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Got my Extract from the Archives and found two interesting tidbits...

rosedale
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I just got the Extract PDF for my vintage 18K gold Constellation, and found out two very interesting things:

1) The watch was made in 1957; this is despite the fact that the serial number implies 1956. The auction house I bought this at said 1956, and all of the online date calculators (based on serial number) also said 1956. Omega said 1957

2) The watch was originally sold in Japan... which is kind of crazy since I bought it at a US auction for myself here in Canada.

Is there anything I should know about Omegas from Japan in the 1950s?!?!
 
Foo2rama
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I see nothing out of the ordinary at all.

the online serial charts are approximate. Watches esp collector type pieces have been moving around the world due to the internet for over 20 years now.

but watches from Japan can often have short bracelets with unobtainable extensions making bracelet purchase sometimes problematic.
 
rosedale
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
I see nothing out of the ordinary at all.

the online serial charts are approximate. Watches esp collector type pieces have been moving around the world due to the internet for over 20 years now.

but watches from Japan can often have short bracelets with unobtainable extensions making bracelet purchase sometimes problematic.

this came from an estate and without a band... thank you for the information!
 
randomdude
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Could have been purchased by a US service member stationed in Japan and brought home. Watches were a common purchase on PX’s or in town. Still are, but more likely a G-shock now.
 
AtomicGrog
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rosedale rosedale
1) The watch was made in 1957; this is despite the fact that the serial number implies 1956. The auction house I bought this at said 1956, and all of the online date calculators (based on serial number) also said 1956. Omega said 1957

Surely this makes sense even beyond the serial numbers being approximate, the movement (which contains the serial number) doesn't necessarily get shoved into a watch same day/week/month.

Omega would have a stock of movements and use them over time. Same happens over the years with many complex products such as engines in cars. You have a 2006 car, but the engine, especially over xmas break could be dated 2005.

That it indicates that the movement is older than the watch is better than being than the other way around, which could imply a replacement.
 
SkunkPrince
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Especially certified chronometers would predate the watch a bit. Omega would run off a large number of them, adjust them, and then send the movements to the certification agents. This all takes time.
 
JimInOz
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rosedale rosedale
...............................

1) The watch was made in 1957; this is despite the fact that the serial number implies 1956. The auction house I bought this at said 1956, and all of the online date calculators (based on serial number) also said 1956. Omega said 1957.......................

I'm guessing your serial number is in the 15 million series if you are using on-line charts to arrive at 1956.
The 15M series commenced in 1956 and was produced through 1958 and used in low production watches up until 1962.

Different calibers received "batches" of serial numbers so a caliber 601 could have a serial only one number different to a caliber 640 for example.
 
nkhandekar
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The watch being sold in Japan is not a big deal. People travelled. I can think of at least a few people I knew who travelled to Japan from the US in the 1950s. They came back with Hiroshige prints, but it could as easily have been watches.
 
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