Hi everyone,

I'm new to the Omega forums but I'm a long time fan of Omegas. I've recently bought the 2018 Seamaster LE that came out for the 70th Seamaster anniversary.



This watch made me start digging deeper into the old Seamasters, particularly the first year versions. I'm trying to figure out which watch this anniversary edition is most closely based on.

So far my impression is that it's largely based on the CK2576. I found this one from 1952 for sale that looks almost exactly the same except for the hands. One of my favorite parts of the LE is the hands but I'm not sure if they made a version back in the 40s that have the hands of the new version. Anyone know?



I also found this 2576-4 343 RG for sale from 1948 that is a very close match, except for the gold numerals and ticks. Neither have the Seamaster inscription on the dial. Anyone know if the first year Seamasters actually had the inscription?



User @hoipolloi also brought to my attention this 2576 with the inscription. Not sure which year it is from. Very similar to the new version except for the Breguet numerals. I myself prefer the non-Breguet numerals (not sure what that is called?).



Another one yet is this 2576-1 cal 324. It doesn't have the metal numerals but many other details are close.



Another one I found thanks to @hoipolloi is the 2491. But this was referred to as a "pre-Seamaster", i.e. as far as I understand it's not considered part of the Seamaster collection?



The closest I've come from 1948 is this 2518 in 18k gold. It's different from the new version in that it's in gold and not steel, that it doesn't have the Seamaster inscription and a slightly different ring of ticks around the edge of the dial.



Do you know of any other candidates that might have inspired the anniversary edition? Would love to see any first year Seamasters you might have in your collections!