1945 Omega Suveran vanishing dial

bardamu · Feb 23, 2021

I've got this recently from Sweden and sent out to my watch guy for a due service.
Just wanted to share with you first pics coming from laboratory.
It is a Suveran, ref. 2400-7, with a fading dial. Logo is still barely visible under certain light conditions.
Nevertheless, I bought it because watch as a whole seemed attractive to me.
What do you guys think? Have you already seen this kind of vanishing on these? It's because of the hot swedish sun? 😀

tdn-dk · Feb 23, 2021

Have seen several Suverän with faded logo and name, so not uncommon.

watchyouwant · Feb 23, 2021

Seeing the different lume colour on dial and hands, it looks like a dial cleaning attempt to me....kind regards. Achim

ConElPueblo · Feb 23, 2021

It is, as @tdn-dk says, very common on Suveräns (and also ref. 2383s), yes. I don't think dial cleaning comes into it, as it only seen on some types of dials, but who knows?

Here are another few examples from recent sales:

And a ref. 2383 I used to own:

EDIT: I now realise that the first one I showed is probably the one the OP owns now 😁

hejsam · Feb 23, 2021

ConElPueblo
It is, as @tdn-dk says, very common on Suveräns (and also ref. 2383s), yes. I don't think dial cleaning comes into it, as it only seen on some types of dials, but who knows?

Here are another few examples from recent sales:

And a ref. 2383 I used to own:

EDIT: I now realise that the first one I showed is probably the one the OP owns now 😁

And the second one is a Officer not a Suverän, but produced in the same era so probably comparable either way 😀

I have also seen a couple Suverän with vanished dials, some looks cleaned and some untouched so both is possible IMO!

bardamu · Feb 23, 2021

ConElPueblo
It is, as @tdn-dk

EDIT: I now realise that the first one I showed is probably the one the OP owns now 😁

Oh yes, it definitely is 😁
It's on vacation in Italy now 😉

ConElPueblo · Feb 23, 2021

hejsam
And the second one is a Officer not a Suverän, but produced in the same era so probably comparable either way 😀

Haha, so much for my theory 😁

Maskelyne · Feb 23, 2021

It's quite common on Suverän dials. My theory is that the lacquer used on certain dials reacts with the print and slowly dissolves it. Heat and moisture are probably also involved in the ageing process
Here are some other deteriorated dials/prints.

Ref 2400-7