Buying a vintage Omega for my husband - advice please

Good afternoon. As a complete novice (based in the UK), I would be very grateful indeed for some advice and help.

Some background. My lovely husband is currently without a watch (it gave up the ghost one day). It was nothing special. I cannot remember the brand but it was more of a simple, classic style, champagne coloured face and tan strap.


He has been a huge support to me over the years and I love him to bits and want to buy him a new watch. He is an engineer by trade and appreciates nice workmanship. I thought therefore a vintage Omega would fit the bill.


I do not have much to spend (I work full time but am not a high earner!). I have been looking and reading for the last two or so weeks. It's a bit overwhelming! I have concluded that a vintage Omega De Ville would suit. I think a watch with a date setting (though not essential) and an automatic. I realise now my budget of £200 is a bit unrealistic, so I have since revised that to £300, and now £350…..


Some questions:

1. Most Omega De Villes that I have seen in my price range(ish) appear to be from the late 60's and upwards, very occasionally up to early 90s. In your opinion are there any specific calibres of these eras I should avoid/look for? I also wonder if some calibres are easier to service, purchase parts for if needed in the future?

2. I want to get any watch I purchase serviced. I understand that there are good people on here that may be able to help with this when the time comes but how much should I budget for this, roughly?


3. There is no specific date that a watch is needed by, so I can take my time if needs be. However, I wonder if by buying now I will get caught up in any Christmas hike in prices, if this is a thing?

4. On my travels I saw a 1969 (I think) Omega Automatic Seamaster De Ville which has a Cross Hair Dial - is a Cross Hair Dial something people look on favourably from an aesthetic point of view? Or should I stick with a classic plain face?


5. I have heard that Omega De Ville's can size up quite small when compared to larger watches of today. What would be the minimum case diameter I should look out for? (he is 5'8” and possibly smallish wrists….).

If you think of anything I should know/be aware of, please tell me. I would be very grateful.

I think a Deville or Seamaster would be a great choice for him.

I am guessing any of the 5** movements are probably the most sought after (caliber 561). Your budget is a bit low looking for a serviced watch, but you may be able to find a nice gold filled case or if you’re lucky a stainless case around that price and look to have it serviced when funds are available. I do not know precisely, but you should budget around $150 for a service (someone else can correct me if I’m wrong).

Watches do tend to go into a summer slump and pick up in the winter when people glued to their computers and restricted from going outside. That shouldn’t pressure you to buying now though. Good deals come to those who are patient.

The cross hair dial is my absolute favorite. However, I would keep my options open if I were you to help secure something in your price range. Several good examples have been sold on this forum in your range - so it is possible you could find one here. Maybe someone could post a few that fit the bill.

Be leery of repainted and redialed pieces. They tend to look alright to a novice, but have been robbed of most of their collector value. With regular sized wrists he should be able to pull off the 34mm-36mm watch without a problem. Modern pieces have seen a giant leap in size (some up to 50mm+ 😲) but 36mm IMO is about perfect. All the models you will be looking at should be around this range.

Best of luck hunting, it is a very sweet gesture. I hope you find something great. Feel free to post photos and ask questions regarding specific pieces you stumble upon. Their are a lot of people on this forum that can offer a helping hand or advice on a specific watch.

Reread the above post every time you reach for your credit card 😀

You will get a lot of advice with such a lovely post, and my $.02 is that Gerard Perregaux watches from the ‘60s are also nice and perhaps more in your budget. The same advice as above applies.

Lovely post and I'm sure if your husband appreciates excellence he will fall for Omegas as I recently have.

One thing I would say, and I may get shot down by others here for this, is that while collectors tend to avoid repainted or refurbished dials, for someone who just wants an attractive timepiece, I see no reason not to go for one, as long as it is well done. It may help you with your budget to get something with a better movement. You might even consider an Omega without the DeVille or Seamaster names, many of which will have used the same 5xx movements. This might bring more watches in better condition into your budget, and that will mean service costs are lower.

I think you can expect to pay anything between £150 and £300 for a service, depending on who does it and, of course, what needs to be done.

Before deciding to spend big money relatively speaking, start out with something affordable, reliable, and well engineered like a Seiko 5. You can purchase a new one for no more than a 100 quid and it comes in all sorts of varieties. You can always spend more from there.

Get him a G-shock, he'll love it.

The good news is that there are sellers of vintage watches that can get close to your budget, so not all is lost, and buying from one of them should ensure a reasonably reliable watch (any watch should at least have had a clean and basic service but at that budget don’t expect a complete overhaul with every new parts it needs.)

An example here within budget..
https://www.omegavintagewatches.co.uk/product-page/unisex-1975-omega-geneve-dress-watch

Gold watches arent exactly in fashion but that’s not to say people don’t like them and prices are likely to be attractive. That same seller has quite a few lower priced watches, not necessarily great examples, but st least you’ll get s feel for what might be in reach. Just note that vintage dress watches in oariculsr are quite small compared to today’s models, 33-35mm is typical for 50/70s models

There are also plenty of UK watch brands now, most using some nice classic design with reasonable internals. Christopher Ward would be one, but their quality and service seems to have gone on a big slide in the last few years. Another example is Marloe, they started as a crowdfunded venture from recollection and whilst I’ve not seen one in the flesh they do have prices around your budget, such as this..

https://www.marloewatchcompany.com/pages/coniston

Yes there’s a whole lot of marketing going on there but if the style of the watch suits who’s worried.

A very nice gesture and I would certainly be ecstatic if my wife did something like this for me.

