Buying a small vintage Omega collection

I can see the similarity, although I think I'd take your Seamasters over mine !

In the end I bought three lots of ten watches, so thirty in total. The Omega's weren't really my main target, but like you they really appealed as a learning experience rather than for any financial gain. My main targets were a Zenith DH, a Smiths W10, and an Enicar Sherpa OPS, but I'll probably be hanging on to one or two of the Omegas, the Eterna, and a UG as well.

Very nice catch, diverse watches that look to be in good condition. If the price was good, then it's a win 😉

Well, it looks like the crown on 1 is probably original after all. The original pic made it look like a large crown continuing beyond the edge of the photo. Some good stuff there, glad to see you went for it anyway!

Dear w154, I've been in Munich and missed the un-veiling, but had to post. Firstly thank you for sharing every step of the way this has been a great thread to follow. I really like the look of 1 and 2, the style, the dials and the condition. They are really to my taste, I would love to have them in my collection. They look way better than the original pictures.

I would be pleased with those, I hope you.

So the next update we are looking for is which are you going to keep.

I think you have had a result. I am really pleased for you.

I underestimated the cynical nature (for good reasons) of vintage watch collectors and enthusiasts and how this really limits the pool of ppl willing to purchase entire "blind" lots or collections.

More simply: bias selection might give buyers some advantages for these deals.

I think this is right. There are lots of different kinds of buyers for vintage watches. Obviously the dealers, then collectors who either a) buy exactly what they want in the condition they want at full market price, or b) buy with a little more flexibility for whatever reason (could be to save money, to make money, or simply for enjoying the journey). These kind of lots are a headache for anyone, and the margins are probably too small to interest the dealers, so it leaves only the small group of type b) collectors to chase them. Add to this that it was a pretty obscure bricks'n'mortar auction house, and that the lots were pretty random in the contents (so most collectors would be lucky to get two appealing watches out of each lot of ten or more), and you can see why there wasn't a lot of competition.



I think around half the watch lots were passed on the sale day, and the Omega lot was bought with a post-sale offer of around 30% under the auction reserve. Only one lot sailed past estimate on auction day, which went for 5.5k against a reserve of 2.8k. The UG here was small and probably redialed, so either someone was caught out by that or chased hard after the Paul Garnier Scuba and/or the black Enicar Valjoux 72.



Anyway, It took them ages to ship which was a shame as I was hovering over another two passed lots but they seem to have sold last week. There could be more dregs to mop up, but most of what's left is just way too much trouble or damaged/redialed. There was a promising looking Longines lot but it didn't look good with better photos.



That's still up for grabs...you could PM me if your interested.

A fun experience though, well at least until now when the reality of sorting it all out starts.