I knew I should have looked around before sending my watch off to be looked over! Even worse, I didn't even take pictures before I dropped it off. With that out of the way, I'd like to find out if it's worth the money to have it worked on. My Grandfather retired from US Steel in 1976 (after 40 years!) and received an Omega watch, he recently passed away and the watch was given to me. There is a local Omega store so I took it in to find out a little more about it. It wasn't easy figuring out the model, the lower part of the face where clues would be had the US Steel logo instead, the back is engraved. After some non-invasive inspection, the best guess is an early 1970's Seamaster Deville. It appears to be all original and I have my doubts that it was ever serviced. The 'glass' has some decent scratches as does the band, the band also has a slight ding where the pin attaches. It is an "Automatic" and appears to work, although I didn't try to see if it kept time with any accuracy, only that the second hand moved. My thoughts are that it will need servicing (obviously) but I don't know what the options are yet, not sure if I should replace the 'glass', nor how much money is reasonable to spend on it. I know the engraving takes away from the value as far as resale goes, but I'm not selling it, it will stay in the family. But, should I just leave it as is and put it in the drawer, or do I spend the money and wear it?
Fair enough, I hate the fact I didn't take pictures! Are there a bunch of Omegas out there that were used as retirement gifts or is the fact that US Steel chose to do it more of a rarity? Perhaps Omega put in a massive order for an inferior watch to use for this purpose? Also, would there be any harm in servicing, including replacing the glass, as far as a value goes?
I could easily answer that. Pretty answerable too. No problem answering that either! Each picture of your actual watch gets you 1 answer. If you respond later with photos, check back to this post as I'll edit in the responses when pics materialize.
I suppose you have good reasons! Fair enough, I'll come back to this thread when I get the watch back and hope you and/or others can help me determine what I have and the back story. Unless the service/repair cost is extraordinary I'll have the work done so you'll see the finished product here. I'll trust that Omega won't do anything to lower the value! What's the worst case, I get a working, restored Omega watch that my Grandfather had for ~37 years?! Not only was he there for 40 years, he was a WWII vet, I'll be proud to wear it regardless. Thanks, ulackfocus, for the quick replies!
Dammit. I've been on messageboards, obviously not Omega messageboards. I'll get the pics up ASAP, I promise!
Doug, you're getting Dennis-ed. It's a rite of passage. Just don't answer your phone when it starts to ring around 2AM tonight. Or answer the door....
You scratch our back, we'll scratch yours. Profusely I might add. I don't do much as much hazing as I could.
Thanks, LouS. I don't mind, and now that I think about it I understand the reasoning. I'll do my part as soon as I get it back in my hands!
I'm going to, overall, honour dennis' refusal to give you any further answers, but I will say DO NOT GIVE IT TO OMEGA TO SERVICE!!!! They WILL lower its value. Dennis (and others) will give you more info once you give us pictures. (we are so mean!)
No, we just don't want a bad precedent set. Also, we might be giving wrong information without seeing the watch in question. For a good example of how to make a post asking for information, check this one that just surfaced a few minutes ago: http://omegaforums.net/threads/help-me-id-this-watch.3836/ THAT'S how you do it.
Totally understand, I saw the post and I agree. I just found this site and had already sent the watch off, my curiosity of the watch drove me to post on here anyway. I'll definitely get back here when I get the watch back.
I'll bet it looks something like this.... Stolen from the web. US Steel awarded a lot of these to employees over the years. Not sure why you would use the term "inferior" in describing these watches. Some of the automatic movements used in these are among the best Omega ever produced. Even if a later version, they were nice watches. They were all stainless, as one would expect from US Steel. I'll give a little bit, because I'm not Philly tough like ULF. That's all you get until we see the real pictures. gatorcpa
In answer to your question about big companies giving away Omegas, it was a common practice before the shareholders and beancounters got involved. While most of the "bulk" presentation watches weren't solid 18K Connies, they were quality Seamaster, Geneves and DeVilles, by no means inferior in any way. My Dad was presented with a gold Omega when he retired, like your Dad he was a WW2 vet and worked for a steel company from the time the war ended until he retired. Here's a pic of his (or mine now). and another before it went onto an Omega strap.
A distraction from the thread For some time I have noticed the trend in retirement /long service watch gifts has changed dramatically. Up until the sixties some of your average employees would receive Omega, Longines, Tudor etc. Then a steady decline in the value gifted, a few days ago I posted a Seiko from the eighties (20 years service) Now many receive very little if anything. Maybe just the attitude " you've been lucky to have a job mate"