1968 Omega Seamaster Cosmic

Good evening all.

I am new to the world of watch collecting but have spent many an evening reading hundreds of threads being seduced by the passion with which you all speak about your watches.

I come seeking some much needed advice. My father had a Omega Seamaster Cosmic with a cross hair dial which was a present given to him on his 18th birthday by his parents in early 1969.

The watch was stolen in the late 1980s but he has always spoken about replacing it but has never felt able to justify the expenditure.

He is about the retire, for the 2nd time, and I would love to present him with a similar watch from the correct year. I am almost certain, from what I can see on old photos, that the watch was a 166.026 or very similar and I have been searching for a fine example of one to present to him in April.

Here comes the request, I have found and dismissed, through knowledged gained on here, a couple for sale on Chrono 24 for being poorly redialed or altered but would like your advice on this piece please. I have been looking for some time and feel like time is running out.

I am not looking for perfection, I would just prefer something as close to his original as possible.

https://chrono24.app/omega/seamaste...ced--id21734162.htm?SETLANG=en_GB&SETCURR=GBP

I asked for a photo of bottom of the dial as something about the ' swiss made' didn't look right and was sent the attached photo.

It looks to have some appropriate age related marks on the dial and I assumed that as they are front loading these are to be expected. Despite extensive images searches I cannot see another similar dial but there appears to be so much dial variation. The hands also appear that they might not be original.

Any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Warren

Nice gesture

Agree, hands are incorrect and there is something amiss with the date wheel, not aligned properly

I have one, but had to change the dial as it was damaged ( on left)

Looks like a redial to me. I don't like the Omega text, and I really don't like the Seamaster signature, especially that capital S

I agree about the lettering, looks off. I believe hands should have black inlays. Here’s mine.

I vote redial. The font Is off and the way the minute track is flaking is not typical. Additionally, these crosshair dials had a brushed metal finish and not a "sparkling" surface as seen in this case. Most times when the watches are redialed, the surface is damaged so they can't reprint and lacquer the dial to maintain the brushed metal finish, so they paint the dial with a metallic paint to compensate. Here is a photo of my dial:

Thank you all very much for taking the time and giving me the benefit of your experience. On to the next one!