Difference on (golden) hands against indices

Hi everyone. It is yet another cold gray day in Germany and whilst I eagerly wait for my beloved Seamaster 2846 come fresh out of service on Tuesday, and also for a purchased book to arrive so I can further learn about Omega production (A Journey through Time) I was seeing some fotos and wanted to expand my knowledge on vintage matters.

One thing I started to realise was that the gold tone colour of the hands of a determined watch not always match the tone of the indices 100%.

Sometimes the difference is little. Some other times it looks almost as if either the hands are yellow gold and the indices rose gold and vice-versa.

I was wondering if that is because the hands were eventually replaced or if the aging of the gold can vary depending on climate or if in the 40s, 50s and 60s Omega sometimes just would assemble a watch with what they had on that period, and it might have been that the hands and the indices didn't have the exact same copper content or shade of gold and that was still fine and within the quality standard at that time.

I will post some shots of general watches where I have seen this. Some are from here, some are not.

In some cases, the length of the hands also surpasses the "inner" dial of some two-tone dials or of those with a minute track that is not near the tension ring of the watch. I read here in the past that both are correct.

I was wondering what do the most experienced have to say about it and just in general if that bothers you or not (colour and length) 😀



Here two examples with my own 2846 and another one from another member with hands of different colour and length. The difference in colour on mine is most of the time not visible. I picked up two fotos where the difference is really there to be seen and two where it is not. Last foto is of a 2846 another member's.



Be safe out there and best wishes,

Rudi

I too have wondered about this, so good thread thanks.

The issue does put me off some watches. As you say some look different colours yellow or rose. Gold should tarnish at same rate so indices and hands similar. Tritium lume may have an effect?

Also this area of description is often vague or absent.

I am very keen to have 18k gold hands and indices ( pref Arabic quarters or alternates). I am planning a constellation next, and I am after steel case gold hands and indices.. My vintage collection is quite small and modest so far only gilt (9ct 13322), and steel eterna centenaire 1428u. I have been quite slow and not spent too much as there do seem to be replacement hands and dials everywhere. However gold should not corrode so surely are mostly original. Will be interested in the answers.

Interesting so could omega and say longines or Rolex hands be the same if ordered from the same manufacturer ispecified the same?

The most common variation is light rose gold hands paired with yellow gold indices.

Type of plating, aging and polish will all have an influence - I think it is reasonable to suggest that they originally would have matched.

@Rudi99 - I would say that the hands on your 2846 are replacements as they should only extent to the indices as on the two others you posted.

Gentlemen, had suddenly a lot to do during the week and could not come back to thank you all for your answers, @STANDY , @ConElPueblo , and @Peemacgee .

Got to learn more. Appreciate the time taken for writing down your experience. Hope you guys have a good week. 😀

So is there a steel case watch w solid gold indices and hands?

Tks peemacgee - are any hands solid gold?

I am interested in durability. Seems to me light and moisture are the main enemy, and they account for degradation of dial and hands and index. One might think dress watches on the whole are going to see less of those than tool watches.
The introduction of mineral glass should be a turning point because UV does not penetrate glass so much , and that is the highest energy, infra red will obviously damage and is no doubt part of the picture.

Thanks iamvr looked at some gold gyromatics look like they have gold hands as a result!