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1958 with a budget of £500

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Hi everyone

I'm looking to purchase a watch for my dad's 60rh as a gift from my grandmother. I have a budget of £500 and missed out on one on eBay.

What are your thoughts?

Am I being too ambitious in aiming to get a watch from 1958 with this budget?

Any recommendations much appreciated!

Thank you!
 
shaun hk
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When is his birthday? I think it can be done, but it will take time, especially as many ad’s do not show the serial number.
 
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shaun hk shaun hk
When is his birthday? I think it can be done, but it will take time, especially as many ad’s do not show the serial number.

The 15th so time is very tight
shaun hk shaun hk
When is his birthday? I think it can be done, but it will take time, especially as many ad’s do not show the serial number.

! I've been looking for weeks but only found this forum last night.
 
shaun hk
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Hmm, think you are better off to start looking now for next year, it really is that much of a needle in a haystack. A quick search of the sales forums shows one within budget that was sold in Jan this year.
 
padders
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First is a definite redial and only 33mm so pretty small, avoid. The pointed rather than flat A is the tell.

The second looks better and is 34mm but I would want to know how he has dated it to 1958 as serials from that era aren’t easy to pin to a single year. I don’t recognise the case number and it doesn’t get a database hit (not in itself a black mark) so it may be a locally made case but it looks pretty good to me. Some of the lume looks a bit too clean so may have been redone but that may be forgivable.
Edited:
 
F
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padders padders
First is a definite redial and only 33mm so pretty small, avoid. The pointed rather than flat A is the tell.

The second looks better and is 34mm but I would want to know how he has dated it to 1958 as serials from that era aren’t easy to pin to a single year. I don’t recognise the case number and it doesn’t get a database hit (not in itself a black mark) so it may be a locally made case but it looks pretty good to me. Some of the lume looks a bit too clean so may have been redone but that may be forgivable.

Interesting. Thanks. I have asked for the serial number for the second one, awaiting a reply...
 
padders
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I would be wary of the claims of it being recently serviced, they all say that on eBay and often they lie. There is a good chance it’ll run poorly at that price, which is pretty reasonable for a late ‘50s Auto.
 
Edward53
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Crikey, you have painted yourself into a tight corner. And whatever watch you get, it will need servicing before wear as otherwise the dried-out works will grind themselves up. That will cost anywhere up to £200 for an auto, £120-ish for a manual wind and there's no way to get that done in time for the 15th.

This manual Omega looks honest to me and has a serial number that according to the tables dates from 1958. The photos are poor and you'd have to ditch that bracelet, but the dial isn't bad, the movement looks clean and it has the original box. It ends in 4 days so it'd be a gamble but I would be surprised if it goes above £500, but it's 9ct gold so you never know. However I doubt the first one you linked to will exactly fly out in the next four days but again, that's a gamble.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163417253770?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
 
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Snowman
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Try birthyearwatches website four or five on there for 1958
If you are not brand specific
I have bought from them in the past
Ok to deal with fast delivery
And the watch will have been serviced
Nice 1958 chronograph on there I nearly bought myself
But the crown was incorrect
 
Edward53
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@Fdl8 To add to my earlier post: the watch I linked to does not have a photo of the case back. If you are considering it, check first with the seller that there is no inscription on it!
 
padders
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Snowman Snowman
Try birthyearwatches website four or five on there for 1958
If you are not brand specific
I have bought from them in the past
Ok to deal with fast delivery
And the watch will have been serviced
Nice 1958 chronograph on there I nearly bought myself
But the crown was incorrect
I know Scott at BYW and can vouch for him. He’s a straight up guy.
 
padders
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The 9k gold one does look a good honest example, I like those 13322 models (only 33mm though) but at 12.7m serial that is too early for 1958, more like 1951-2 at a guess. It’s hard to make out the hallmark but if it is D and from B’ham that would be 1953, which would tally with a slightly older serial date. It could well be B for 51 or from another assay office, though Dennison were based in Birmingham of course.

