A couple weeks ago I picked up a 176.007 with box and papers. With the set came, what was advertised as, the original corfam strap.

It looks like the strap in the photos from AJTT and the buckle is, as far as I can tell, a period correct MG buckle.

What has planted the seed of doubt is the fact that the strap itself isn’t branded. There are no marking on the inside. So theories are:

1. The branding has been worn off. But does this happen often with the marking coming off completely?
2. The strap is correct but Omega didn’t brand all their straps
3. The strap has been changed for a similar looking aftermarket strap and has had the original buckle mounted.

Would be very happy to get some thoughts on this.

 

Hard one. With some of this vintage stuff you will never know for sure. Which is part of charm to be honest.

 

Thanks Gator.

Since it came with BNP from the original owner, I'll be leaning towards theory no1 then.

I was thinking maybe someone had a similar original strap, that could verify one of the theories.

 

Indeed it is! And another part of the charm is the endless hours of investigation and detective work.

 

Hmmm.... I would go with the assumption that it’s not original to the watch as it left the factory. But then again, this is quite irrelevant as if the watch has been used the strap has been changed several times around.

The Omega original corfam straps had all three sharp pressed recesses running alongside the perforations on most models (even seen in the original brochure pictures), like on this Bullhead. I don’t see these shapes in the OP picture. There are also newer Omega straps with the similar shapes, but missing this sharp recess, they have only soft shapes that resemble OP’s strap. Just my thoughts.

 

Not all vintage Corfams where branded. Most are unbranden. I have seen a lot without brand and they where genuine.

 

Hi @JanV

Thanks for your thoughts.

It's not the best pictures, but it actually does have the recesses. Not as destinct as the style you show, but similar to the subtle AJJT versions, I would say.

A blown up version here:

 

Thanks, Yves1

That is very interesting. That supports theory 2.

 

How did you know they were genuine if they didn't have the branding?

 

I knew where they came from