Help / advice - OMEGA SEAMASTER 600 ARABIC

hc9090 · Sep 11, 2025

Hello,

It's my brother's birthday in 3 weeks, and I know he's had his eye on the following watch, listed here at £2,000 on eBay. It seems overpriced to me, through a dealer.

My question is, what would be a good deal for this watch, and am I realistically likely to be able to find one within 3 weeks? He specifically likes the style of the arabic numerals, so unfortunately can't just a variation.

Many thanks in advance

Davidt · Sep 11, 2025

It’s 3-4x what a collector would sell it for and the dial isn’t great.
But, as time is limited you may have to compromise. £2k is still far too much for me.

hc9090 · Sep 11, 2025

Davidt
It’s 3-4x what a collector would sell it for and the dial isn’t great.
But, as time is limited you may have to compromise. £2k is still far too much for me.

Thank you, that's roughly what I thought. On the off chance anyone on here has one, and is looking to sell one at a small premium, please feel free to message me.

Dan S · Sep 11, 2025

Those embossed arabic dials look so cheap to me. Maybe if your brother spends some time looking at other styles, he will develop better taste. 😉

hc9090 · Sep 11, 2025

I don’t think he’s that concerned with the artificial hierarchies of watch collectors. As an architect, he’s guided by his own design sensibilities rather than collector fashions.

Dan S · Sep 11, 2025

hc9090
I don’t think he’s that concerned with the artificial hierarchies of watch collectors. As an architect, he’s guided by his own design sensibilities rather than collector fashions.

I'm not talking about artificial hierarchies of watch collectors. It's an objectively ugly dial design that is produced using a cheap manufacturing process, which produces inferior/low-quality results. I sincerely suspect that with time (and in-person experience), his taste will evolve to appreciate more sophisticated and higher quality designs and dials. There is no "best" dial design, because personal tastes vary. But there are certainly some bad ones. So I would be doubly careful not to over-spend on it.

It's nice that your brother is attracted to an entry-level watch, because that means you should be able to get one cheap. But it defeats the purpose if you pay as much as you would for a high quality model.

JimInOz · Sep 11, 2025

It's a nice looking watch, from a distance.

The case has been polished, therefore the lugs have lost their facets.
The caseback has been sanded to cover corrosion caused by a NATO or single pass fabric strap.
The dial is too badly marked for my taste and as noted above, the embossed indices aren't as attractive as applied ones.
The crystal looks like a generic as I can't see an Ω in the centre.

The asking price is ludicrous.

If he likes the design he would be better off looking for a new/modern interpretation of a Bauhaus style dial.

AG77 · Sep 11, 2025

Junghans Max Bill: Less than the eBay watch. New. Bauhaus design. Hassle free and pretty sure you could pick one up this weekend.

You could find a vintage Junghans with Arabic numerals for under $500.

But, the heart wants what the heart wants. You know it's overpriced, but if he likes that specific Omega - buy it up. What difference does it make if it's original or a terrific deal, if he's interested mostly in the design and his own sensibilities? Finding a good price on a specific style vintage watch with your timeline is almost impossible.

Porteroso · Sep 11, 2025

A lot of the collectors here seem to wait years on a good price for a reference they really want. If you have 3 weeks, start by offering $900 or so. If the seller doesn't take offers, message them. I bet you could get it down to $1500, maybe less. Some of these sellers are insane though.

reggie_v · Sep 12, 2025

Looks like this is from watchvintage

Fantastic seller I must say and all his watches are serviced to an excellent standard. I’ve purchased a pie pan from him before. Paid the usual dealer tax of £500 over what it would be sold for but I expect that. Especially on a pie pan.

I must say, the prices of all of the seamasters on his site (of which he has many!) all seem to be far too expensive. Some even listed for £2500. As a previous commenter said. I’d expect these to sit around the £1000-£1200 mark.

That being said I got an easy £500 off when I asked Scott @ watchvintage nicely and he really is a top bloke from what I could tell over WhatsApp!

cristos71 · Sep 12, 2025

It looks like a €500-600 watch to me, no way anywhere near £2K. Even from a dealer I wouldn't expect to see it offered for more than €1250

Davidt · Sep 12, 2025

It is possible to find similar watches with applied indices.

WestCoastTime · Sep 12, 2025

Not exactly the same, but some other full-Arabics options...

https://www.chrono24.com/omega/seamaster-600--id42462280.htm

https://www.chrono24.com/omega/omega-seamaster-automatic--id42076897.htm

https://www.chrono24.com/omega/seamaster-600m-full-arabic-numerals--id32807523.htm

https://www.chrono24.com/omega/seamaster-de-ville--id42584759.htm

hc9090 · Sep 12, 2025

Dan S
It's an objectively ugly dial design that is produced using a cheap manufacturing process, which produces inferior/low-quality results.

I think you’re confusing personal taste with objectivity. As I mentioned, my brother is an architect, so he’s well used to evaluating design on its own terms. He isn’t particularly worried about whether a forum hierarchy decides it’s ugly or not - he simply likes the look of it. The one point I do agree with you on is that it’s an entry-level piece, which is fortunate, since it’s already stretching my budget as a gift.

