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Omega Stories: Omega’s Best Value Used Chronograph - De Ville Prestige Cal 861

dsio
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The DeVille Prestige Chronograph is hands down, the absolute best value Omega chronograph you can buy on the secondary market. At $1400 or less, you're almost purchasing a Calibre 861 movement and getting a free watch and bracelet that happens to look and feel great for free. It can be maintained easily by an independent watchmaker for a reasonable price, the movement it shares with the Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch will have a supply of parts until the end of time. [..]

Visit Omega’s Best Value Used Chronograph - De Ville Prestige Cal 861 to read the full article.
 
gbesq
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Completely agree. And it's a great looking watch. Thanks for reminding me - and the rest of us - of this so that we can run out and add yet another Omega to our collections. ::facepalm1::
 
dsio
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gbesq gbesq
Completely agree. And it's a great looking watch. Thanks for reminding me - and the rest of us - of this so that we can run out and add yet another Omega to our collections. ::facepalm1::
Hey at least it’s a cheap one! One day I’d like to grab one for myself too, I’ve purchased several as an intermediary for other people in the past and always loves them, particularly how supple and nice the bracelet is for the money but always has to pass them on to the eventual end user.

I think if a white dial came along with the subdial rings that might be what pushed me over the edge.
 
RevZMan123
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These watches are all cheap, until you post about how cool they are, then the market breaks! Pretty nice watch up there.
 
Alpha
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Get thee behind me Satan 😀
 
mahomes
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Have to agree on that. Often found banged up vintage de ville/ seamaster chronographs for way more, which in my head doesn’t make any sense when you can buy this one for way less…
 
dsio
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mahomes mahomes
Have to agree on that. Often found banged up vintage de ville/ seamaster chronographs for way more, which in my head doesn’t make any sense when you can buy this one for way less…
Yea completely agree, like this for example is listed at $4295, you can buy 3 De Ville Prestige Chronos for that and this is gold plated with wear-through that looks terrible and frankly is a case design that looks pretty mediocre. For that same money you could even get an 18K solid gold prestige 861 on strap which is a vastly better watch.

There are a lot of vintage chronos that are honestly a bit crap and priced high just because they’re old rather than because they’re in any way good to own or wear.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175216589471

D1C4563E-C59D-408D-BDF7-E194AB3E3FB6.jpeg
 
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mahomes
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RevZMan123 RevZMan123
These watches are all cheap, until you post about how cool they are, then the market breaks! Pretty nice watch up there.
Haha let’s hope it won’t
 
mahomes
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dsio dsio
Yea completely agree, like this for example is listed at $4295, you can buy 3 De Ville Prestige Chronos for that and this is gold plated with wear-through that looks terrible and frankly is a case design that looks pretty mediocre. For that same money you could even get an 18K solid gold prestige 861 on strap which is a vastly better watch.

There are a lot of vintage chronos that are honestly a bit crap and priced high just because they’re old rather than because they’re in any way good to own or wear.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175216589471

D1C4563E-C59D-408D-BDF7-E194AB3E3FB6.jpeg
That’s a nice example right there.
Also the reason why I started looking at these models instead of the older ones. The value is completely gone there
 
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lucreative
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Trying to figure out different straps to dress down the 18K gold 4640.31.00 for more regular wear and I think I found it. No.8 Shell Cordovan and this watch is more beautiful than I could imagine. Definitely worth more to me than the value I bought this for, especially for a solid gold piece.

20251125_203655.webp 20251125_204550.webp
 
lucreative
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And this makes me sad cause I know exactly what happened to these watches. Currently listed on eBay, both came from 18k solid gold watches, and one still has the solid gold crown attached. Glad I could save at least one.

eBaymovementanddial861.webp
 
dsio
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lucreative lucreative
And this makes me sad cause I know exactly what happened to these watches. Currently listed on eBay, both came from 18k solid gold watches, and one still has the solid gold crown attached. Glad I could save at least one.

eBaymovementanddial861.webp
Sad but not surprising, even the steel versions were often selling for less money than a loose Cal 861 movement and becoming donors.

These regular De Ville prestige models are also going to be increasingly on the chopping block along with the Speedmaster Heritage

https://stories.omegaforums.net/the-speedmaster-classic-heritage-aka-maison-fondee-en-1848/

They’re heavy cases in watches that just don’t have much love or enthusiasm from collectors
 
lucreative
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At least I was able to gleam some valuable info from these 2 sellers. They were both able to independently confirm to me that the weight of the 861 movement and dial with hands is 21 grams. The weight of the 18k De Ville Prestige 861 with 18k gold Omega buckle weighed 68 grams. So minus 4 grams for the sapphire crystal and you have about 40 grams of 18k solid gold in this watch. Tough choice in this gold market.
 
lucreative
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dsio dsio
Sad but not surprising, even the steel versions were often selling for less money than a loose Cal 861 movement and becoming donors.

These regular De Ville prestige models are also going to be increasingly on the chopping block along with the Speedmaster Heritage

https://stories.omegaforums.net/the-speedmaster-classic-heritage-aka-maison-fondee-en-1848/

They’re heavy cases in watches that just don’t have much love or enthusiasm from collectors
I was also initially hesitant to buy this watch, but it is truly more beautiful in person. A true gold dress chronograph with stunning gold touches. Even the steel only version, I can see the beauty with the rings and indices. It's the "Omega Only" name that is plain and cause confusion (you have to use the right keywords to find it) and it's thick for a dress watch. But then again, you are housing a 861 movement under sapphire. If it was 37mm or 38mm and had De Ville on the dial, this would easily be double the price on market. I brought my watch to a jewelry store to look for straps and the salesperson held the watch and was surprised by the weight and thought it was easily double what I paid for.
 
goudaville
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dsio dsio
E90C9AAB-DDFC-41E8-A287-FBC9DF308E76.webp


The DeVille Prestige Chronograph is hands down, the absolute best value Omega chronograph you can buy on the secondary market. At $1400 or less, you're almost purchasing a Calibre 861 movement and getting a free watch and bracelet that happens to look and feel great for free. It can be maintained easily by an independent watchmaker for a reasonable price, the movement it shares with the Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch will have a supply of parts until the end of time. [..]

Visit Omega’s Best Value Used Chronograph - De Ville Prestige Cal 861 to read the full article.
never seen these before, killer dial
 
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