Advice for Constellation

Hello OF,


i am new here looking for some advice from your community of experts and enthusiasts. Thanks for letting me join!


Im into watches for some time, but i am lacking some knowkledge about sources and details about the following piece.

I own some vintage Omega watches i can share separately.


Attached you find a classic constellation on which i would like to get your input (sorry for the quality). im interested in buying this watch.

It is a solid gold 18k constellation bought in 1971 (BA7117439). The seller still has the box and a copy of the receipt with his fathers name on it. So far so legit.


He told me that the watch got new hands and dial in early 70s by Omega in Switzerland.

After some research i couldnt find many of those models for comparison. But always with other hands on it. The hands seem to be from the C-shaped Constellation.

I already had it on my wrist, it looks like a watch that had a lot of wrist-time over the years but in a nice condition. Glass is original with the logo on it.


What do you think?

Do you think the hands fit, would ist be a no go for you?

Can repairs done by Omega be found in their archives?

What would you roughly think it is worth?

The crown in this models is not solid gold, right?


Thanks a lot and best regards

Julle

That the hands are not what you expect does not necessarily mean they are wrong; some models had multiple handsets available. If Omega serviced this watch, that crown and crystal are for sure replacements, though probably correct replacements at the time of service.

I'm not good at value but I will suggest, if that is an Omega bracelet (and it looks like it is), then value is possibly north of $3000. How much more will remain for the collectors to say.

I would not expect Omega to have service history, nor expect a solid-gold crown.

I hate to think what a replacement solid gold dial would cost....

Welcome @Jull3

if you’re recently in to Omegas then your critique is to be commended.

this reference (168.016) did have at least 3 different hand sets ( dauphine, thin baton, thick baton) but I don’t believe these are one of them as they don’t reach the minute track and do look somewhat uncomfortable on the watch. ( they do look like something from a c -case)

I can’t believe Omega would put the wrong hand set on, especially so soon after production, so would be dubious about the reports of it being serviced by Omega in Switzerland - family folklore often becomes confused ( unless the seller has the receipt of course)
I think correct hands could be found with a little patience (possibly from Omega themselves)

The watch looks nice and correct but, as with many gold watches, it is not as sharp as it could be with some softening of the case and lugs.

These late 60s constellation references have not found their market yet and so command lower prices than their older siblings.
( day/date complications are the least desirable as some find them too fussy)

I can’t remember seeing a solid gold 168.016 ( or .018) let alone a deluxe with a gold bracelet.
I suspect that most of the value is in the gold content.
If you can tell us what the asking price is we can give an opinion on whether we think it is good value or not.

hope that helps

Exactly, OP is in a good position regardless of the outcome.

Thank you a lot for your response and helpful insight about the piece!

Price of gold alone is roughly 6.000 - 6.500€, asking price is 7.500€.

I really like the complication on it and the complete style/condition, even with the mismatching hands. Thats why i was curious about finding out at Omega directly.
The name and adress on the receipt matches the sellers ID, so the story seems legit.

Still not sure about the value overall. I have been searching for the exact same thing for a while now. Found some without any history for a few hundrets less. Comparable constellations without day-complications or younger c-shaped ones are 8.000€ and more.

Best regards
Julle

Even at the lower end of your quote at 6000€, that’d be >150g of gold. I doubt it’s that much, to be honest. More like ~100g would be my guess. Did the seller show you a picture of the case (without innards) and the bracelet on a scale?

C-shape Constellations in 18k YG including 18k bracelet aren’t 8000+, rather ~5500-6000€.

Do you have an idea what the weight of the movement is? Weight is 115gr complete.

you are completely right, i took the course of 24k instead of 18k for gold!

Maybe i am looking at the wrong spots for comparison:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/165154063207?var=0

Well, what you see is prices people wish to get for their watches. I'm speaking of prices realized in auctions. C24 isnt the best reference, unfortunately, but on eBay you can go into the advanced search settings and limit your search to "sold items". Also make sure to search internationally, as there aren't that many examples around.

Do look at prices 18k Constellations achieved, that tells you something even without the bracelet. A solid gold Omega bracelet will be something like 50-70g, very roughly, depending on style (thickness) and length. Add something like 20-30% on top of the gold value and you're in about the right ballpark. There's a 168.016 in 18k that sold on eBay for about 2400€. Even if you add 60g of solid 18k for a bracelet at about 40€ per gram, that's another 2400€, plus 20% (which I'd say is a lot for one of those lesser sought-after bracelets) and you are at 2900€. Plus 2400€ for the head gives a total of 5300€, a good 30% underneath the price you were quoted.

It's a bit of a theoretical exercise, of course, as these dont come up every day. That being said, it's also not a particularly rare reference. With a bit of patience I'd say you can easily save yourself 2k+ here.