i just purchased an 1171 Vintage bracelet with the trapezoid logo and at the same time purchased vintage endlinks. Stamps are different from my previous endlinks. We’re there 2 different stamps for vintage endlinks or are these NOS?

 

This is a nice subject for my 1000th post,... as I'm currently on the look out for a later Omega Speedmaster to fit onto my Dad's old 1171/633 bracelet.

My Dad had this 1171/633, trapezoid logo, service bracelet fitted to his Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012-65 in the early 1970's.

They look very similar to the ones in the top pair of your picture.

Bit more on bracelets here as well: http://www.omega-addict.com/reviews/bracelets/
The 1171 bracelet in this link has a square logo and (unless I'm mistaken) ... the 633 endlinks look similar to the other pair in your photograph.

 

There are various sellers of 633 endlinks on Ebay that are alternately NOS or used... here's one example, with a tell-tale vertical crease at the lugs - it looks like OP @cwindham has the same ones in the lower pair, pictured above.



I have a 1171/633 with square Omega logo, so presumably mid-70s, and the end links on that are more like @cwindham's upper pair, ie the stamping looks a little crisper and there is no vertical crease.



Do we think the Ebay ones and the lower pair in the OP's post are genuine Omega items, or are they aftermarket?

 

I interesting topic. I only knew of the ones without the crease. Not sure if the ones with crease are genuine, but I wouldn’t discard this possibility.

Here‘s a pic of mine, from a genuine (as far as I know) NOS 1171/633 bracelet, no crease.

 

Looking in MWO, it's interesting that the various types of endlinks are visible in different eras, overlapping too. The bracelets themselves are discussed on pp197/198.

Let's presume for the end-links there's:
Type 1 - 633 stamped, facing bracelet, no crease, no notch

See MWO 2nd edition, pp309 (-74)
I would suggest these are the earliest 633 end links as they seem to be the most commonly-pictured on watches from 69 on, and more owners here seem to have them.

Type 2 - 633 stamped, facing bracelet, crease at lugs, no notch

See MWO 2nd ed, pp315 ( 1980s)
I think the lugs look a little thinner, and the stamping looks a bit less crisp - which made me think they might have been repros but I am growing to believe they're genuine, maybe from the late 1171 bracelet era but before the 1171/1 appeared?

Type 3 - 633 stamped, facing watch, no crease, notches on each side

I used to have a 1171/633 bracelet that I suspect came from the Far East, as it had a NovoLink fastening system, and it had the stamped, notched 633s, but I'm increasingly of the view that they are more modern (maybe up to late 1980s?)

Type 3b - 633 etched, facing watch, no crease, notches on each side

MWO 2nd ed, pp 305 (-71, though it makes the point that the watch is fitted with a 1171/1/633 bracelet). The only thing that obviously differentiates from type 3a is that the 633 is laser etched rather than stamped... and when the "vintage" 1171 bracelet

Type 4 - from https://omegaforums.net/threads/633-endlinks-stamped-not-etched.20775/


There's probably plenty of scope for these to be aftermarket, but according to https://omegaforums.net/threads/fro...ge-seamaster-and-speedmaster-bracelets.45883/, it's likely that the clasp was etched 1171/633 and the endlinks left blank


There are plenty of other dodgy and obviously aftermarket ones being sold online, like

 

To be fair, that last set is not claimed to be Omega at all.

Tom

 

That's true, they're not being passed off as genuine Omega. But they're still a bit crap.

 

Actually, I was surprised how well they fit my Seamaster 300 (experiment). Good base to build upon if that's what you want to do.

Tom

 

Thanks for sharing. I recently got a pair of the type 2 you listed. If it's referenced in the MWO, can we conclude that they are genuine Omega parts?

 

Yes, these are genuine omega Parts i think from the 80s...!
They came in a red and blue paper packaging.

 

These were bought on Ebay - claimed to be Original Omega.
Came wrapped in the red and blue paper
Seller is still listing them
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Omega-Br...408263&hash=item1cbb9d109e:g:At8AAOSw-3FZCdyEPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Perfectly legit.
Watchco sells/sold exactly the same.
Got mine from a Omega boutique years ago.