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  1. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Aug 19, 2012

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    Great article posted by Desmond in his blog here regarding gold buyers picking up vintage Omega watches off unsuspecting sellers hoping to get some money from their 18K/14K vintage watches. The recent posting of a Melbourne XVI Seamaster dial and movement on eBay really highlighted Desmond's concerns too:

    http://omega-constellation-collecto...12/08/current-rorts-involving-solid-gold.html

    If you have an old Omega watch, irrespective of whether its in mint condition or very rough shape, if it is a REAL Omega, made from REAL gold, it is worth MORE money to a REAL collector, than to someone that turns your watch case into soup and flips the movement and dial on eBay, so please post pictures of your watch on here and give us a look before the local jewellery nuker ruins another piece of history.
     
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  2. ulackfocus Aug 19, 2012

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    That's sort of how I got my Centenary which led to the trade for my black dialed 2943.
     
  3. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Aug 19, 2012

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    Didn't you read my comment to Desmond on his blog? Made reference to your trade.

    Protected the innocent, though.
    gatorcpa
     
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  4. ulackfocus Aug 19, 2012

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    No, missed it. Link me to it in a PM.
     
  5. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Aug 19, 2012

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    Look at the original link. Should be pretty obvious which comment is mine.

    I don't hide very well,
    gatorcpa
     
  6. bob martian Aug 19, 2012

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  7. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Aug 20, 2012

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    You sure about that though, because if it were a solid gold dial from a constellation de lux, they'd have melted it too, I've seen a lot of those dials on stainless constellations recently and some say refinished some don't, I seriously think someone just gave it a mirror finish when they redid it
     
  8. bob martian Aug 20, 2012

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    yea, your right. I took at closer look and the dial is repainted.
     
  9. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Aug 20, 2012

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    There's been at least a dozen of those dials appear in recent months, including some put in gold-cap Constellations being sold as "De Lux" and "Grand Lux" Constellations.
     
  10. cicindela Steve @ ΩF Staff Member Aug 20, 2012

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    If you look carefully you will see that the dial also has a Tritium T's on it, not good for a supposed early or gold dial with arrowheads and no Tritium or Radium
    250px-Red_flag_II.svg.png
     
  11. bob martian Aug 20, 2012

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    the movement is also not correct
     
  12. webvan Mar 2, 2021

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    wristpirate likes this.
  13. JwRosenthal Mar 2, 2021

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    Yeah- this always makes me feel sick to my stomach. I posted a Mido DeLuxe a while ago that was both inner & outer box, papers, movement and dial- they scrapped a full kit rarity for the gold. Had they checked the web- they would have gotten far more.
     
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  14. wristpirate Mar 2, 2021

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  15. cvalue13 Mar 2, 2021

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    Holy thread revival
     
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  16. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Mar 2, 2021

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    It's interesting, because often when a watch comes along here that someone posts, asking what it's worth, the replies often include "scrap value plus $100" or something like that. That watch (often a ladies watch) isn't valuable to us, and these examples in this thread aren't valuable to the people who owned them, and sold them for scrap.

    I certainly don't blame people for scrapping an "old watch" to get some money out of it. Very few here lament the huge numbers of pocket watches that get scrapped for gold, but the pocket watch collectors surely do. Just different perspectives I think...
     
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  17. webvan Mar 2, 2021

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    True, each to their own !

    Yeah I was going to comment on the fact that at least the guy posted nice pictures and shows all the parts and pieces, sort of like a "homage" to a departed "soul".

    As for the thread revival, true, I don't usually like to do that but this was the most appropriate place I could find instead of "Death of a watch" thread title I had in mind.
     
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  18. JwRosenthal Mar 2, 2021

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    This is inline with the disaster that was cash for clunkers here in the US, where tons of excellent (and some rare and exotic) cars were scrapped because the govt was offering a cash buy program to stimulate the US auto industry. It’s all about the instant cash
     
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  19. High Hope Mar 2, 2021

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    The feds also had the oil drained out and the car run until it seized, just so nobody could pull the engine at a Scrap yard. :mad:
     
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  20. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Mar 2, 2021

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    As we all know, with vintage the differences that non-collectors can't pick out, can often have dramatic impacts on value. Redials being the primary example. If you put yourself in the position of the average person who inherited a large clunky quartz watch that had tons of gold, most are not going to spend the time to "research" it if they can scrap it for what they believe is a very good amount of money.

    I'll be honest, as a watchmaker seeing movements without the case is in some ways not a bad thing, as these provide stocks of spare parts to keep other watches (that people do value as complete items) going. I've bought lots of "just movements" that were no doubt just movements because the cases were scrapped, and those are sometimes cheaper to buy than just one new part.

    In addition, I've used old movements from US pocket watches to make wrist watches from - even pocket watch collectors don't want the US 10 size movements like the Hamilton's, and there are a ton of them out there, so no one is crying over those, and they make decent wrist watches if cased properly. For those I'd rather see the movement get used, then sit in someone's drawer.

    [​IMG]