Hi All. Pretty new to the world of watches and very new to the world of Omega. Have been reading and studying a ton but........ Would love this group's opinion on the eBay watch linked below. Curious as to its authenticity, originality and overall correctness. It looks good to me -- I can see obvious markings on case, movement and bezel and the price appears right, but as I said......I'm just getting started. No idea how to pot more nuanced issues or clever fakes. Seller has perfect credentials and states everything to be pretty much original/authentic. You will quickly notice the watch is showing as "SOLD". That's me. However, I have communicated with the seller and he knows I am holding him to the strictest interpretation of his description, which again goes back to nearly everything being 100% original/authentic. Any and all thoughts are welcome. Please don't hold back because I am half-way pregnant. Thank you. http://www.ebay.com/itm/161416925883Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
Hi, I looked at this watch too. Overall it looked pretty good, although I think the original bracelet would have been a 1039, rather than the later 1171. The one thing that looked odd to me was the inside of the case back. It looks like it has been polished (circular swirls almost gone) and the final number six in the 105.012-66 looked like it had been engraved recently (a reason for the polished inner face?). From my experience, often the final number is of a larger size than those preceding, but the six here just looks a bit off to me. Maybe request a better photo?
Thanks for the quick reply and...wow, great catch. I will ask the seller for another pic and to comment. Thanks!
Looks pretty good to me, dial, case, caseback, serial # on movement, crown, etc all correct. Inner case back I'm not sure about, but everything else is correct to 1966, so I doubt its been altered. Only things I see: bracelet is wrong, should be a 1506, 1039, or 1116. The 1171 came later on. Also, the anti-mag dust cover plate is a modern replacement. These discrepancies are minor. I'd say you scored, congrats.
I think you've done well, it doesn't have the 1506 or 1039 bracelet but in all honesty as someone who owns four of those flat links and doesn't wear any of them because they're uncomfortable, flimsy hair pullers you're not missing out on much especially if you intend to wear it as the 1171 bracelet its on is very nice to wear and feels great on the wrist. If it really bothers you, the old bracelets are not hard to find, but I'd save the money and invest in a quality shell cordovan strap and keep the 1171 instead. Congrats on your 321. Do the right thing by the way and service it before wearing it or even winding it, you can do damage to the movement by running it when dry and its not worth the risk, get a good independent that knows Speedmasters to take care of it for you.
Thanks everyone. Appreciate all the feedback and great guidance. Feels good to be a part of the Omega world! Thank you!
The dustcover looks like a newer replacement. The bracelet looks really worn, and the endpieces looks like newer replacements too. The originals should be ref 633. The crown doesn´t look like the original to the watch. Even if an Omega signed replacement, IMO it should be one that fits better. Altogether it might not still be a dealbreaker, but it´s not a 100% watch.....
Thanks Marturx. For educational purposes, could you comment on what you see in the pictures that indicates the crown should fit better? Thanks.
UPDATE: Received the actual watch (it looks absolutely terrific in-person) about a week ago and took it to my local watchmaker to get it fully serviced. Short story is that my great looking watch has one very important imperfection and that is......and this is where I'm going to butcher the explanation........the staff of the 321 is a replacement part and had been put in off-center causing improper movement within the pallet fork. The bottom-line is that the watch will now only tell time accurately when the chronograph is running. No idea why this is of course but my watchmaker seemed to think fixing the watch fully would be too difficult, perhaps due to scarcity of parts? A few of questions.......Am I making any sense at all? Do you think this was a B.S. move by my seller, one where he knew what he was passing on ...or perhaps and honest mistake? And lastly, anyone believe there is a better long term solution than leaving the chronograph on full-time? Thanks for any input.
The ad described the watch as 'running well', which although does not strictly imply it keeps time, does suggest there are no significant issues, which there are. Hard to imagine he was not aware there was a problem? Not sure on the difficulty of repairs.
It might be worth asking your watchmaker exactly which parts need replacing. The balance, balance staff and pallet are no longer made but you can still get the roller and the balance jewels. If it just needs a new balance staff, a good watch maker should be able to make one from scratch but it will take him (or her) a few hours to make, then possibly truing the balance wheel and refitting it all. Obviously, this won't be cheap but perhaps you could negotiate a partial refund from the seller to go towards the cost.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have contacted the seller to determine best path forward. To MSNWatch and the two Likes..........can't tell if you are hitting me with an inside joke ( please let me in) or if you really think my watchmaker is lacking. I have no way of knowing if he is any good or not but he seems very confident. Stated the issue was with the balance staff and balance an thus no replacements. Should he be able to figure this out if he were any good? Thanks for hanging in with me. I'm a perfect example of not knowing what I don't know, but willing to wade into the deep end nonetheless! Thanks. Tom
Tom I don't think they are having a joke at your expense. It is all a question of money. Where a balance staff is still available, you might typically pay £10 for it in the UK. If you had to have one hand made, it would take maybe half a day to make. You have to bear in mind that this is precision metalworking on a minute scale with tolerances in the 1/100 of millimetres. So it would cost more to have a balance staff made than it would to service a three hand watch. Any part for a watch can be made by hand if the skills and finances are there - try searching for Roger Smith watches and you will find this out. He was the protege of the late, great, George Daniels who bequeathed him his workshop and that is like Carl Faberge leaving you his egg recipe.