first off id like to say hey everyone im new on the forums and i recently came into possesion of a 50's omega seamaster chrono however i cant find anything like it online the seconds meter has 10-20-30-40-50-60 yet online all i see is 20-40-60 and mine doesnt say swiss made and mine doesnt have an arrow by the 12 and 1 ?? however it is real 14k yellow gold any input would be greatly appreciated im very scared to open it because if never done that b4 otherwise i woulda posted a pic of the movement, is it rare?? any idea of a rough estimate of what shes worth? also the glass isnt scratched bad pic is all my phone is horrible lol anyways thanks in advance guys
dial has been redone- very poorly It also looks as if the dial is bent near the left subdial. Better get the rest of the watch checked for authenticity. Including that it is really gold.
i have taken it to a local store and they did an acid test and confirmed it is infact 14k yellow gold
did you buy it as being Solid gold? Make sure it is Solid gold. I believe a faker could plate a SS case to pass it off as Solid Gold. Get a watchmaker to open this up and post some pictures of the caseback interior and movement.
its marked 14k on the inside of the caseback and he said the watch runs amazing he gave me the numbers ( 17704730 ) he also said it has the 321 movement heres the pics i took
Well there's a silver lining. Movement is 321. Looks correct, but I couldn't tell you if something looks wrong with it. Others will be by to confirm. Serial # puts date of movement at 1960. I think case is not seen very often. 2884 You may be able to find a dial for this around or maybe on of the collectors here could hook you up. Case looks like it's in nice shape. Not sure about pushers and crown, others here will know. Just guessing on value as it sits, but I would say $2000. If you get a nice dial for it, that could go up significantly. Maybe I'm off if this case Ref# is rarer than I know about. MSNWatch should be able to tell you more. Sorry to scare you.
also all functions work flawlessly and i read alot about the stop watch not resetting or it does but doesnt feel right this watch resets beautifully heres another pic of the front
Correct case style for a 2884 - nothing particularly special or unique about that case reference. Certain early 321 watches were sought after but not because of the case reference but because of the dial style - a very small number came with complicated dials similar to some of the 33.3 chronographs and those carry a significant premium (only if factory original of course). Movement looks clean. Wondering a bit why no gold hallmarks in the back of the lugs. Dial though is poorly refinished and the subdial hands are replacements and not original to the watch. The dial issue reduces its value considerably - by at least $1000 in my estimation. Very hard to source the correct dial for this unless you chance upon the same era seamaster and buy the watch for the dial alone but that's bound to be an expensive venture.
ok so my question is how much is it worth the way it sits, how much fully restored, and how much the way it sits with an original dial ?
Nit to pick - it will never be an original dial again because the dial that originally came with the watch now has had the paint / ink replaced. You could find a replacement dial and not be upfront if / when you sell it, but original is not a word that can ever be used with that watch again. That's why collectors value truly original watches.
$1500-2000 as is if the movement is running and probably double that if it had a nice original dial. Refinishing the dial better won't add much to the value - maybe a few hundred. The original dial though has to be of the correct vintage to get full value - not a later replacement and certainly not a transplant from a mid to late-1960s seamaster model (the difference would be clear).
Mike, Would this work in his watch? Is it watchco dial? Looks like it could be bought. http://www.trademe.co.nz/jewellery-...es/vintage/photos/a-563411195/p-247785139.htm
Nope - later dial that was used in a mid to late 1960s c-shaped chronograph. I believe Dennis used to own one of these chronographs in gold that used this dial style.
Mike is correct as usual - that's a larger dial from a larger watch. Those were 40 mm across, measured 2 - 8 ø.
The correct dial should look more (although not exactly) like this one. N.B. the correct appearance of the registers. The paint is so thick on the redial above that the sharp angles are lost at the edges.
I actually snagged one of these dials (plus a full hand set) NOS years ago. Still have it, sitting in a box somewhere. I wonder what that baby would go for now .... [/quote]