To everyone above that says, don't get a vintage watch, I understand where you're coming from.
But who's to say that this gift doesn't turn him onto the world of vintage, mechanical time pieces?

Thank you all so very much. Can't tell you how much appreciate all your helpful, comments, suggestions and a slice of reality and not least your warm welcome to this forum. It has been very useful to read what to look out for (WYO_Watch Engee and Percymon) and to get some suggestions of other brands.


Talking of other brands, I see some nice vintage Girard Perregaux DaveK, thank you for bring them to my attention. As for the G Shock, 03Hemi and Seiko 5 , Rasputin, I can see that they are quality watches but definitely not his style but thank you. Maybe he is old school, neither of us are youngsters by the way but neither are we old (late 40's) if that has any bearing on things?


I wouldn't say he is indifferent to watches Larry S. It has much more to do with the fact that he will be so generous to others and never to himself. He certainly appreciates quality items of all eras. I know he will love that I have spent time on this, that will mean an awful lot to him too.


Many of you do though raise a very valid point, and that is there are no guarantees that there won't be heart ache down the road with a vintage watch, as mentioned by Evitzee - you really made me sit up and listen! So I do need to think about this carefully although I am still keen on a vintage Omega, the fool that I might be!


For the moment, staying with the buying a vintage Omega and taking on WYO_Watch's advice of a 5** calibre, Seamaster, 34mm and gold case….. There is this watch, which is going to Auction soon. I think in all honesty it will end up outside of my price range but I can see my husband liking this one a lot. 1969 I think even though they have it down as 1970. It even has the cross hair WYO_Watch. How does this look to everyone?

@japaneseanemones this watch is not one I would consider buying at any price.

Look at the “S” in Seamaster and you will be able to see that it doesn’t have the quality of writing you would expect from Omega. That’s because it has been redone, and not terribly well either.

The best advice I can give is to evaluate some known correct and untouched examples. That way you can be better prepared to determine whether the dial has been redone.

With regard to the movement on this one. It may initially looks like a solid 563 - but it is missing its jewels! And I think many here may describe it as “tired” and unfortunately is a bit dirty. It is definitely a candidate for a service sooner than later.

Oh my life WYO_watch, I feel like a complete fool. Thank goodness for your reply, thank you. Clearly I have much to learn but this is a helpful pointer. I see what you mean about the S!

I hope it will be ok to post more in the future? It can only get better I hope! Thank you.

”The best advice I can give is to evaluate some known correct and untouched examples“

I will be sure to do the above.

^^^
This is exactly why you've done yourself a favor logging on here!

I haven't been a member for too long myself, but this is the kind of great assistance you can get on this board. Awesome!

EDIT: May I suggest looking through the for sale sections on here, if you haven't done so already.
You might just find the right one in your country.

@japaneseanemones no need to feel foolish. Many of us can share stories of buying watches, that in hindsight, were absolutely terrible. I believe some people hang on to them as reminders of their early attempts. I got rid of most of mine 🤔

Below is a list of SOLD watches on this forum that generally adhere to what you are looking for. I am not affiliated with the sellers in any way, but generally find that these were good purchases. They should give you a bit of an idea of the quality of a piece you may want to look for and can give you some examples to look at the scripts on. There are several threads discussing how to evaluate watches. One particularly good one is here - learn how to fish: https://omegaforums.net/threads/learn-how-to-fish.52603/

SOLD watches on this forum

https://omegaforums.net/threads/fs-omega-seamaster-cal-501.102803/


https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-600-ref-136-011.98770/


https://omegaforums.net/threads/1955-ss-omega-seamaster-2848-sub-second-reference-w-patina.100851/


https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-30-125-003-62.98941/


https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-2846-1-beefy-lug-nice-patina-550.97914/


https://omegaforums.net/threads/cle...w-crosshair-dial-price-further-reduced.98938/

In my view that is a fantastic present, it includes all the hallmarks of a real gift:

1) something the receiver would not buy themselves
2) something useful
3) something that requires some thought rather than simply buying the first present that you find.

Since your husband is an engineer and you are posting from the UK I would suggest a Smiths Watch. Today they are a diverse engineering company but they started out as a chronometer and instrument re-seller. The better watches were made before the 1970's when they shifted production many of these watches have non Smiths movements. Ultimately clocks and watches ceased to be important business line to them and I believe they closed the division completely I the 1980's.

Apart from the association that Smiths has with the car industry where they were the supplier of instruments to the English car industry they also supplied instruments to aircraft manufacturers world wide. From a watch perspective Sir Edmund Hillary carried (wore?) a Smiths watch in his successful ascent of Everest in fact the had many of their instruments used during the expedition. They were also used in the Fuchs/Hillary Antarctic expedition.

Perhaps the best thing about a Smiths watch though is that you could get one, serviced, within your budget. There are 2 main repairers / dealers and you can certainly find the one based in Suffolk on ebay.

And if you can't find any nice Omegas, perhaps see other brands. Vintage Longines's are nice. I once bought Longines Ultra Chron from 1967 that looked really good and ticked at +2 sec/day. Got it from eBay for 350USD. Also, old Seikos are very good, but not everybody can take them seriously. But if you are patient you might find good Omega. Had one Constellation cal 564 that I bought again from eBay for under 400USD. There are good deals out there. Good luck!

I tend to be in the camp that would recommend something new. For example this Hamilton https://www.watchshop.com/mens-hamilton-khaki-field-38mm-watch-h68201993-p99998480.html

To be completely radical, and assuming an engineer might appreciate the technology, what about a Casio Lineage? https://www.casio-europe.com/euro/products/watches/radio-controlled/lcw-m170td-1aer/