Tj,

The consensus is that straps are consumables like the tires on your ducats. I like Hadley Roma and Hirsch. The rumour is that Hirsch make the omega OEM straps.

Its one of these:
http://www.watchobsession.co.uk/products/hirsch-tiger-perforated-leather-performance-watch-strap-in-brown-09150750102

They are fairly new....
Alpha put me onto it here:
http://omegaforums.net/threads/hirsch-robby.15738/

Lots of examples here:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/new-shoes-hirsch-performance-tiger-james-1039676.html

The shirt is an occupational hazard - especially when the weather is as muggy as it was on Wednesday... first world problems, I guess!

 

Welcome to the forum TJ but you need an avatar or the mods will inflict one on you. I'm glad you stuck around this is a good and friendly forum with plenty of help when you need it. Uncle Buck gave you sound advice but without the sugar coating. The vintage market is fraught with disaster but these guys will help with any questions you've got. Next time ask first buy later or look at the sales corner where fakes are weeded out sharpish.
Your other purchases are nice though.

 

Event horizon-thank you for the suggestion, duly noted and appropriate action has been taken (provided you like pretty women on bicycles and pretty cars).

By way of a post mortem on this thread, I would love some definitions. I haven't noodled around to see if this is covered elsewhere but it seems to me like the following descriptors apply:

Franken-a watch which is composed of numerous components which may or may not be the product of the original manufacturer, and/or which may or may have not left the factory together. i.e., a movement from one model, put in a case of another model, with a dial from yet another.

Fake-a watch which contains one or more components not produced by the manufacturer which is named on the dial, case, or movement. i.e., an original Omega movement and/or case with a dial not made by Omega, despite the words "Omega" being on it.

I guess I think of "fake" to mean "counterfeit" such as counterfeit Rolexes commonly purchased in SoHo or on the streets of Shanghai.

I was not aware of counterfeit movements being made in the 40s and 50s. Did they exist? If not, do people make counterfeit vintage movements? It would seem that the market for such items would be very small, but then as I continue to remind y'all, there's a lot I don't know about watches.

Finally, I have spoken with the dealer who sold me the watch, and as I suspected, he has openly offered to research my money in full if I'm not happy with the watch. I sent it to him in order to have it repaired (it stopped running) and brought up the topic of the watch's originality. He is going to send the watch to Omega and ask for their opinion about it as well. I bought the watch from him because when I met him, I trusted him. So far he has done nothing to cause me to feel that such trust was misplaced, and has been completely amicable regarding this topic. I merely wanted to see what his reaction would be but I never felt like he has knowingly or intentionally sold me a watch which he knew to be fake. Regardless of the outcome, I've learned a valuable lesson.

Ciao!
-tj in los gatos

PS-thanks to Mothra sharing the numerous cool options regarding bands for my Speedy, it seems very plain and boring with its existing band. You guys were right, you're already costing me money.

 

Hi TJ,
Welcome to this eccentric and highly addicted club.
You hit right with franken and fake definition. As your questions about 40-50's fake movement, surprisingly there are out there.
There is a thread dedicated to educate members about fake Omega watches be it modern or vintage:
http://omegaforums.net/threads/dont-fall-for-a-fake-vintage-omega.6235/

Hope it could enhance your knowledge so you can develop 'spidey sense' against fake and then franken that will save a lot of dough in this game full of mines.

Cheers,
H

 

I believe that Camille Fournet makes the Omega straps.

 

Fake watches go back even further than the 40's and 50's. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the Swiss were making fakes of the American movements of the day. Pocket watch collectors refer to these as "Swiss fakes" which would mean something different to most modern collectors.

 

As a follow up to the original intent of this thread I thought I'd share that the individual from whom I bought the watch has promised to thoroughly research the provenance of my watch and has sent it to Omega for their assessment. He has promised to do whatever he needs to in order to make me happy (full refund, credit, etc.). I also thought you might appreciate this photo of my Speedy. I took Mothra's lead and ordered a Hirsch Tiger for it. I had it installed it today and absolutely love it.

-tj in los gatos

 

Looks great.

 

Unclebuck is very literally the exact opposite of your impression of him Man, you just took his ass right out to the woodshed lolzzz

 

I always wanted to tell you this but I never felt I had the right time or opportunity: Desmond, you just seem like a really good egg. You're everything I wish the entire vintage watch collecting community should aspire to be. Sorry if that came off as condescending or corny sounding but it's from the bottom of my heart.

