Baton marker length

Posts
3
Likes
1
Hi all,

I'm so thrilled to join this community as I just got my first vintage constellation 14381 10 SC. It was personally serviced and had a redial from Tim Mackrain (omega_addict, who is just super awesome to work with).

I tried searching online but can't seem to find too many talking about the hour baton lengths. Most of the hour furniture whether with a cross hair or not seems to come with the hour baton/stick AND an hour tick on the minute track. (see image below)


However, I've seen some 168.005s that have slightly longer hour baton/sticks that take the place of the hour tick mark. (see image below)


Here is mine:


You can see the hour batons are already flush against the inside bezel, and given its length, doesn't really allow for an hour tick marker. Does anyone have any more information on baton lengths and how they varied throughout the years? Thanks you guys!
 
Posts
6,635
Likes
10,246
Welcome @smallwatches

The first thing to note is that you can’t compare different Constellation references as they have subtle differences in the dial arrangement.
The first one is a hidden crown constellation and they tend to have the minute haches hard up against the pie pan edge.
The second is a dogleg with a solid gold deluxe dial with wide flat onyx insert indices.

I can’t immediately find a pic of a 14381 pie pan with onyx inserts but the simple answer is that Mr Mackrain has repainted your dial incorrectly.
The minute haches are much too close to the edge of the pie pan, which should be slightly further inward and so this doesn’t allow for the hour haches inside the indices.

However, if you like the result of the redial, then that is all that matters.
 
Posts
3
Likes
1
Thanks for the feedback! Really appreciate the quick responses. Really insightful about the first two watches actually.

Another question and really coming out of curiosity, but I'm noticing the batons are protruding past the corner where the pie pan edges meet. At least from other hi-res pictures of 14381s and even most other constellations, they tend to meet right at the corner, no?
 
Posts
6,635
Likes
10,246
Another question and really coming out of curiosity, but I'm noticing the batons are protruding past the corner where the pie pan edges meet. At least from other hi-res pictures of 14381s and even most other constellations, they tend to meet right at the corner, no?
All pie pans are not made the same.
Some have a very hard edge (they even have a small step)
Some have a distinct but softer edge.
The indices on these dials stop hard up against the pie pan inner pane edge.

Then there are the painted pie pans.
This is where the 12 facets around the dial edge are emphasised by paint, in a two-tone dial finish.
These come in two categories:
1. Actual pie pans with a very soft 'crease' at the edge of the pie pan forming the outer facets
2. Trompe-l'oeil pie pans where the dial is actually a dome dial but made to look like a pie pan with a two-tone dial paint affect.

These painted dials are often found on the 168.004 'hidden crown' constellations and the indices tend to protrude beyond the facet angle.

I don't recall seeing a painted pie pan on a 14381 - and as yours has been repainted, we can't know if it started life that way.

If you are curious to know more about Constellations, there are many resources
The best and original is Desmond's web site:
https://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/

But if you would like to look at quite a few pie pans, there is a dedicated thread:

I hope that helps