I've been looking for a nice 396 or 398, and the problem seems to be that a lot of them out there look....too nice...with dials and bezels that seem like they were made yesterday. Like this one:



Not sure what to make out of this phenomenon--whether there was a lot of NOS lying around that someone put to good use, or whether a lot of this stuff is repro material. Does anyone have some insight they can share?

Many thanks

 

I've started looking for a nice 398.1041 as well....the one you posted actually looks pretty legit. There is a nice patina on both the dial markers as well as the hands...and they are somewhat even. It's common for the patina on the hands to not match that of the dial markers.

 

There are fake/repro inserts available on ebay etc for the mid size but not to my knowledge for the rarer full size models. The bezels for neither size are available as a spare part any more. If you must change one, you have to order a full case at considerable expense. That one above looks legit to me. Its not perfect though, note the deep dent on the insert and surround at the 30 mark. By the way 396 or 398 doesn't uniquely identify the Pre-Bond, it is a general code for a bracelet Omega so you are better of just using Pre-Bond when referring to the design, the second part of the case number 1041/51/61 is actually more unique to this model, depending on size and version.

 

I bought one of these for my dad, but he didn t want it so I wear it myself. Its a great daily wearer and gets much more wrist time than I expected. I also use it as my travel watch. When you do find one, you won t be disappointed. (thanks you padders for putting his, now my watch up for sale)