Cal.266 Omega with badly damaged lug

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

I bought an 18K 1964 Ref 111.007 Omega from ebay recently. The watch was described as good condition, light marks to lugs from normal use.

On delivery, one of the lugs had a dent, but the other appears to have been re-soldered back onto the body and melted! It looks like then someone deformed it to make it fit the 18mm strap bar.

The strap bar fits into it, in a newly-made hole, but this side of the strap is held closer to the watch body. The aesthetics are bad and the grip of the strap bar is unreliable.

I think that the lug needs removing, reshaping and refitting.

Is this something anyone has experience of? Is the watch irrevocably damaged and salvage-only value? The mechanism works.

It's a nice watch and the ebayer is strangely refusing to acknowledge that the damage is more than his description of 'light marks'.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

The lug damage from the front (a bit less obvious). Such a shame, as it's an 18K watch. I guess I'd see the watch itself as looking a bit tired and the face has some 'patination', but I don't mind this so much.

I don't think it would have been expensive for a watch without the lug damage, but I don't know how difficult/costly this is to repair?

 

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MtV

·Mar 28, 2022

Return it. This won’t be an easy fix, rather a quite expensive one. Also, the dial doesn’t belong in this case. It’s a 50s cursive writing Genève dial, while your ref is from a DeVille, I believe. Even after a repair it’ll still be a Frankenwatch.

 

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Waltesefalcon

·Mar 28, 2022

A good goldsmith could fix that easily enough, finding a good goldsmith though...

I'd return it, it is not in the condition it was described as and has the wrong dial.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Thanks! Paid Euro 850. I fell into a hole in the ground with a 'silly' signpost above it??

 

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malilis

·Mar 28, 2022

this is awful ... no way it can be fixed at reasonable cost .. send it back !!

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Here's the seller's photo of the mechanism...

 

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Waltesefalcon

·Mar 28, 2022

I believe that the dial and movement are likely from a 50s Geneve and then recased in this 111.007. I believe that the 111.007 should have a 620 caliber running it.

Edit: I've added this list of vintage DeVille calibers.
https://chronomaddox.com/OmegaCaliberList.html#De Villes

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Case back.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Waltesefalcon

I believe that the dial and movement are likely from a 50s Geneve and then recased in this 111.007. I believe that the 111.007 should have a 620 caliber running it.

Edit: I've added this list of vintage DeVille calibers.
https://chronomaddox.com/OmegaCaliberList.html#De Villes

That's really helpful! Thank you.

 

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gbesq

·Mar 28, 2022

At best, this is a franken. At worst, it’s fraud from a disreputable seller. Return it and request a refund. If the seller gives you a hard time, contact eBay and advise them in detail of how the watch does not comport with the description in the listing. eBay will back you up on this. I would also respectfully suggest that you stop shopping on eBay and similar sites until you gain more knowledge of how to properly evaluate vintage watches. Stick to the private sale listings on OF.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

gbesq

At best, this is a franken. At worst, it’s fraud from a disreputable seller. Return it and request a refund. If the seller gives you a hard time, contact eBay and advise them in detail of how the watch does not comport with the description in the listing. eBay will back you up on this. I would also respectfully suggest that you stop shopping on eBay and similar sites until you gain more knowledge of how to properly evaluate vintage watches. Stick to the private sale listings on OF.

I asked the seller for a return. He refused. I said we'd let ebay decide. He got the jump on me and referred it to ebay (?the referrer gets an advantage - I doubt this?). Strangely, he has said to ebay that I've 'manipulated' the watch or photos to show damage where there was none in his sold watch! I've never experienced this before. It's very disheartening in a moral sense; in one's trust for the world. But I have to find the positive: a wake-up call for naivety in me?

Anyway, let's see what ebay say.

I appreciate your suggestion about learning more before shopping on risky sites. Sound advice indeed. I feel I'm learning a lot from these posts and from browsing OF. Also, links to ref. and cal. and serial number information is tremendous!

 

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gbesq

·Mar 28, 2022

eBay will usually side with the buyer when there’s a dispute. You might want to post the link to the original listing or a copy of the listing if the link no longer works so that we can better evaluate what the seller actually represented. I’m not sure how the seller can accuse you of manipulating the watch or the photos when the watch was clearly a franken to begin with (a watch that is put together using parts from several different references).

Edited: Mar 28, 2022

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Here's the link to the listing (below).

There is one photo which shows the lugs, including the one I now know to be grossly damaged. It doesn't look right in the photo but is far worse in reality.

I'll be open to opinions on a post-mortem of a bad buy here. I feel stupid looking back.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30437885...,osub=osub,crd=crd,segname=segname,chnl=mkcid

 

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rob#1

·Mar 28, 2022

Best wishes for a sensible resolution. In the meantime this thread is well worth reading > https://omegaforums.net/threads/learn-how-to-fish.52603/

 

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Dan S

·Mar 28, 2022

I think your problem may be that the damage was quite obvious in the listing.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Thank you.

Great thread link! Yes. I'm learning fast with the help of OF.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Dan S

I think your problem may be that the damage was quite obvious in the listing.

I appreciate your thoughts. It's important that I take responsibility too. Looking back, I should have been more careful and cautious.

 

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Dan S

·Mar 28, 2022

Fleur_the_rabbit

I appreciate your thoughts. It's important that I take responsibility too. Looking back, I should have been more careful and cautious.

Perhaps the seller should have called out the damage explicitly, but the gold spot price is quite high right now, and he does mention the weight of the watch, suggesting melt value. The watch's value as parts and scrap may not be too different from what you paid.

Edit: The case could be 15-20g at $45 per gram (18k), and the movement and other parts have some value.

 

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Fleur_the_rabbit

·Mar 28, 2022

Thanks Dan. Good points.

I had thought that Euro 850 for a gold Omega watch sounded cheap. I think I should probably let it all go, and move on with a note to be less greedy and more cautious in future. A learning experience!