I am in the market for a 1940s Omega and would be grateful for any pointers to look out for.

I saw this one a few months ago on Ebay that eventually went for £410. It was described by the vendor as having “the cleanest movement I have seen” and a “good, older re-finished dial”.

Even I can see that the hands are too short, the minute band is a bit smudged, the 15, 30 45 & 60 second numerals are a different font from the rather nice art deco hour markers, and “SWISS” is off centre. But what made me suspicious was the very clean calibre 332 movement. Might this be :

1. Original, after a long soak in horolene and good polish up.
2. A “box of bits” cal.332 after the same treatment.
3. A newly manufactured fake 332, probably from China.

Which raises the question, is there a market for fake 332s ? If so, why put it in a base model Omega case (original?) and dial ? Or if you have that manufacturing capability why not produce a more valuable movement ?

 

I've never seen a fake bumper movement and I can't see much logic in the Chinese (or whoever) making one. It looks fully legit but the dial ain't great so it wouldn't be one I would chase.

 

Thanks Padders.

 

Thanks gatorpa, I hadn't spotted that. But I have attached an additional photo that I requested from the vendor which shows cal. 332 in the usual position - I should have attached this to my original post. Does this make it a "box of bits" fake or did Omega interchange parts from similar movements ?

 

The morevments are one and the same, that one is just double marked with the old and new naming systems. The change over happened around 1948 and that serial is bang on then. You can tell its not one of the earliest bumpers since it has the concealed rather than visible bumper springs. That is typical of the later 3 digit versions.

 

Thanks again - I'm getting a bit more confidence in what I'm looking at.