Advice for cleaning (restoration?) 1940's Ladies Omega watch?

[mom2jel]

(New here)
My mom received this Omega watch as a present in 1949 (very small town in Minnesota); she had no idea of it's value and wore it everyday until the mid 1980's. (By then, she knew it was somewhat valuable being an Omega).

I think she had it serviced at least twice, at local basic jewelry stores, over the years until it finally was going to cost too much to have it done (it had stopped working). I know the band has been replaced.

I would really like to have it cleaned and running again, do I go with a local authorized jeweler in Minnesota (JB Hudson) or an Omega Boutique? (Somewhat of a "cost is no issue", but the $1500 Omega restoration is a bit steep; although I would love to have that done.)
My mom passed away last year, this is a sentimental piece.

Any advice? (and any idea of model and year? value once cleaned/running?)

Thank you so much for your wisdom!

Edited: Sep 6, 2020

 

[janice&fred]

If it was me, I would hold onto it as a non-running keepsake unless you absolutely must have it running. It's a nice heirloom but actual value of those lady's style tiny wind ups is alarmingly low.

 

[gatorcpa]

I would look for an independent watchmaker in the Minneapolis area. Most jewelry stores will simply subcontract the work out and charge you a steep fee for doing so.

The Omega Boutique is going to send it to Switzerland which will take many months and cost at least $1,000.

Maybe we have a member or two from Minnesota who can assist?

The style of the watch is consistent with late 1940’s. US market piece (“Swiss” vs. “Swiss Made”), probably with a US made case of 14K gold or gold-filled.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa

 

[OmegaP99]

When you find a watchmaker to open it they can write down the serial number and you can either come back here and possibly somebody may know what year range it was made, or you could potentially request an extract from the Omega archive to tell you when it was made and where delivered. You could keep that document with the watch as part of it's story.

Do you think you will wear it? if so be aware that it may only need a cleaning, done locally as suggested, but it could also have damage that needs repaired. That would be more money of course. I ask because as a keepsake and memory of your dear mother you might prefer to leave it as-is. If you want to wear it to honor her then that's fantastic and you can get it in working order.

It seems to most likely be gold filled, which is a very thick layer of gold (compared to plated gold) that is bonded to the base metal, sometimes on both inside and outside, or just the outside. I wouldn't let them polish it, but maybe replace the crystal since it's scratched and the dial seems very nice underneath and will go a long way towards making it look great again. Even if you don't get it running replacing the crystal might give you some joy. If it were me, I'd keep the original crystal in a baggie with the watch and any paperwork to acquire. Restorations often eliminate all signs of use, so you might not want that, and I like to look down at the same dial that previous owners gazed upon to tell the time.

Value will be low, even lower than the cost to repair most likely, you can check sold listings on eBay for comps.

May I make another suggestion? Keep this one as it is, enjoy it and take it out to admire often. But also look for a nice vintage piece for yourself that's of a more "modern" size, such as a 60's or 70's men's Omega DeVille or Constellation, that would suit a modern lady well. Then you have two watches to pass along to future generations. They came in solid gold, rose gold, gold filled, steel, etc. and a wide variety of dial designs. Likewise you can post potential purchases here for feedback before you buy.

Family pieces are my favorite so thank you for posting here.

 

[SkunkPrince]

Of course you can have it serviced and wear it. It will be a few hundred dollars. No one (currently) cares about these watches, so the price is low and solid gold cases are routinely melted. Looks like JB Hudson knows what they're about, so I wouldn't worry about using them to do the work.

Notice that your advice seems to have been given by a bunch of men (me included). Take that into account.

 

[OmegaP99]

SkunkPrince

Notice that your advice seems to have been given by a bunch of men (me included). Take that into account.

@mom2jel There are some other women here too, so feel free to spend time learning, sharing, and even just browsing. Diversity only adds to the collective.

 

[connieseamaster]

It shouldn't be much more than about $500 to get the movement up and running and I think a polish to the crystal will greatly improve the appearance.

 

[mom2jel]

Thank you all, I appreciate the feedback. Even though I rarely wear a watch because I'm a stay at home mom, I would like to have it running so I could wear it on occasion and think of my mom. I'll bring it to JB Hudson jeweler to see what they think.

My mom received this for a high school graduation gift (from her frugal, farming parents - later in life she felt guilty they spent $$$ on it for her - but she did get a 1-yr private-college scholarship.)

Browsing this forum, I'm wondering if I should get my recent two college graduate sons an Omega watch... neither are working yet, (one has a mathematics & computer science degree [full-ride scholarship ] is left-handed; the other has a bio-environmental science degree, and is right-handed).
Any recommendations? (as well as a super-cheap model for the third son who can't get his act together, but I have to treat them the same or I'll never hear the end of it)

 

[SkunkPrince]

mom2jel

Any recommendations? (as well as a super-cheap model for the third son who can't get his act together, but I have to treat them the same or I'll never hear the end of it)

How about "you can have any steel-cased Aqua Terra you like"? That sets the upper price and there are a cubic buttload of those models on the Omega site in various colors, etc, so easy to choose.

