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  1. WatchVaultNYC Nov 2, 2018

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    Another one bought on a whim. Have not opened the case yet, but online research says 1940s bumper movement JLC. Blued steel hands are lovely. Lots of good finds if you can wear 34mm

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. X350 XJR Vintage Omega Aficionado Nov 2, 2018

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    To me the dial is suspect with SWISS T.
     
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  3. WatchVaultNYC Nov 2, 2018

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    DOH! You're right! 40's watch should be radium! Lets look at the insides then..
     
  4. Dan S Nov 2, 2018

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    At first glance the logo looks good, but the lume is wonky in places, and obviously the SWISS T issue. Perhaps the dial is original, but has had some work done.
     
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  5. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Nov 2, 2018

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  6. WatchVaultNYC Nov 2, 2018

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    Looks like it is indeed a 476 movement!

    Caliber 476 introduced in 1946:
    https://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=JLC_476

    IMG_0014 (2).JPG

    Here's a better shot of the dial. I am not JLC expert here, but the "T" looks too clean, for a individual to just put on there without refinishing the dial.

    As for the lume, I thought this sort of application was common for older watches?
    RJ208_01 (2).JPG
     
  7. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Nov 2, 2018

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    Re-lume. And the obvious "T" problem. I believe the "SWISS" to be non-original as well.
     
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  8. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Nov 2, 2018

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    I respectfully disagree with you on this. Here are two examples of similar watches with I believe to be original dials that have the large "SWISS".

    [​IMG]
    Seconds hand on this one is a replacement, but it is French market, with appropriate verbiage on the dial. Still, there is a big "SWISS" in the same font as the OP's watch

    [​IMG]
    A bit hard to see on this one, but it looks the same to me also.

    Note that on both of the above examples, the radium has been painted cleanly within the lines, as opposed to the thick and uneven application on the OP's example.

    The US market LeCoultre examples had the same big "SWISS" as well:

    [​IMG]

    All seem to match the OP's watch on the "SWISS".

    I still believe whoever did the relume probably used Tritium and added the "T" to mark their work.
    gatorcpa
     
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  9. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Nov 2, 2018

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    Perhaps you are correct, though "SWISS" on a French-market dial that already has the French variation would be odd.

    In any case, we agree that there is no doubt of it being a re-lume, and the "T" being completely out of place.
     
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  10. jimmyd13 Nov 2, 2018

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    I'm sitting here comparing the OP's example with @gatorcpa 's and the one in my hand.

    Here's my idle thought: the one here has suffered radium burns to the dial. How long does (did) it take radium in the hands to damage the dials; and, is OP's a factory redial from the mid 60's or a little later because of this type of damage?
    IMG_20181024_102259_351.jpg
     
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  11. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Nov 2, 2018

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    A factory redial that sloppy? No way.
     
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  12. TDBK Nov 2, 2018

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    Is it likely that the two are connected? (It was relumed with tritium and the T added to reflect that fact?) To me, anyway, that would make the T more legit.
     
  13. WatchVaultNYC Nov 2, 2018

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    A gentleman sent me links to these, both with sloppy lume and "T" seemingly printed on to the side of "SWISS".

    Interestingly, both are Marine Nationale issue.. I suspect that I need to get an extract to find out more..

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    edit: whups they are the same watch
     
    Edited Nov 2, 2018
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  14. Dan S Nov 2, 2018

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    I have no first-hand experience with this, but the re-lume of a military-issued watch is definitely plausible, to remove radium. And it could make sense for them to mark the dial to indicate the removal. This is analogous to the circled-T on MoD dials.

    Minor point, but the seconds and minute hands on the OP's watch are longer than all the others in the thread.
     
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  15. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Nov 2, 2018

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    That's very interesting...maybe early 1960's relume similar to UK MoD re-do's on some Omegas?
    gatorcpa
     
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  16. jimmyd13 Nov 3, 2018

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    I don't think this is a minor point. It was the first thing I noticed but then got on to comparing the 5 different examples. I was trying to work out the spacing of the minute track from the inner case .... And then drank more wine.
     
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  17. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Nov 3, 2018

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    I looked at all of these again and noticed that both the OP’s watch and the purported MN watch had slightly different fonts on the dial than the othe examples I posted.

    upload_2018-11-3_8-32-19.jpeg

    [​IMG]

    Differences should be easy to spot. I still believe both variations are factory correct. I was able to find other similar examples with the flat “3” here:

    [​IMG]
    https://omegaforums.net/threads/arrivals-what-did-you-buy-recently-watches.8930/page-58#post-180164

    The subseconds version has the big “SWISS” like the others. No “T” on these, so that remains a mystery.
    gatorcpa
     
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  18. Millenary Watches Nov 10, 2018

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    Wow, that's a real stunner! Can't go wrong with blued hands.
    Enjoy it:)