need to go and have a look.

[walkerwek1958]

I think the watch is well worth considering, but I’d need to see it and handle it before deciding to buy.

It would take me less than 60 secs to decide whether this one’s worth buying. I’m not a fan of the rolled gold/ capped bracelets unless their in near- mint condition, usually they’re showing signs of wear and that spoils them.

Gold- capped watches can be good value if they’re in the right condition, I had a gold- capped Constellation on my bench a few months back and after a dose of careful refinishing it looked really nice, far better value than an expensive ( and rare) solid gold version.

A nice yellow gold vintage watch on a black strap is a killer combination, this could have a lot if potential but equally it could be one to avoid, from the info available it’s impossible to tell.

[stix]

Thanks for all the truly excellent advice and I'm in no rush to buy and I'm not hankering after this model particularly. I just thought it looked like a possibility and worth a look at least. Nothing back from the owner which makes me cautious, as always. Cheers.

[stix]

Nice watch! I think its been restored but as Paul said you really need to go and have a look.

I agree and that's what my instinct is telling me but, it still looks like a nice restoration IF, the price was right and the movement was in good shape. I'll keep you posted.

Edit: SOLD and not to me. The owner didn't want to divulge any info, wouldn't move on price and told me to look on Chrono 24 instead. Glad I didn't buy it but I learned a lot in the process

[walkerwek1958]

I don’t think the price was unreasonable provided the watch was good. However, rightly or wrongly I assign very little value to these bracelets unless they’re steel and in good condition. The gold ones never look right to me and they’re always worn in places.

Gold- capped watches are the hardest to evaluate, some have clearly had a visit to the polishing wheel and that always worries me, especially surfaces that should be brushed have been polished smooth. Getting the correct finish back can be tricky, you never know the thickness of the gold. Also, deep dings can’t be removed by polishing. A lot if the gold capped watch cases are simply worn out, I’ve bought similar watches for parts in the past. The cases can’t be replated because the underlying metal is steel.

If I was looking for a gold vintage Omega I wouldn’t rule out a gold- capped example (or rolled gold), but I’d be v. careful when buying. If the seller won’t communicate that’s not helpful!

[stix]

I don’t think the price was unreasonable provided the watch was good. However, rightly or wrongly I assign very little value to these bracelets unless they’re steel and in good condition. The gold ones never look right to me and they’re always worn in places.

Gold- capped watches are the hardest to evaluate, some have clearly had a visit to the polishing wheel and that always worries me, especially surfaces that should be brushed have been polished smooth. Getting the correct finish back can be tricky, you never know the thickness of the gold. Also, deep dings can’t be removed by polishing. A lot if the gold capped watch cases are simply worn out, I’ve bought similar watches for parts in the past. The cases can’t be replated because the underlying metal is steel.

If I was looking for a gold vintage Omega I wouldn’t rule out a gold- capped example (or rolled gold), but I’d be v. careful when buying. If the seller won’t communicate that’s not helpful!

Thanks for that, great information for future purchases