Hello all,

I'm new to the forum and hoping that maybe one of you also have a love for bauhaus watches!

I am looking into buying my first Omega- the Seamaster 30 (Cal. 286) online, but unfortunately have never seen one in real life.

I have small wrists, and tend to like rectangular watches (I have 30s Rekord and Junghans which are tiny, but still look OK on my wrist), but I am starting to develop a taste for smaller minimalistic light dialed round watches.

I would like to understand the dimensions of the Seamster 30 compared to a Junghans Max Bill 38mm Automatic, something which I am also considering (in addition to the Seamaster- not instead of it).

I am quite familiar with the Max Bill 38mm as I just tried one on, but the smaller 34mm Max Bill looks quite feminine on my wrists.

Does anyone have both the Max Bill 38mm and Seamaster 30, and mind posting a pic of them side by side, or even on wrist?

A bit of a long shot, but any help appreciated!

Cheers,

Ben

 

Well, The Seamaster 30 is approx. 34mm across (excl. crown)...............

 

Thanks for the info Mozambique! Much appreciated!

I think an on the wrist shot of both them would be useful, but as I said, a long shot!

 

Two Seamasters - a cal 267 and 286

 

Thanks for the pics, Togri. Nice timepieces! I like the steel cases with a highlight of gold.

Is the one on the left the 286? I am guessing, as I have mainly been looking at those, and the hands and markers look more familiar for the later period? (Or is that a noob mistake?)

I am currently looking at a 1963ish Seamaster 30, 286 with a dial similar to the right one (gold numbers at 3,6,9,12), but no sub-dial. Also the hands are and the hour markers are straight like the left one in the pic above.

Out of interest, what material were the original hands and markers made out of on yours? Gold, or gold-plated?

 

Omega cal 28x was with center second hand and 26x was sub second at six o'clock. There are a huge number of dial variations on these Omega 30mm watches. Part of what makes them so fun to collect. I don't know if all gold hour markers were solid gold, I doubt it, but some were. I believe that the hour markers on my cal 286 are solid gold but not entirely sure. Some people on the forum know a lot more than me about these.

Here are some more wrist shots. For comparison my wrist is 7,25 inches. I find them perfect in size.

 

Many thanks for the pics, and for the information! Very helpful!

Yes, I agree with the variation on the dials. I began only liking the baton markers, but am now in love with the four arabic numeral faces.

I will open a thread when I get a mine!

Take care,

Ben

 

I bought a Seamaster 30!!

It was a last minute decision to actually buy it, but it was a case of 'buying the seller'.

He is a private buyer based in Germany, where I live, was very responsive, and his listing also states that he will offer a refund if anything listed is not correct.

Apparently, it is an 'not refinished' dial, and has an Omega crown, strap and buckle, and crystal.

He has had it in his collection for 30 years and wound it once every 6 months. He also reported that it is around 30 secs fast per day, so might need a calibration.

I know I should have asked for your advice before I bought it, but you only live once.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/HAU-Omega-Seamaster-30-Cal-286-Edelstahl-/162254310051?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=GObk0CIEMi86aRO%2FkQGOvsDNKnM%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=ncPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

I need to find a watchmaker here to fix another watch next week, so I will get some high res pics of it including the movement, and open a thread here.

I can't wait!!

Huge thanks to this great community. I have only been lurking for around a month, but have read quite a few posts which helped me a lot!

You are a nice bunch, and sometimes very patient (with those more active than me).

Thanks,

Ben

 

The wach you have just bought looks very nice! Original dial I would say (but pictures nit good enough to be sure) and overall good condition.

 

Looks like a good pickup in original condition. Congrats!

(Speaking of which I believe that you are the 3rd or 4th person in the last week or so asking about Seamaster 30s...is there a collecting phase or news story out there promoting theae models?)

 

Thanks for the feedback Francois and Guilty Boomerang!

Yes, the pics weren't that good, but I thought that may have been the reason that the auction wasn't as hot as the others?

@GuiltyBoomerang I haven't come across any recent news stories. With me, I was actually looking to buy a Junghans Max Bill (I always liked the model due to the minimal design- one of the few round-dialed watches I liked). I also have a 1930s Junghans, so liked the mark.

I was looking for a used Max Bill, then noticed one or two Seamasters on ebay in bad condition for an low price. So I decided to start looking through old listings and, and decided that I could be lucky to find an OK condition one for a fair price. (I still intend on getting a Max Bill though, but I think there is a good supply of them over here, so no rush).

Searching the Omegas is a lot more fun though- with all the examples on here of bad redials, incorrect movements, strange looking hands etc. it's also been a steep learning curve.