Reply With QuoteHi,
I'm not an Omega person but I once looked at their website and if you register it has a really good history section etc - must be worth a look for starters.
Cheers
J.
Hi All,
I've been ready a few threads about birth year watches and I'm quite keen to try and get one from my birth year 1974.
I think I've narrowed it down to an Omega but now the tricky part how would I go about finding out what watches Oemga produced in 1974 and where would I be best served to look for one apart from the SC?
Is it as simple as putting up a WTB add for a 1974 Omega and cross my fingers?
Thanks in advance
Gary
Hi,
I'm not an Omega person but I once looked at their website and if you register it has a really good history section etc - must be worth a look for starters.
Cheers
J.
I've had a look on the Oemga site but only could see the Tradition and Museum option which I scrolled through to 1974 but didn't give me a list of the watches produced that year :?:Originally Posted by Jeremy
Hmm, '74 seems to be a popular year. There's more info in this parallel thread:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94416
Happy hunting.
It gets much harder to find a birth year watch as you move into the 1950s. At least one that is not worn out (I want as near mint as possible even if that means a refurbishment). Maybe one day.
I reckon the eighties aren't that easy as well, that is if you don't want to buy quartz!
Go for a solid gold cased one with a 1974 hallmark. Or you could save "Omega 1974" as an ebay search and check out what comes up.
Regards
Tim
Should be rich pickings to be had for a 74 year watch - especially an Omega. You can get something very nice - say an F300 Geneve for a couple of hundred quid, through to a couple of £k or more......
A 1040 cal Seamaster variant from that vintage, or a Speedie, is just about as safe a bet as you could hope for with nice examples around for between £700 and £1200.
Have a look on http://www.old-omegas.com and look at some of the old brochure scans from that year to get an idea, and then you can do a specific model search in the Omega Archives site if a specific model catches your eye....
I personally have a 1972 Seamaster 'Jedi' Chronograph and a Breitling 'Sprint' Chronograph as my birth year pieces......and lovely things there are too!! :D Definitely the last things out the door should I ever have to sell up!! (God Forbid!!)
Cheers and good luck,
David.
Its a very romantic thing to get a birth year watch and something that I must do, but my top tip is dont let everyone know you want one as some would feel it appropriate to monopolise on that and add a bit on to the price. Just wait, far more romantic when a birth year just comes along rather than being hunted!!
RIAC
One other thing... The year of production is the most important when buying a birth year watch? Or is it also ok when it was first sold in your year of birth?
Watch this link for a Dutch vintage Omega seller, He has some 74's for sale!
Thanks for the heads up some good links in the other thread.Hmm, '74 seems to be a popular year. There's more info in this parallel thread:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94416
Happy hunting.Already had a look on Ebay and only a couple that caught my eye
I'd like something funky like the Flightmaster but open to anything that looks interesting but would need to be under 1k for sureI'd not be advertising the fact too much so hopefully not get mugged off too much but I'm very green to all this watch collecting..
Thanks for all the replies!!
I suppose you could allow it, if it was made within the 9 months before your birth :lol:
born in 1963 I need a pre moon speedmaster :(((( can't afford I think
nowadays I wear a SMP Bond type
Some nice zenith el primeros from the 80s....
I reckon the eighties aren't that easy as well, that is if you don't want to buy quartz!
I think the abacus was in fashion when I was born. Did Rolex make those too?
Good one... That'll definitely do if I would desire a 1980-born-watch!Some nice zenith el primeros from the 80s....
I reckon the eighties aren't that easy as well, that is if you don't want to buy quartz!
I was wanting a 79 rolex sub but thinking about it im gonna buy a new sub and wait for something special to pop up with a 79 date, i dont really want a 30 yr old watch that i will want to wear daily :D
This birth thing is wierd but true...........for whatever reason I was drawn to and bought a Series 2 landrover which rolled off the production line in my month of birth !!!...........sorry, not watch stuff but true !!! It's like a pet now -you just can't get rid of them !!
Cheers
PS Sorry Omega site wasn't any use.
I've been after a 1978 Tag for a while, never seen one for sale anywhere, maybe i'm just not looking in the right places.
I'm assuming that the popularity of the '74 and the fact that we are in 2009 are not unrelated. Maybe it's worth buying up '70, '75, and '80 models for the cheap, and sell them as 40/35/30 anniversary models next year? Oops, did I just ruin my one chance of wealth. Probably not.