Thanks to everyone else for the genuinely helpful responses.

Peemacgee · Sep 12, 2025

There are a couple of discussions points here @hc9090.

Firstly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the appreciation of a design aesthetic should not preclude a discussion about quality.

As it happens I very much like the 'full-arabic' Omega dials and for some reason these dials were most popular here in the UK, but they are not such a common variant that they are readily available.
However, this is a pressed Omega dial, which was an inexpensive way for Omega to produce these dial types.
Omega did produce applied numeral dials (like the one @Davidt posted) which are infinitely superior to the pressed type.
(also the dial on the watch you posted has some unattractive spotting which detracts from the look of the dial)

The second point is about value for money.

If you had posted this watch and said, you were short on time and it was £1,000 from a dealer, the response might have been "well that is significantly overpriced but given the circumstances you might consider buying it because you know your brother likes it"

There is always the argument about dealers doing the work for buyers and they have overheads etc. but at £2,000 this watch is obscenely overpriced and no-one here likes to see folks getting ripped off.

My advice would be to talk to your brother about the discussion here about the watch and promise him a watch for his birthday - because with patience, if you have £2,000 to spend on a watch for him, you could get a really, really nice vintage Omega watch in great condition for that kind of money.
(you should be looking at mint condition Constellations with box and papers with that budget )

- and as a final note, as someone who trained as an architect and have some three-plus decades in the industry, I have trained and worked with some architects who have terrible taste....(but not me or your brother of course 😉)

hc9090 · Sep 12, 2025

Peemacgee
There are a couple of discussions points here @hc9090.

Firstly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the appreciation of a design aesthetic should not preclude a discussion about quality.

As it happens I very much like the 'full-arabic' Omega dials and for some reason these dials were most popular here in the UK, but they are not such a common variant that they are readily available.
However, this is a pressed Omega dial, which was an inexpensive way for Omega to produce these dial types.
Omega did produce applied numeral dials (like the one @Davidt posted) which are infinitely superior to the pressed type.
(also the dial on the watch you posted has some unattractive spotting which detracts from the look of the dial)

The second point is about value for money.

If you had posted this watch and said, you were short on time and it was £1,000 from a dealer, the response might have been "well that is significantly overpriced but given the circumstances you might consider buying it because you know your brother likes it"

There is always the argument about dealers doing the work for buyers and they have overheads etc. but at £2,000 this watch is obscenely overpriced and no-one here likes to see folks getting ripped off.

My advice would be to talk to your brother about the discussion here about the watch and promise him a watch - because with patience, if you have £2,000 to spend on a watch for him, you could get a really, really nice vintage Omega watch in great condition for that kind of money.
(you should be looking at mint condition Constellations with box and papers with that budget )

- and as a final note, as someone who trained as an architect and have some three-plus decades in the industry, I have trained and worked with some architects who have terrible taste....(but not me or your brother of course 😉)

Thank you - I agree with most of what you’ve said. My budget is more like £1,000, which is what I had in mind for the example I posted.

Ideally I’d like it to be a complete surprise, so I’m reluctant to drift too far from the style he’s already drawn to.

I understand the argument about applied numerals, but I think in this case the specific typography is one of the things that appealed to him. The embossed full-Arabic dials often have a lighter, more modernist look, whereas many of the applied examples in this price range tend towards a bolder style that doesn’t quite have the same character. I don't think one is wrong or right, it's just personal preference.

Dan S · Sep 12, 2025

hc9090
I think you’re confusing personal taste with objectivity.

Point taken, some people like cheap-looking things.

You seem to have a snarky attitude about an artificial or forum "hierarchy", but I'd suggest that you open your mind to the idea that we are people just like you, except that we have looked at thousands of watches, for decades, and have developed discerning eyes. None of this matters to us, we are just trying to save you from a purchase you might later regret. You might think you like this watch from professional photos that minimize flaws and present the watch at its best, but it's possible that we might have a better idea about how you will appear in person, having handled many watches. We all went through the original stages of watch enthusiasm, and remember the decisions we made.

In any case, I'm sure your brother will treasure any watch you buy him. I bought my brother a birth-year Seiko diver for his 50th some years back. He's still not a watch guy, but he appreciated the thought.

hc9090 · Sep 12, 2025

Dan S
Point taken, some people like cheap-looking things.

How quaint. You’ve measured cost, not design. It’s the watch collector’s version of knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

omega1994 · Sep 12, 2025

Arabic markers are lovely, for me they must be chunky stainless steel and applied. Dial at that price must be near flawless.

bardamu · Sep 12, 2025

Irrealistic price. Those arabic dials were often sold in the uk market, I suggest to keep an eye on ebay uk.

Help / advice - OMEGA SEAMASTER 600 ARABIC

hc9090

Davidt

hc9090

Dan S

hc9090

Dan S

JimInOz

AG77

Porteroso

reggie_v

cristos71

Davidt

WestCoastTime

hc9090

Peemacgee

hc9090

Dan S

hc9090

omega1994

bardamu

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