Edward53 Edward53
Crikey, you have painted yourself into a tight corner. And whatever watch you get, it will need servicing before wear as otherwise the dried-out works will grind themselves up. That will cost anywhere up to £200 for an auto, £120-ish for a manual wind and there's no way to get that done in time for the 15th.

This manual Omega looks honest to me and has a serial number that according to the tables dates from 1958. The photos are poor and you'd have to ditch that bracelet, but the dial isn't bad, the movement looks clean and it has the original box. It ends in 4 days so it'd be a gamble but I would be surprised if it goes above £500, but it's 9ct gold so you never know. However I doubt the first one you linked to will exactly fly out in the next four days but again, that's a gamble.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163417253770?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
Edited:
 
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Edward53
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padders padders
The 9k gold one does look a good honest example, I like those 13322 models (only 33mm though) but at 12.7m serial that is too early for 1958, more like 1951-2 at a guess. It’s hard to make out the hallmark but if it is D and from B’ham that would be 1953, which would tally with a slightly older serial date. It could well be B for 51 or from another assay office, though Dennison were based in Birmingham of course.

I found 1958 for the 12s on watchfinder&co: https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/serial-numbers. However I see that Chronomaddox gives it as 1951-52. One of them is wrong, but which one?
 
padders
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Edward53 Edward53
I found 1958 for the 12s on watchfinder&co: https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/serial-numbers. However I see that Chronomaddox gives it as 1951-52. One of them is wrong, but which one?

Using your link It looks to me like WF show Omega 12-13m as circa 1950-52, they have 16m as 1958 which is more in line with my expectation, maybe you were looking at the Rolex section at the top? Rolex were at 1.2m for 1958.

Both lists are rough approximations and really only useful for getting within a year or so of what date an extract would come back at. What doesn't help is that different model ranges seem to have serials corresponding to slightly different dates. You see this a lot with Speedmasters where serials can jump by millions within a single month, from 22m to 24m for example in mid 1966. I would imagine it is to do with movements being used in batches but makes it tricky to date with certainty unless you have a lot of extracts or hallmarks. I keep a list of known dates vs serials for this purpose.
 
F
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Thanks everyone. Yes, I have got myself into quite a tight corner...

You guys obviously know a lot more about what you're talking about than me - which is why I came here!

I still haven't heard about the serial number for this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392189743502?ul_noapp=true
Does anyone else have any insights or thoughts on it? I think it's more my Dad's style than the gold option, although I very much appreciate the recommendation!

The Chronograp on BirthYearWatches is very nice - but £150 over budget unfortunately.

Do you think I'll have more luck if I veer away from 1958 and aim to get a nice vintage watch from any year? He does like his antiques and auctions so the year may not be of the utmost importance to him. If anyone has the inclination, are there any here: https://www.omegavintagewatches.co.uk/omega-wrist-watches that look good for less than £500? Or elsewhere?

Again, thanks so much for your help!
 
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Edward53
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padders padders
Using your link It looks to me like WF show Omega 12-13m as circa 1950-52, they have 16m as 1958 which is more in line with my expectation, maybe you were looking at the Rolex section at the top? Rolex were at 1.2m for 1958

Yes I was - duh! Looked at the numbers without checking the top of the list.... Thanks for pointing that out and apologies to OP for any confusion.
 
F
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Edward53 Edward53
Crikey, you have painted yourself into a tight corner. And whatever watch you get, it will need servicing before wear as otherwise the dried-out works will grind themselves up. That will cost anywhere up to £200 for an auto, £120-ish for a manual wind and there's no way to get that done in time for the 15th.

This manual Omega looks honest to me and has a serial number that according to the tables dates from 1958. The photos are poor and you'd have to ditch that bracelet, but the dial isn't bad, the movement looks clean and it has the original box. It ends in 4 days so it'd be a gamble but I would be surprised if it goes above £500, but it's 9ct gold so you never know. However I doubt the first one you linked to will exactly fly out in the next four days but again, that's a gamble.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163417253770?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

Do you find the lack of item description other than 'working order' to be a bit odd?
 
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