Hi all, After a very long quest, across several continents, I am finally the proud owner of what can come closest to my grail: the elusive PAF Railmaster. The quest began in 2007, I had just graduated, was taking some time off to figure out what I wanted to do, and became obsessed with the memory of my grandfather's watch. He was a commander in the PAF, and cherished his issued Omega. I had memories of playing with it as a child, but unfortunately the watch disappeared when he passed away. Hence my very first post on the online watch community: http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=msg&th=783212&rid=50913#msg_2522403 Back then, I got very little information on the watch. After months of this obsessions, I finally gave up looking for my grandfather's watch, and having just started my first job, I bought myself a Speedmaster and gave up on the grail. I setup some alerts on fora here and there, and on eBay, keeping an eye out for more info, but eventually gave up. The lack of information, coupled with the total disinterest from family members in trying to locate the actual watch depressed me every time I inquired. I grew up in France, but made sure to inquire on every trip to Pakistan. No luck. I contemplated purchasing some other PAF railmaster, but could not afford it at the time. I could not even get a proper identification of my grandfather's picture from the only picture I had! Fast forward to this year, and as I was randomly browsing the internet, I stumbled upon a few threads on this forum and on the purists forum regarding these watches. The obsession kicked into high gear again, and I promised myself I would track down the reference and purchase a similar one. I contacted some of you privately to gather more information. Seemed simple enough, right? Not so! As you might now, the PAF issued watches were all black dialed (at least, this is the information we have today). His watch had a white dial. First assumption: it was not a railmaster, but some other seamaster from the same era (mid 60s), with straight lugs. Going through many catalogs online, and eBay auctions, I put my crosshair on a 14710. Found a good one on eBay, and bought it without thinking twice: As I showed it to my mother, she immediately said "well, this looks similar". Getting closer... Or so I thought for a few days. The size of the 14700 is 34mm, and wearing it on my average size wrists, it definitely looked smaller than the one my grandfather wore. Also, I could not get the light to reflect on the lugs the way it did on the picture, and the indexes did not look similar enough, so... the quest continued. After more obsessive analysis on the picture I had, I realized the bracelet was definitely an Omega beads of rice bracelet, from the same era. I decided to find one of these on eBay... As you know, the prices can be prohibitive. After some more research online for watches sold in the 60s with the BoR bracelet, I stumbled upon an interesting reference: 14710. This watch has the same straight lugs, but is 35mm. Omega's website says it was part of the "international collection", and indeed researching for models online found only watches for sale in Japan or Korea. Was the 14710 a special "oversized" reference for Asia, similar to some constellation references? In any case, I found one for a good price with a BoR bracelet included, so I pulled the trigger. Better to have a watch and a bracelet than just a bracelet, given the price. And here she is: Now, if course, this is a calendar model, but the case was slightly larger, and I obtained the same bracelet my grandfather wore. Close, but still unsatisfactory. Around this time, some PAF Railmasters started appearing on eBay. 4 in a very short time, quite odd, but perfect timing to feed my obsession. I missed the chance on 3 of them, each time my psychological price limit shot through the roof, and I was more decided than ever on purchasing one. As the seller canceled the auction on the 3rd one, I negotiated with him offline (yes, I know, quite a good trick to get prices higher than eBay...), but lost out again to a higher bidder. At this point, I was getting desperate. I sent a message to the seller with a very high price, and out of nowhere he told me he had one last PAF rail master in stock. This seller somehow ended up with 4 of them... Suspicious. I asked for as many pictures as I could, cross referenced with all known serial numbers and details about these watches, and pulled the trigger on a 135.004 that I have just received today! Apologies for the not so great pics. Also, the second hand seems to have not appreciated the trip to San Francisco: I do not have the proper tool to open the caseback, but here's a seller picture, with matching serial and antimagnetic cover: Impressions: - Size wise, it definitely looks more like the one my grandfather wore in the picture - Depending on the light, the lugs definitely give the illusion of being lyra lugs, like on the speedmaster. Very similar to the one on the picture - Same for the dial ring. So... now my conclusion is my grandfather got his dial either redone, or replaced, by a white dial at some point during the life of the watch. The picture above was taken 20 years after he got the watch, so definitely his type of thing to do, as an engineer's engineer, he was quite the tinkerer! The case shape looks exactly like the one on the picture, and maybe the hands were even the same. The caseback seahorse and engraving also comply with my memories, though admittedly at this stage they might be corrupted by online fora. Now that I've recounted my emotional and maybe very boring story, comes the hard part: - Is it fake? To the best of my expertise, it is not (providing it corresponds inside to the picture the seller sold me). The crown looks to have the right size, but does not have the Y symbol inside that these seemed to have? - The crystal has the omega logo, visible in some pictures - The dial is not in the best shape. Looks like the tritium ate it as it fell off the hands. Can anything be done? - What should I do with the hands? Get them relumed? Keep them as is separately, and get matching hands somehow? - Who can I trust with taking care of it properly? I live in San Francisco, I've read about some revered restoration specialists in the UK and Canada, but nothing in the US? - Is the second hand that fell off a sign of horrible things going on inside the watch? I wound it a little bit, and it seems to tick fine. The seller said he'd just gotten it serviced. Can any competent watchmaker put the second hand back on with no risks? - How did the seller end up with 4 of these? I suspect he knew somebody in Pakistan who had access to the watches that were returned to the PAF upon retirement. But he could be a very clever faker... and finally... Any thoughts on the exact reference my grandfather wore welcome As I said, my conclusion is it was indeed a PAF railmaster, but with the dial replaced by a white explorer style dial (albeit with no numerals). Thanks for reading this very long story, and all comments welcome!