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-us/...h_watchcase=4590&price=2750.00-5710.00&tmod=1

That link filters to steel case, steel bracelet, maximum price $5710, which an authorized dealer will knock down. That gives you 33 watches, eithet automatic or quartz, as they may prefer.

I would not suggest vintage. While less expensive, someone is going to get butthurt if they get something that turns out to be crap.

Handedness isn't really a factor unless one of those sons has a habit of wearing a watch on the hand side of the wrist bone.

Good luck, this is a bold move and one I would not suggest to most people.

 

[JLN765]

I would agree that JB Hudson probably isn't the best place to have the work done. I live in Minneapolis and have had this place service a number of watches - including some vintage - for me and my wife:

https://www.caliberworkswatchrepair.com

She seems to do good work for reasonable rates and also has a wicked sense of humor (at least I think so).

Good luck.

 

[janice&fred]

J JLN765

I would agree that JB Hudson probably isn't the best place to have the work done. I live in Minneapolis and have had this place service a number of watches - including some vintage - for me and my wife:

https://www.caliberworkswatchrepair.com

She seems to do good work for reasonable rates and also has a wicked sense of humor (at least I think so).

Good luck.

Her shop looks like a very good option.

 

[OmegaP99]

J JLN765

I would agree that JB Hudson probably isn't the best place to have the work done. I live in Minneapolis and have had this place service a number of watches - including some vintage - for me and my wife:

https://www.caliberworkswatchrepair.com

She seems to do good work for reasonable rates and also has a wicked sense of humor (at least I think so).

Good luck.

Whoa, she does classes! @mom2jel How cool would it be if you could restore your own mother's watch with some professional guidance???
https://www.caliberworkswatchrepair.com/classes

That's very admirable to consider getting your sons Omegas. My first watch back in the 80's was an Omega and that's exactly why I'm here today. There's a vast price range and endless models, so if you have a budget per son, and let us know if you prefer new, modern but used, or true vintage, that should elicit plenty of suggestions for you. I would probably suggest modern-but-used, for the best value while still providing some ruggedness for daily wear. I would bet younger folks don't want to have to think too much about taking their watches off for certain activities, but that's really between you and them to decide. This whole thread makes me smile.

 

[Canuck]

Nothing wrong with tiny, vintage Omega ladie’s watches like these three which are among my spouse’s collection of watches. Or her 1920s 14-karat, diamond set Gruen, or her 1940s era vintage Longines. Since the majority of people interested in watches as collectibles are male, and since males don’t buy women’s watches, the collectible watch market hasn’t been kind to women’s watches. But women who are interested in antique and vintage watches, enjoy them very much. Don’t let the negative comments of some men dissuade you from putting the Omega back in service. But don’t buy a BS repair estimate of $1,500! That is someone telling you they don’t want the job!

 

[connieseamaster]

OmegaP99

Whoa, she does classes! @mom2jel How cool would it be if you could restore your own mother's watch with some professional guidance???

Uhhhh, do you realize the size difference between a 6487 and an Omega cal 48x (what's likely in OP's watch)? One is the size of a silver dollar and the other is the size of a finger nail. Yes, most mechanical movements work and fit together in a similar way, but the smaller size does make things more difficult.

 

[janice&fred]

Canuck

Don’t let the negative comments of some men dissuade you from putting the Omega back in service.

No one is being negative. The OP asked about value in her initial post and she got legit and polite opinions and info from us. I certainly wouldn't want to lead her into believing that those tiny lady's watches trade at good prices. We have boxes of them sitting around that we got thru package deals with other watches.

 

[Canuck]

janice&fred

No one is being negative. The OP asked about value in her initial post and she got legit and polite opinions and info from us. I certainly wouldn't want to lead her into believing that those tiny lady's watches trade at good prices. We have boxes of them sitting around that we got thru package deals with other watches.

Do me a favour, and don’t bother replying to my posts in future!

 

[janice&fred]

Feel the love

 

[mom2jel]

(The $1500 restoration fee was from the Omega website.) I haven't taken the watch anywhere yet, I wanted to get information first.

I can completely understand the lower value of women's vintage watches, I'm sure it's a smaller (ha!) market for them.
Curiosity is the only reason for a value question (and my 22 yr old son thought "Omega" would be worth something; lol, too much Antiques Roadshow). Just so I can appease him, I told him it has a lower value (and why) and gave him a guesstimate of $300; am I far off?

I don't see a post about "no" to JB Hudson... (I see they are an Omega Boutique, so they can probably get me paperwork, right?). I'm not discounting Caliber Watches (just leaning more towards JB Hudson). Any reason why JB Hudson shouldn't be considered first?

 

[connieseamaster]

Unless the case and band are solid gold (and they might be), upper value is probably around $150. (You can look at my post history for me bragging about getting the women's version of popular men's vintage watches for pennies on the dollar ). If the case and bracelet are solid gold, the value of the watch is the scrap value of the gold content, plus about 15-20% because it's an Omega. There really is no demand for these guys.

As for JB Hudson, their website uses all the right language so unless someone has personal experience as to why they're awful, they're probably perfectly fine.

 

[SkunkPrince]

connieseamaster

Unless the case and band are solid gold (and they might be)

In one of the pictures it looks like the case front is missing the gold plating in one spot. I think it'll need to be cleaned and replated.