Hi All,
I'm new to the forum. I have a few vintage de villes, but recently bought an 18ct rose constellation at auction. I've had it serviced and it all seems to check out regarding serial numbers etc. I'm curious about the dial though, because I've not been able to find the same dial on any searches I've done. Could anyone advise if this is a common dial? It has some patina and some of the paint seems to be missing in places. I'm hoping the service got out any flakes that may have been floating around! Hope someone can help!

 

Fonts seem fine, well established incarnation and dial architecture were many.

My concerns esthetically center around the dial being harshly washed over time and you’ve lost minute markers and some crosshair, plus the minute hand seems a bit long, could be the angle.

How does the movt look? Inside case back? Medallion?

Pictures are so much more interesting than printed words......there’s a saying in there somewhere

My incarnation( but a touch newer than yours)with shark tooth markers

 

Dial seems genuine, time affected but not excessively.

 

The OPs second hand seems to be truncated on the counter weight side, lugs look polished, but bezel has nice definition.

As above, more photos appreciated

Could it be a cal 551 in a 14381 case ? Or is it later than this, from 1963 onwards?

 

I believe the dial is likely from the 60s rather than 50s. Those from the 50s usually were domed.

 

I'd think it would have to be a 50's dial with the "Chronomet(re)" spelling?

 

Beat me to it!,
2852 would be my guess.

 

Always good to learn something new

 

Thanks for all the observations! Great to hear what you guys can see from that one picture. It is a shame about the missing markers and part of the cross hairs I agree. I hadn't noticed that there might be part of the second hand missing. Here are some more images, the ones with the case open are before I had it serviced and had the crown changed.

 

Your dial looks much better than mine since mine appears to be a redial but still love it but I have the same markers and so forth. The only difference is mine is a monocoque and cannot be opened from the back. Awesome score with your auction.

 

Sure about this? Do you have caseback pic?

 

I do! Now I’m intrigued, would be great if I could see the movement on this thing haha never wanted to mess with a “tool 107” type thing and destory the crystal. I can take others if needed too.

 

Thought so you have a press-in case back, your movement comes out through the back.

 

Seriously?! This entire time I thought I couldn’t even get it open! I’ll take a look with a sharp knife and follow up.

Thank you for taking a look!

 

Use a razor blade to open the gap, then a thicker blade to get it further open. Let the width of the blade open it for you rather than trying to force it open. Advice from a fellow OFer that has proved very useful for me.

Very nice watch @Cpt Green

 

You are the best! Here it is, finally open as suggested by everyone using a sharp blade carefully, beautiful Now I know its a 505 haha

Thank you to all, love this forum - and thanks to OP for allowing me to invade their post, my apologies!

 

Appears like that one has rotor wear, so get it serviced and sort that out while at WM.

 

What part of the text in the dial were you concerned about? Was it the lettering and the spacing in OFFI ? Just curious about the approximate serial number/year. I have a special1966 14k connie (24 million) it has the same lettering in OFFI and also has the RE for the 'chronometre'.They are almost identical .
I am still doing my research on it and also trying to learn as much as I can.

Do you have a scan of the top part of the dial lettering without any hand interference? I have been trying to amass a sample of the various lettering patterns in the pie pans types from the late 1950s to 1960s.. By the way, great photos. I was wondering where to find the gold hallmarks on my watch and saw them on your photos! I looked on mine, and there they were, all be it, extremely small.

I would also agree that the tail of the second hand got pinched along the way.

 

You have a 1966 with the RE? That doesn’t sound right to me. The RE is usually pre ~ ‘57 in my (limited) experience. Got a pic? Is there a chance it had either a dial or movement swap?

 

Hi Padders
Thanks for the reply.
You're right about RE usually being in that time period and earlier. I seem to recall reading from one of the great Omega experts, that RE's and there timing of usage, wasn't a hard and fast rule. It seems there were a number of different variables at play for RE.
I will get pixs when I get the research completed.I like to research information before I make a complete fool of myself. That's why I was interested in the lettering in the top three lines and the variations of such. Took to our watchmaker and he said it was original, even had the original gasket on it. Will get pix of the internals soon. I did copy down the serial number and check it with the OMEGA production listing. So a swap is unlikely. 1966, 24m, with the 551 is still possible, at least from my research. From my limited research so far, RE could exist in the mid 60's, of course, I could be wrong.
The specialty nature of the watch might have a lot to do with some of the RE issues.