Ebay Purchase - Omega Constellation Marine ST 396.0879

I have been sporting a Cartier Tank Francaise stainless steel Automatic for the last 15 years, It’s been a wonderful watch but felt the need to maybe buy another watch or two and give the Tank some much deserved rest time. Considering I spent close to $4k on the Tank all them years ago I decided to go in the completely opposite direction, By a used example of a Swiss made watch, My budget was Sub $1000, My requirements was a well-cared for item with box, papers and preferably some service history, I was also leaning towards a larger style divers or chronograph setting so I started searching online and jotting down the makes and models of several beautiful timepieces, With that I went to my local high end jeweler to try on some of these and really didn’t like the look on me, I have rather small wrists and got déjà vu from when I bought the Tank 15 years ago, I originally went into that shop to by a Rolex Datejust and spent the best part of 2 hours trying to make a decision and evidently walked out of their without the Rolex. Despite putting on some pounds over the years my wrists have not gained much so I decided to revise my search and once again look for a slim, small case design, I definitely wanted a round dial vs the Square on the Cartier.
I spent a couple of evenings scouting ebay, Placed some bids on a couple of well cared for items but this one just stuck out, It was an Omega Constellation, all stainless steel, Round faced dial in black, Simple and classic looks and was not gathering much interest, No Box or papers, A very poorly written sales add, I tracked it for a couple of days thinking it’s either a fake or just a POS, I decided to just bid for it, It was cheap as chips, It potentially was an authentic Omega constellation & had simple and elegant features.

I set myself up not to expect much, It arrived in the mail this week, I must admit I am very happy and think I got a fantastic deal, Yes it didn’t come with box, papers or any history but I did buy it to wear it and more than likely not to sell it.

No moral to this story so I will stop blabbering on, I am happy to be an Omega owner

Nice write up, you bought it to wear it and it fits your wrist very well, you got a great deal and you like the way it looks. Seems to me that you won all the way around. Welcome to club Omega!

Well done, got a couple of these myself, one like yours, one with a white dial. There is a version with an 18k bezel but they're pretty rare. There's even a pocket watch version. Possibly the last "nice" watch that came out of Omega before the early 80s meltdown...

They put big efforts in the marketing of that watch with some great wooden displays and "marine chronometer" boxes.

Very nice[emoji4] You should post some pics to the "For the love of Quartz" thread.


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Thank you all for the nice comments, Great reference points also, Been wearing the watch for 4 days now and so far it is keeping excellent time.
Egatdagi - Your thread has another Quartz added... Thanks !!

Recently, I've really come round to this model, but one thing I can't quite figure out is the nature of the dial: what exactly is the surface like? In some pics, horizontal lines are clearly visible, but in other pics (often of the same watch!), these lines seem to disappear.

Thanks, as always, for any enlightenment...

OP, how are you getting on with it now (several months down the line)? Does anyone else have any advice on what to look out for when buying this particular model?

Time does fly doesn't it ! I couldn't be happier with the purchase honestly, This little constellation just works perfectly for my needs, I probably wear it 4/5 days of of the week, It keeps excellent time, fits my wrist perfectly. I really enjoy the simple all stainless finish and think the black dial compliments it well. The dial almost always seems to project a flat black finish but it certain lights the horizontal lines do show.

I work in a business attire environment so this particular watch works very well with long sleeve shirts, It is a very slim design.

I'm actually so impressed with the brand i find myself looking at other Omega models to purchase, I tend to be quite fond of 60's vintage Seamasters so that will more than likely be my next move, More of a dress watch with a leather strap, Of course the Speedmaster is a wonderful timepiece but i may have to wait some time to get one of them.

The one downside ... Its a quartz, But a few months on has shown this not to be an issue for me at all.

Why not stick with the Constellation theme?
A little more expensive than regular Seamasters but a lot less expensive than Speedies
Check out the show and tell Connie thread - lots of variations
I'm sure it will have you hooked 👍

Thanks for the detailed response, JTDT! Much appreciated.

Actually, just in the last hour or two, I managed to pick one up. It looks to be in OK condition - I'm really looking forward to checking it out - should be here in a few days...

Here it is:

The gold bezel around the dial face on yours, Is that electroplated? If you look closely my crown is a goldish color and yours seems silver?
I think you will like it, Let us know what you think when it arrives !!

I don't think that's a gold bezel - I just assumed it was the yellowing of the crystal gasket. As webvan mentioned up-thread, there was a gold bezel variation. Here's a shot (from old-omegas.com):



By the way, yours look great on the wrist - perfect size for you! I have a small(ish) wrist too (about 6.75 or so) and am hoping for that kind of proportion...

Yes I think that's the glass gasket wer'e seeing, not sure what they looked like originally but there yellowish these days ;-)

Well, it arrived! Here are a few shots:



Overall, I'm delighted with it 😀

The hands are showing some signs of age - I'm hoping to replace those at some point if they're still available. I'd also like a new crystal, gasket, and a gentle/sympathetic refinishing of the case/bracelet...

My hands are also showing some age, Hard to see with naked eye but under magnification it shows. Did you get lucky enough to get the box and papers with yours?


Your watch looks to be in great shape, I am glad you like it.

Thanks!

Yeah, to the naked eye, the hands look great - the signs of aging only became noticeable when I took these close-ups.

No box, papers or anything, but that doesn't concern me too much - as they say, you can't wear those! 😀

Very happy to have this - something a little bit different for my collection...

Thanks!