-Rich

 

We're all buddies now (I think)

Nice outfit tj, how soft/supple is that strap?

 

It's OK, Rich, I've been reamed way better before by professionals! He must have spoken to my wife!

He actually was pretty accurate but he missed a whole bunch of stuff, like obese, narcissistic, alcoholic, drug abusing, controlling old fart with OCD and a boob and foot fetish! And.......I wouldn't change a thing!!


Seriously TJ, I owe you, while your insults made me chuckle, I did receive the underlying message of your post and you hit home with a valuable lesson.

New members are in a vulnerable, sensitive position and they must be treated extra respectfully and extra care must be taken in how views and information is expressed to them.
The tone of conversation one would have with a grizzled veteran of the forum will not serve when meeting someone new.

I'm movin' on.

 

citizenrich-I should have deleted that post because I've apologized both publicly and privately to UB, and I have (as has he) moved on. I don't recall exactly who it was that explained the ethos regarding taking fakes/frankens out of the "eco-system." I not only understand with the sentiment, but it's one I applaud, because I am not at all "down" with the integrity and quality of craftsmen's work being diluted by poorly constructed copies which infringe upon the intellectual property of their original creators.

On to the next-the vendor from whom I purchased said piece has been in the watch business for 30+ years, and is a watchmaker himself. His attitude and tone toward me was completely understanding, open, and friendly. I even directed him to this forum and this thread so he could read your opinions and the stated facts regarding the watch. Again, he was willing to do whatever was/is necessary to make me happy, and my guess is that if any part of the watch is indeed "not Omega" I believe he will also remove it from the market. If he won't, I will. That said, his initial assessment was that he believed that the movement and case belonged together, although perhaps the case back was not matching. He agreed that the dial looked suspect. Again, he has sent it to Omega, so it will be interesting to see how thoroughly and honestly they vet this watch.

JimInOz-the Speedy is a delight to wear with the Hirsh strap. It's extremely comfortable, with none of the "it will be nice once it breaks in" character one usually finds with new straps. I may buy one for my TAG Heuer Carrera Panamericana Re-edition as it's strap is starting to look pretty dogged out.

Finally-UB, I'm more of an "assman" than a titty guy. Assuming we're talking about women's feet, we share that particular fetish, but only if said foot is either shoeless, or wrapped in a pair of Manolos, or Leboutin heels. = )

 

Love the heels but must be "open toe".............Hey, we better stop or move to an even sicker forum. (But less expensive!)

Anyway, I'm not a tool watch guy but I do admire the historical Speedy, your's looks great!

You can't go wrong following Stu Mothra 's lead, one of the class guys here.

 

UB-agreed on all accounts.

As a follow up to this circuitous thread, how much confidence does the collective wisdom of this group put in Omega's Service Center? The seller of the watch has taken it to them and is going to email me their decision regarding it. I'm curious if anyone has found them to be uneducated about their vintage movements, especially given that they are now part of The Swatch Group.

-tj in los gatos

 

I received an update from my watch vendor the other day. He sent the watch to Omega in Southern California who, after inspecting the watch, informed us that it would need to be sent to Switzerland for service. According to my vendor, they would not work on it unless it is 100% Omega, and their report seems to indicate that there are no original Omega parts on it. As to whether or not all components left Omega in one watch, at one time, they have not weighed in on this topic. They did ID it as a Caliber 268, and amongst their findings were that 1-there seemed to be some sign of moisture in the movement, 2-one or more dial feet are broken, 3-the dial does not have its original fixing, and 4-the lubricant in the movement is dry. They're recommending a complete service.

I haven't spoken with my vendor yet, but he's promised to take care of me, no matter what I decide.

I will see if he learned anything about whether or not they had an opinion as to the components and their originality.

-tj in los gatos

 

Tj, interested to see how this one resolves. I'm guessing that the broken dial feet mean omega would be swapping out the dial anyway, and it will be fascinating to see what they swap in instead....

 

I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

"Omega"



Technos

 

A very popular dial indeed. Must have been standard issue from a dial-maker. The OPs dial is certainly not Omega

Here's an old Cortebert I once had.