Below are pictures of my Seamaster 300 diver. I bought the watch off eBay about 10 years ago for $350. I took a total flyer on it because the photos were so blurry you couldn't see anything but the seller had decent feedback rating.

Anyway, I suspect the watch may be somewhat of an amalgamation because of the following 3 details:

1. It has british military markings on the case back but all the mil 300s I have seen online have no date window

2. My Toledo ohio watchmaker told me the crystal in the watch when I bought it was wrong(no date magnifier)

3. It had aftermarket hands

It has been serviced a few times Since I bought it. I had him put in a correct (according to him) crystal and new omega hands. It has served me well but it now has some mechanical issues and since I cannot find a watchmaker where I live now (Raleigh) I will be sending it to omega for an overhaul.

Before it leaves my possession I was wondering how much I should insure it for and if anybody on here can tell me about whether the movement, dial, crown, case back, case, etc. seem to be from one watch or a combination. I am very curious about what I have. I know it's filthy. I have worn it daily for 10 years.

 

Oh. I think the dial was also "not right" and was replaced by my watchmaker at some point.

 

The dial is new to your watch but could still be genuine, the case back doesnt have british military markings because there is no arrow head in the markings. Also for the british military the writing would be in english. You need to check your movement against the records. If its a franken with original bits its still a steal. Without knowing its full history i would make a guess insuring for £1500 to £2000.

 

No comment on the value of the piece. I would caution you, however, about taking out insurance through FedEx/UPS and the like. If you read their fine print, watches and jewelry articles are typically excluded from coverage. When you go to the counter and plunk down your package, they will happily take your money for insurance, though I have heard horror stories of rejected claims.

For one off mailings, it may be wise to have an Omega boutique or dealer send it off, or investigate other methods of transit very carefully as to the fine print of the insurance coverage.

For frequent mailings, it is likely worth the hassles of obtaining third party insurance specifically for diamonds, jewelry, and watches. It can be a huge pain to setup, however. I use ParcelPro and have had good experiences, though I have never needed to file a claim, so my review is rather limited.

I also recommend double boxing, with an address and contact information on the inner box as well... in addition to the usual padding and peanuts, etc.

 

how do I "check the movement against the records?"

 

Where are you located? This can be requested through the Omega website, unless you are in the USA, in which case you may need to follow other procedures and other forum members can chime in to provide up to date info.
Edit: I see you're in Raleigh.

Before you send this back to Omega, I would highly encourage you to look into having it serviced by a qualified independent watchmaker rather than Omega. Even if you can't find one locally, you should consider requesting watchmaker recommendations around the forum. Al Archer, located in Canada, is well known and respected around this community, just to give you one idea.

 

Other recommendations are welcome

 

Al Archer does fantastic work and at a great price. You will also receive a disk with lots of photos of the watch service. I had my diver serviced a month ago and highly recommend.

 

You may consider contacting your home/car insurance agent. I have always insured my valuables, over a certain dollar amount, under "Valuable Articles" offered with most homeowners policies. Costs vary between insurance companies but usually from $3.US to $4.US per $1000.US per year. I'm covered for a specified dollar amount as long as I own the article. Meaning whatever happens you get paid for the amount insured. Chubb insurance provides for up to 50% additional if the actual replace cost more than insured value. Oh yea, you pay dearly for a Chubb policy, but you get what you pay for. Most of these "Valuable Articles" policies includes most shipping with tracking and signature verification. There are some limitations as to what countries to can send it. Also the insurance companies will most likely not want you to insure it otherwise. Thus it does not attract additional attention. I find USPS Priority Mail with signature to be most efficient. Over night is very costly and if you send it out on a Monday it arrives almost every where by Friday. Thus no overnight stays in a ware house or truck. Additionally Priority Mail provides for hand handling - only. Needless to say: The better you pack it, the better it arrives. Double packing, as recommended, is cheap additional insurance.

 

Not to worry. The swiss never spoke any English after all.

 

The text is off center too. Bezel, dial, hands... modern. Strange at least...

 

Careful here, as there is yet some additional fine print on most renter's/homeowner's policies. With most companies you have two options for insurance: 1) a blanket (unspecified) jewelry/watches limit 2)or as a specific scheduled piece, requiring appraisal and serial numbers, etc.

In the latter case, the trouble is usually justified by lower rates. In the former case, simply having blanket coverage is not enough, as you must also specifically purchase a rider for"off-premises" loss. Without this specific rider, losses that did not occur in the covered "premises" aren't subject to coverage.

But this is a long side topic... even with homeowner's/renter's coverage, you'll want to insure the shipment if it's a high value item. As I certainly wouldn't want to risk bumping the rates of much more expensive coverage due to shipping loss or damage.

Finally, it's certainly worth considering the probabilistic nature of all insurance. If you invert the situation as Charlie Munger urges, the probabilities of shipping loss or damage are generally quite low in relation to the high premium that is charged for the insurance. So for lower value items--for which I would not be financially devastated with a loss--it often pays to write your own premiums. That is, self insure. Forgo insurance altogether.

 

Points well well taken. However under a Chubb "Specific Valuable Articles" policy, you get paid - period! As I said: "You get what you pay for" ;-)

 

The case back, at least, is (quite poorly) faked. I suspect this is one of the completely faked case/hands/dials that came out of Asia (China?) and was fitted with Omega calibers from worn out Geneve and plain Seamasters.
I think the last concern is insurance when sending it to Omega..... If I am correct then this watch holds no more value than the movement itself. And a unserviced caliber 565 is not too much to worry about.

Edit:
The dial also seems to be fake: Look at the "12" mark. In my reference lists the numerals should be the same height. On this one the 2 seems to be smaller than the 1.

And the 1171 bracelet is not original to the SM300 (even though it may be a recommended replacement). It should be as follows:

• Bracelet 1506 (end piece no. 16), produced 1964-1966
• Bracelet 1035 (end piece no. 516), produced 1966-1972
• Bracelet 1039 (end piece no. 516), produced 1968-1971

 

I appreciate all the insurance advice. It is already insured for 800 usd on a jewelry rider on my homeowners policy. That policy covers shipping. I am just trying to get an idea if that is enough. To my understanding the movement and case are original and the dial, hands, and crystal are genuine omega replacements. the case back, IMO, looks fishy. the markings "0552/923 7697 A/670/70". Appear to me to be an afterthought but are perfectly engraved (not stamped). I never noticed the misspellings.

 

The case back is ALL wrong. As an example the SEAMASTER text should be centered under the seahorse / logo, and Omega never made typos like shown. That also makes the additional "military" engravings completely pointless (and valueless).
Also the inside engravings on the case back looks to be out of alignment. The hands looks to be NOS later replacements, the same goes for the bezel. The bezel could also bee all fake. A common mistake on fake bezels is that they have 120 clicks, and not 60, on a full round. Check this for yourself.
USD800 is more than enough for insurance as it stands, however I am in some doubt that Omega would even take it on for servicing.

 

It was serviced by omega in 2005

 

how can I tell if the case is genuine?

 

Did you have it serviced, or was this a claim by the seller?
The dial is not looking good (nor original). There are several issues with the fonts, the Seamaster 300 text looks too "fat" and so on.