An Omega for a likker-cycle.

bupdyke

Can I share one of my most amazing finds?

Back in November, one of my jewelry contacts called me to tell me about an Omega Constellation with a gold colored dial he had seen. I tried to stay calm when he said it came with a silver case. I set up a time to meet the seller at his store.

When the dude arrived, I almost pee’d my jeans. It was Deluxe with the original sterling box, paperwork, and bill of sale. What was most incredible was the story behind the watch.

In Mt. Airy (yes, where the TV show Andy Griffith was from) a man came in to the pawn shop with this watch. This was his father’s watch. The watch was ordered by a Sergeant Beck with the US Air Force. Beck was stationed with the Air Force at the Dhahran Airfield in Saudia Arabia. On November 6, 1957 Beck went inot the AFEX, Air Force Exchange store, and had the exchange order a solid gold DeLuxe Constellation directly from Bienne. He also ordered as an accessory a 7077 18k bracelet for the Connie Deluxe. The Constellation he received was a Cal. 2853 and has the 505 movement. The price of the Connie was $176. The price of the bracelet was $150. That was a lot less than the retail, which was around $550 for just the watch at that time. This watch was probably the pride and joy of Sergeant Beck.

Back to the present. The son came into the pawn shop to sell the watch. When the owner asked him what he wanted for the watch, the son said, “Well, I have to buy a scooter with the money. I can’t drive a car cause they took my license”. The shop owner offered $500 for the watch with band and $50 for the sterling box. The son said, “sure, that will probably be the price of a scooter”. The gold scrap value of the gold alone was about $3000!

I offered $3500 and was given the supreme priviledge of caring for this treasure! I don;t know what the condition of the son was, but I was very sad that he would sell his dad’s special watch for a motorized scooter. So I decided to honour his dad and his military sacrifice by restoring watch and the bracelet.

I had the watch cleaned and very lightly polished by a professional watchmaker here in the area who is an official Rolex and Swatch certified watchmaker. He is expensive, but he is a perfectionist, and knows how to respect the integrity of the vintage watches. He even water pressure tested the watch and it passed, which surprized me for a watch from 1957!

The band was stretched and the springs were broken. After much searching, and even after sending it to Omega and having it returned, I found that the only person in the universe who had the stretch springs was our own Michael e. Michael provided me with the last four springs he had, which were just what the bracelet needed. I had my local authorized jeweler clean and polish the band and repair the links. The result is shown in the pictures below.

I give the greatest thanks to Michael e not only for providing me with the springs, but also for introducing me to this really special and fun forum!

MSNWatch

Equally important is leaving a list of trusted people who can be contacted to help the disposition if need be.

JimInOz

Only 29 posts and you pull this one on us, farrrrrrrrk! 😲

And this so quickly after the cherry SM300!

Have you sold your soul, or found a rabbit's foot 😁

D Dablitzer

Immense package! And a great write up too.. 😀

Here's its rose gold brother..😉

bupdyke

Holy Cow! I think you trumped my King with the Ace!! That is beyond fabulous! 😝

bupdyke

Think I will put it under my pillow for the rest of my days!😁 I just picked a new Patek 5227R in December, and the DeLuxe almost brings me more excitement. Anybody with money can purchase the Patek. Dablitzer, as you implied, sometimes the rarest is not obtained through money, but through hard work and a whole lot of luck being at the right place at the right time.

D Dablitzer

That is perhaps the best comment I have heard from a collector! Anyone can earn money, and be wealthy... But it takes time and determination, skill and real patience to find some uncommon watches...And it's so much more rewarding. I think you should wear the grin of a Cheshire Cat with this purchase. It will certainly give you much more pleasure than the Patek, as lovely as it probably is. Believe me I have met some wealthy people in my life, and they are always happy to see something vintage that they cannot obtain with their hard earned dosh... It's easy to walk into a shop a lay down a huge amount of money.. A nice watch like this from a period when these gems were almost taken for granted...!! 😵‍💫 The true beauty, design and legacy is presented here after all these years, probably sitting it's it's silver box most of it's life until now... Magical! 😀

bupdyke

Dablitzer, do you own the watch that is in your avatar? If an original dial, that is a rare and special piece.