It would appear 1974 Omegas have movement serial numbers in the 38 million range -
http://www.chronomaddox.com/omega_serial_numbers.html
These are the movement numbers and would indicate year of manufacture, the date of actual sale could be anywhere up to a few years after this :wink:
Thats the problem! What do you go off? If you buy from a person who bought it in 79 but after you have bought it took it home found out the serial number sits in 77/78 bracket. :evil:
I would be gutted as i know myself that its not the genuine article :shock: even worse if you have just forked out 2.5k
There's no clean solution. As in my eBay example in the other thread, caseback reads '74 but 355 movement lists as '77 in the speedie-tables, and '72/'73 in the 'generic' omega tables.
Even though the tables are approximate, the movement and case may have been produced in different years, and maybe even sold in a later year. So sales papers may not even be the final answer. If you look too closely, you are likely to find something that sticks out.
The upside to this craziness is that you can find Omega's that have funny combinations of features. For example, there are a few, nice examples of cal 861 speedmasters with the applied omega logo that was normally found on the (now more expensive and harder to service) cal 321's...
There is a solution. I've bought my vintage 300 from the guy I placed a link from. He supplies all the Omega's he sells with an Omega Certificate Of Authenticity. This certificate can be bought only from Omega and it states both year of production and year and location of first purchase. What more do you want? :thumbright:
Yeah, as I mentioned in my other post, I agree that this is the best solution. My point here was just that for some (many?) watches, these two years might differ in which case the situation is less clean.
Sounds cool that the seller provides these certificates. Anybody knows how much the service is from omega?
I think this is the reason i am not gonna spend big on my birth watch, to many variables! i think i will spend a few hundred quid on something that really catches my eye 8) ignorance is bliss :lol:
TBH thats probably a load of crap and i will end up seeing a mint 79 gmt/sub and blowing a lot of money on it. :lol:
don't suggest people start buying up watches from 1980, as I want to grab a bargin for myself next year when funds allow.
I've been told (not by the seller though) that these certificates cost about € 50 from Omega.
I'm searching for a nice birth year Sub for myself at the moment. It's amazing how addictive I've found it trying to track one down, just hope I won't need another 'fix' anytime soon :shock:.
HI,
This site gives a random assortment of well restored watches. Omega features prominently, and you can search by decade. Prices are a bit high - especially as they are Euro based, but at least you will get a feel for the models of that time.
http://shop.joseph-watches.com/joseph/e ... html&-view
Cheers
GS
Cheers for the Link, good to see what sort of watches are available. Some nice old Seiko's too
Really must have a look if any of mine are 1973 watch's failing that I'll be on the look out for something Heuer shaped from 73. 8)
Sometimes I despair of finding a wristwatch for my birth year where the gnomon has not lost its lume...
I could live with a vintage Omega Seamaster from the early sixties. I'm beginning to feel my age!
Might start looking on ebay and see what comes up.
I'm not sure 35 is a particular age milestone, but it seemed a good excuse to look for a new watch ;)
I have to say he's got a great selection of Omega watches on his site.
He is specialised in Speedmasters and works together with a former chief Omega repairman Ferrie Schweitzer. Authenticity is pretty much guaranteed but not very cheap.
I know, :lol: I just hope i dont run into one before early next year or my c/c my get a bashing :lol:
For me, if I ever considered a birth year watch it would have to be a Rolex. Funny thing is I have no other interest in Rolex watches apart from that.
Nick
I love the idea of birth year watches, and am buying some inheritance gifts for my sons. I have a 2008 Sub for the youngest, and when the right 2003 and 2005 Rolex come up for sale the older two will get theirs. Of course I'll be wearing them in the meantime :)
Probably not... but buying watches from 1960 for next year's 50th anniversary might work - particularly top of the range watches. :lol:
Cheers,
BB
Until I joined this forum I`d never encountered the 'birth year' phenomenon where old watches are concerned.
Frankly......I just don`t get it! As a genuine watch collector, I just don`t see the attraction of owning one that coincides with my birth year. I bougt & sold vintage Omegas for a while and I`m sure a 1958 example (my birth year) must have passed through my hands, but the significance was lost on me.
Can someone enlighten me?
Paul
I don't get it either! As in, I can't explain it... I'd still like one though. There's a definate appeal to being able to say (to oneself at least) 'this watch is as old as me' I suppose, but then 'this watch is older than me' is also appealing. :?
For me, I'd quite like to have an Accutron Spaceview anyway, and they did a case style I like in my birth year, so it seems like fate. The quest is on :lol:
First time i have heard this... i like the idea.,... anyone know what a 1975 watch would be??
That's the one thing I like about birth year watches, collecting them for my future offspring. My own birth year doesn't really bother me, watch technically!
That's the one thing I like about birth year watches, collecting them for my future offspring. My own birth year doesn't really bother me, watch technically!
It's something I'll do for my twins but as they only just turned one I've got a while to go yet.
I'd love a 1977 Sub. But Rolex Years are pretty hard to work out
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