i found them too small for bigger wrists. it is nothing special in my opinion. it is part of the Geneve collection with an anchor painted on the dial..... exept for the turning bezel version, i guess..... kind regards. achim

 

They look great though! And appearance is important to most people. Is there anything particularly special about a Ranchero (besides its rarity)?

 

This is a pic of my Admiralty projects in (slow) progress. They are all NOS 135.042 cases. Would anyone be able to tell me what the serial no of the correct crown is? I understand that they came with a cal 601 movement which shouldn’t be too hard to source. Obviously also looking for dials and hands. Happy to let my burgundy (too 70s!) case go to a new home as an exhange for some parts or any decent offer but I fear a lost cause....

 

069ST42102

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks Archer, you are a good man!

 

I tried to order a winding crown through Cousins UK, but my order was cancelled and refunded and I saw this when I checked my order:

"Restricted by Swatch"...wow...major bummer!

 

I read somewhere that there are some court cases pending regarding these restrictive practices by Swatch. Anyone know how these are progressing? I think a while back in UK, car manufacturers tried to restrict genuine parts to independent garages but they were taken to court and the consumer eventually won.

 

There have been court cases and other actions in different countries (one in the US settled, one in Australia didn't come to anything) and in the end nothing changes. I would say the current one (the Cousins case) is progressing slowly - at least news of any progress is very slow to be released. I'm not sure the case is even before the courts in the UK yet...

Keep in mind that Swatch does sell parts to independent watchmakers through their selective spare parts distribution program. The only people who have had their access cut off are the third party resellers.

Cheers, Al

 

...but it's the 3rd party resellers that often have stock in discontinued parts like the 42057ST winding crown!
I guess Swatch Group doesn't like not having total control over such parts.

 

what I like is that they have sporty looking crown guards, hefty, easy to grip winding crowns and the dial layout is pleasant to the eye.
I wish they were larger, had more substantial bezels and better bracelets...but if that were true, prices would be at least double what they are already are....

 

Sorry but this makes no sense. If the crown is discontinued, and Omega no longer has any, what difference does it make that Cousins can't buy one?

 

You mean "SELL one"?
What's crazy is that Cousins most likely has the part (the message I got didn't say "out of stock") but is somehow restricted from selling it. Swatch Group has them by the balls somehow. I wonder what kind of contractual obligation Swatch has over parts resellers like CousinsUK? Perhaps the use of the brand names like Omega etc.?

I agree it makes NO sense, until you consider Swatch Group's position. They would prefer to consumers to spend their money on NEW watches and not on repairing and restoring vintage watches for which Swatch makes little or no profits.

 

You are completely misunderstanding what the message from Cousins means.

What the message you received means is that Cousins doesn't have the crown in stock to sell you, and they are restricted from buying more from Omega (because Omega no longer supplies any third party resellers). But it's a moot point anyway because Omega doesn't even have the crowns anymore, so even if Cousins could buy one, there aren't any to buy...

 

Are the hands from a 1970s Dynamic the same as those for the Admiralty. If not, any advice on what to look for? Cheers, guys.

 

Ok, got it so they aren't allowed to purchase the crown from Swatch who doesn't have it....yes...it's moot indeed...bottom line, no crown. Similar to what Otto Frei went through.

 

On the subject of crowns for the Admiralty. A few weeks ago I saw an Admiralty with an anchor crown. I’d only ever seen them with Omega logo crowns before. Was the anchor crown exclusive to this version of the Admiralty? Pics attached.

 

That's actually a Tissot crown.

 

Oh thats interesting. The seller was trying to sell me that watch as having a “rare” crown. What a chancer!

 

I returned the white anchor-less Admiralty to exchange it for the Black auto-date version....it finally arrived and I put it on the Fixoflex...trying to embrace the stretch band!...

 

To help make this thread the "comprehensive" place for Admiralty (especially the non-diver versions) information, I want to reference this older discussion here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/advice-needed-on-an-omega-admiralty-166-038.5657/