Such a Great story ! What about a Ranchero for complete the white dial story https://omegaforums.net/threads/latest-ranchero.4441/
Yes, I've thought about the ranchero as well... But would have to be a center second dial. Could be, even though the size wouldn't fit the railmaster!
congratulations ! it is a nice and original one ,as long as the mvmt. number and the outside caseback number match. so, here are my thoughts: the dial needs attention. needs cleaning up of the rust spots. if you want, we can do that for you without charge incl. matching lume on lume plots and hands. send over dial and hands only. if you are in the US, you can ask Jack from IWW. he is good in these things. might take a while, but the re lume will be worth it. your lume should be brownish by now. the crown is wrong. these are hard to find, but take your time with it. and the white dial/black dial mystery: you are looking at a different watch altogether; check out the bombe` ( slightly twisted ) lugs. but now you have your original. and, yes, there are sellers with more than one PAF watches; with the right connections you get them in Pakistan still very reasonable prized. as you could get british surplus Panerai`s in Pakistan. and may still find them there, but need the right local connections and the right large amount of US$ in cash, which poses a high risk for your life..... kind regards. achim
Achim, just the expert I was looking for ! Reassuring that you confirm authenticity According to the movement pictures the seller sent me, the serials match, so it should be good! Thanks for the offer on the dial! I was wondering if it was possible to fix the rust spots without completely repainting the dial, I don't want to restore too much on it, and keep as much history as possible. The lume is actually brownish, it comes out as almost green in the picture. Reluming the dial would make it lose some of its character, don't you think? Have you done it on yours? Very interesting what you say about the local market... Will try and work my connections, though it's a long shot.
It would be cool to try and shoot a message to Omega. Petros is a really cool guy and if he or his crew finds the time (and likes your story, I know I do) they might be able to shed some light on a few things you have not cleared yet. Maybe you could ask them about the dial if there were any white dialed versions etc. Either way, congrats on the watch and hopefully you'll be able to locate that heirloom watch of yours soon too.
Thanks for sharing the story of your quest! Here's a bit of info. from an article on hodinkee.com. http://hodinkee.squarespace.com/blo...called-a-seamaster-what-did-pakistan-hav.html Pretty much everything in your purchase seems to jive with the watch described on Hodinkee: Ref. 135.004, Cal.286, magnetic shield, Ranchero-style dial, Seamaster labeling. What seems different is the style of hands: the watch described on Hodinkee has radium-painted Broad Arrow hands, vs. the straight hands of your recent purchase. I think it would be well worth your while to get an Extract of the Archives from Omega for your watch. You can find out how to do this in the Customer Service area on omegawatches.com. The only complication is that U.S. residents are unable to order an extract on-line; apparently this has to be done by fax instead. Good luck, and congratulations!
Thanks for the kind words all! @Blaise : do you have the contact of Petros at Omega? I've been wanting to get in touch with them to hopefully get some details on the actual watch I'm looking for. We even sent it for service in the early 90s to Omega, so they might have decent records of it... @Jones in LA : Thanks for the link! I've been obsessively collecting as much info as I can on these over these past few years. My understanding of the PAF references is that they came in all hand variations of the regular rail master (dauphine, broad arrow, straight, and even broad minute arrow), listed here for example: http://thespringbar.com/omega-railmaster-collectors-buying-guide/#The_High_End I'll definitely be contacting Omega for an Extract of Archives. I live in the US but have family in Europe so would not be too hard to get the certificate transferred here. Took it to a local watchmaker today to get the seconds hand fixed, and got a look at the movement. everything looks good, and serial number is the same as in the seller pictures, so I'm relieved: this is the real deal!