Hi everyone, I hope you are all fine and safe, despite the COVID situation. I'm a new member here and hopefully will soon start my watch collection . I've been doing some research on vintage Omegas and have found three contenders to be my first luxury piece. I would appreciate it very much if you could help me verifying their authenticity, as well as any other strangeness regarding the pieces. I've already identified a few points of concern, which I'll highlight after each of the watches photos / descriptions. They are all being selled as originals by the same person. Let's get to it. #1 - Constellation 1 Concerns: the minute hand appears to be in bad shape. The "Automatic" writing looks too close to the "Omega" insert - this could represent that the dial was remade, I guess. #2 - Constellation 2 Concerns: The caliber is the 565 (not chronometer) and I think it should be the 561. I've read that a few Constellations were made with the 565 caliber, but I'm not sure if this info is correct. #3 - Geneve Concerns: The plexiglass is slighty chipped between the 1 and 2 markers, but I'm fine with that. The plexi is also marked with the Omega logo right in the center (pic #2) and I haven't seen this on other watches - is this correct / makes sense? I compared it with other Geneves and the hands seems to be odd (most of the Geneve hands I found have 2 different colors for the luminous part). Maybe the hands were changed? I'm tending to go for the Geneve, because of the green dial - I really liked it. It would be awesome if you could assess the watches and let me know your thoughts / concerns. Thank you all very much in advance!
Hi there I'm shopping around for similar watches and I'm as much of a noob as you are. I wouldn't buy anything you posted. Read this and 95% of your concerns will be solved. http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/?m=1 Edit: there is a lot wrong with all of them, the last one being the most decent out of the bunch, but I still would not buy it simply because you can find a better example than that. That lineup was the affordable one, therefore they are a dime a dozen. The connies are very very bad. The blog I linked to is a great resource that, judging by your questions, will help you lots. Hope this helps.
If you like the Geneve, and it's cheap, then go ahead, but don't overpay since it's not the most collectible piece. I wouldn't touch either Constellation because of originality and/or condition issues.
Welcome @JGTRENTO I don’t know about the Geneve but the two Constellations are a hard pass. First has polished case and very bad redial. Second has very bad dial damage (pics aren’t good enough to tell if it is repainted) and wrong movt. FYI you are right about the movt - it should be a 561. it is rumoured that there maybe some Chronometer rated 562s in Connies but not 565s. (but no-one has ever shown one) if the seller is saying they are all correct, I’d be inclined to avoid this seller.
Thanks very much, guys! Amazing help, greatly appreciated. (@Peemacgee - beautiful maine coon haha). Regarding the Geneve, seller is asking me ~US$460. Do you think it is worth it? Thanks again.
I really think the price is up to you, since we don't know your circumstances and other options. Some of us might pay that much and some of us wouldn't, but we aren't in your shoes. If you want to know market prices, try using the eBay advanced search feature and look for recent sales of other Geneve models. You can also search for listings in the OF classifieds. They won't have green dials, but that shouldn't affect the value very much. Just try to find examples in similar condition. This reference is pretty common, so valuing it won't be hard for you.