Vintage Omega Watches - Page 3

If you feel like selling the PloProf, don't hesitate to send me a PM. I'll add a few hundred percent...


The 30T2 is often claimed as one of the finest hand-wound "working man's watch" movements ever made. Later Omega changed its name to 265, which by coincidence is ticking in the 50s Omega I'm wearing today...


Let's just guess that you think of sapphire crystal and are just as absent-minded as I seem to be from time to time...

Not all Speedies have the Hesalite, many are equipped with a slightly cleverer choice of crystal...


Yup, an acrylic/Hesalite has a reddish look to it while a sapphire is more bluish (mostly because of the AR coating, I guess).


Check out Longines, Tissot, Certina, Hamilton, Eterna, Zenith...to begin with.

/M

I have an Omega with the cal.265. It's one of those odd South American Red Star chronometer grade movements in a rather rare 18kt case.

Also, Doxa and Mido made some nice watches.

Hi Roger,

Do you know any places in Vancouver where I might bring a vintage Omega Constellations to be cleaned professionally and the cost?

I thought this would be a good thread for my first post. It looks like there are several omega speedmaster owners on here... here's mine. It's a limited edition version celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the first space walk.



I am also a big fan of the vintage omega dress watches and hope to pick up a few examples some day.

- Jonathan

I've got one of the new Co-Axial AquaTerras and absolutely love it. My next watch will likely be a vintage Deville.

Nice shot! Good looking watch, complex without being fussy.

Omega doesn't really do it for me. Neither does rolex and a host of others. One of these days I'm going to get myself a vintage Vacheron or Patek.

Hi Roger,

I just received (found after moving around stuff in the house) an Omega Constellation (about 1970ish) that belonged to my dad who got it from his mother's brother who owned a pawn shop in China a very long time ago and I'm looking to have it cleaned up and possible checked for damages if it isn't too expensive. It works fine.

Congrats... great find!

Thanks! They also look great on a strap... it dresses the Speedmasters up a bit.

Thanks!

I was actually looking for similar watches on Ebay and they all ended up at $3-400 USD which is out of my $100-150 price range and I'm very happy with this discovery - the family history is only an added bonus.

When I first got in to collecting watches, I focused on Omega because it was the watch I most associated with my father and because they were affordable. I started with early Seamasters/Devilles and worked my way up to the iconic "pie-pan" Constellation. I've since broadened my horizons, but I still have a dozen or so pie-pans, and another dozen or so assorted Omegas from WWI officer watches, to a 1997 "Bond" SMP (painfully common I know, but IMHO, still the best looking modern dive watch around).

A few observations from my time collecting these things:

1. Leave the dials alone. It's amazing how few vintage Omegas still have their original untouched dial. Americans obsess over having the dials in mint condition, bright white, whatever, but unless it's obscuring the numbers or you're not wearing the watch because it looks so bad, try and deal with it. Another thing I've noticed is that on many lower-end vintage Omegas, the redial jobs are horrible. Remember, that many dials (especially silver ones) can be cleaned and dramatically improved without having to be redialed.

2. Don't overpolish the case. I'm all for some light buffing to reduce scratches, but it's a shame to see the formerly crisp lines of old Rolex and Omega cases reduced to soft messes, because an owner took it in to some ham handed jeweler ever few years to buff out his own carelessness.

3. Don't lose the buckles. If you switch to a deployant clasp to extend the life of that precious large "bamboo" alligator strap, don't lose the original Omega (or Rolex) buckle - and if you're not going to use it any more, sell it to me :-) Those little steel or gold buckles with the Omegas or crowns on them are getting to be murder to find in the right sizes.

4. Don't overservice your vintage watches. They don't need a service every three to five years. If nothing is wrong with them, I wouldn't do it more than once every ten, honestly. And even if it's a chronometer grade watch, don't expect the same accuracy that a brand new COSC watch delivers.

5. Find a good watchmaker to repair your watches, and talk to him (and listen) as much as you can.

6. If you want to judge the value of your vintage Omega or Rolex, check out what they go for at auctions, and not what they sell for at Ralph Lauren or Bergdorf's. ;-)

7. Speaking of values, don't underestimate what the plain Jane stainless Omegas from the 50's are going to be bringing down the road. Everyone obsesses about the pie-pans, but Omega did a lot of really simple and elegant ,quality entry-level watches that you can nab easily for under $400 right now. With a little love, I think these things will be the pie-pans and semi-bubblebacks of the next decade.

I love those: I couldn't wear one, though, the whole family is cursed with slim wrists.