Black dialled 60s seamasters

Hello All!

Have had my eye on a couple of black dialled 60s seamasters for sale near me recently and was wondering if you guys have any thoughts to add to my current impression?

First watch:

1966 Omega 600 seamaster 300



My impression is that overall it's in pretty good shape. Struggling to tell if the dial has been re-painted. The lume doesn't look obviously re-done, but other examples of this watch I've seen have suffered with moldy-green old lume - so perhaps this has either lived in a dark draw all its life or the lume has been re-painted (well?). The fonts and everything else on the dial make me think that its original?

The corners of the casing don't look overly polished or rounded - it has probably been polished a bit in it's life (especially the back of the casing) but not toooo much?

Watch number 2!

1965 Seamaster 600



Looking at the first picture of this one, I immediately think the dial has been re-painted. The lume on the markers has that modern bright green hue to it, and doesn't match the lume on the hands (which is probably the original?) Also the small second markers seem too white and the spacing between the T - swiss made - T seems a bit large.. Although the second and third pictures with the higher exposure show quite a lot of spotting on the dial, which makes me think just the marker lume and markers have been re-painted (not the whole thing).

The casing looks reasonably sharp from above and I would think it's only had some light polishing, although on the underside the corners are much more rounded from too much polishing.


Do let me know your opinion - I'm very new to this and any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!

Small world! Thank you 😀

The dial on watch 2 seems fine to me. Lume will degrade / discolour differently on different finishes, ie hands and dial, which anyway were probably supplied by different contractors. The hour markers have a crumbly look typical of original lume. The fonts look correct, the minute markers are correctly spaced and the black finish has the appearance of age. Crown and case look good. I'd be happy with that, depending of course on the price.

The owner is asking £1350 for the first one (seems overpriced IMO). £995 for the second one which is probably a bit fairer

I should add that my opinion of Watch 2 is subject to a movement pic. I agree that the price is very high if from a private buyer but is about what you'd expect from a dealer. Whether it's worth the considerable premium depends on whether you have the time and the patience to research and find a good one for less.

@GusPO have you tried a Seamster 600 on the wrist? It is a fairly small watch and wears as such.

I haven't yet no.. I'll certainly try and find one locally to try on the wrist before committing.

I'm considering one as a proper dress watch for formal events, so in that respect small isn't necessarily a bad thing since it should be quite subtle and slot nicely under the cuff of a shirt. But I agree, too small and it could look silly.

Thanks!

Or find a black dialed "proper" dress watch 😀

A black-dialled "proper" dress watch is the dream!

Do the constellations tend to wear noticeably bigger than the seamaster 600s? Hard to tell from photos sometimes.

There isn't much in it, I guess that a Seamster 600 is, what, 33.5-34mm? The reference of Constellation shown here (which, btw, is still extremely well priced in more common dial variations!) is 35mm. I've had one Seamaster 600 and remember that I was surprised at how small it was and at that time I was in no way used to wearing big vintage watches - most I had at that point was 34mm-ish.

There are also the Seamaster 30 with black dial

Thank you. The black dial on yours is stunning. Will keep my eye out and see if anything comes up - not in a rush 😀