Following that amazing post from @nonuffinbloke on his father's speedy, I owe a post on my dad's watches, the first of which is a Seamaster. All I know of it is that my mom had given it to him to wear on their wedding in 1960 - the first watch that he would ever own.

I inherited this watch 11 years ago, and knowing nothing about watches, I sent it to the Omega service center and it came back looking new: they had replaced the glass, along with the hands and dial, which they gave back along with the watch.


(These are the service parts)

After seeing everything on OF, I went to my friend's watchmaker to ask if he can reinstate the decommissioned parts:



Happy with the result, I examined the watch more in detail, and here is where I ask our wise members some questions about this watch. (I was unable to take a photo of the serial number when it was opened.)

1. Service hands had lume on it, I was wondering why the "original" hands don't.


2. It doesn't have any markings in the lower part of the dial. ("Swiss Made")



Attaching a photo of the caseback and crown as well:





Anyway, that ends this show-and-tell, and I appreciate any input you guys might have on this one.

 

The dial which was original to your dads watch didn't have lume on the dial so the hands didn't either.

Also, the original dial isn't original any more, it was refinished at some time, likely during a service which wasn't at all unusual in period.

 

nice watch

 

Thanks!

What puzzles me really is the lack of a "Swiss made" marking at the bottom of the dial. Is that at all normal (even for refinished/service dials)?

 

My father's 1953 Constellation was re-dialed at some point, most likely in the 1960's. It is also missing the "Swiss Made". In addition, the cross-hairs are gone, the lettering, while nice, is a bit thick and the hour marks are dashes, not dots.

I am curious: Do you have a photo of what Omega did? I am wondering what the dial looked like. [Now I see the service parts are in the first photo - I think I would have a tough time deciding between the two]

While I am enjoying my watch a lot, I am having an internal debate about the dial when it comes time in a few years to service the watch again. At that point, I will also be correcting the crown (omega was used but not the correct one) and crystal (the one used does not have the Omega logo and it appears that the early Constellation would have used a crystal with the logo).

 

Normal, no, but it is a fairly easy way to tell if something has been refinished, at least something of this vintage. BTW, your watch is early to mid 1960s.

A service dial is a factory part substituted typically during a factory service to replace a damaged one. A refinished dial is usually occurs at an other than factory service, when a watchmaker sends the dial out to be refinished often at the request of the watch's owner. This was a fairly common practice back in the day.

 

I don't really know what happened to the watch during my father's lifetime, but the service dials and hands that Omega had installed in 2006 appear above (first photo).

I'm enjoying this watch as well, but yes, at one point it would also make a great project.

 

Thanks again! I think that explains why I can't find a matching dial anywhere as I was trying to date the watch, just to see if it indeed was of the time of their wedding.

 

What a story! My grandfather's Omega went to my uncle and it got stolen during a break in.

Enjoy your watch!

 

Thanks a lot! I'm enjoying every bit of it - despite the refinished dial. Sorry to hear about the stolen Omega, though.