Help buying a ranchero

Hi I’m looking really hard for a ranchero c2990 with the small seconds. I’m looking for the full original piece no Frankenstein stuff. I’m also not looking to spend 8k. I was thinking under 4-5k would be sufficient. Can anyone help point me in the right direction. All advice welcome

Is that the one you're looking at, or just for attention?
If that's the one, I would suggest that the hands are service hands (note the length of the lume area on the minute hand and the flat end to the lume) or off the central seconds version. The crown also looks like it may have been replaced, and the subsecond hand would originally have been painted white.

It seems like a fair proportion of the sub second rancheros have had parts replaced over the years. This may be due to the scarcity of parts that arise from them being a 1-2 year model. Look at a lot of photos and work out what's correct and what isn't before you press buy.
That said, I found a very cheap one with incorrect hands and crown, and have patiently tracked down both over a period of time.

Also, the Swiss Made text at 6 o'clock isn't visible, which indicates a crystal with tension ring that is too broad may have been fitted.

Hey sorry if this has broken some rules. That’s genuinely a watch I’m interested in. I’ve seen prices as low as 2k to the most recent at 8.8k in an official omega vintage boutique and wanted to know why there was such a difference. Tritto, such a useful response. Just to help would you have an image that is exactly correct because I think I might follow the same strategy as you?

Also you were spot on with the the crystal comment + he has a smaller seconds similar that’s painted white for 1000 more. Just out of interest where did you pick yours up? I’m willing to travel?

I believe this is quite a good example (lifted from a thread somewhere on this site). Note the difference in the minute hand from the one you posted. The domed "bowler hat" crown is just visible. There are a lot of watches with fake dials or incorrect hands for sale on eBay, which accounts for the difference in prices. Correct ones in nice condition do attract a big premium over the dodgy ones.
Search Ranchero on this site and you'll find some very useful threads to read through.
As for where I found mine - by jumping into a car parked on the side of a darkened back street in a semi-industrial area of my city and handing over the equivalent of $200US for a non-runner with incorrect hands and crown. It's been a slow process sorting it out, but I'm almost there.

That’s so cool and a wicked story. I get the hands and the bowler crown comment now thanks. Is there a similar issue with the crystal tension ring on this one?

Sorry to chime in on this thread; just a question about service parts. It seems quite obvious to most when service parts have been used as replacements - is it the case that the original parts were simply discontinued so they have used replicated parts? If this is so, why aren’t the replicated parts made to the same standards/dimensions as the originals?

I’ve seen service hands in a package and they’re slightly different from the original. They look more like the hands on the centre seconds model. It’s not a matter of lower standards, just a slightly different design used for a later batch of parts. Maybe it was a different manufacturer. Omega is known to do this for many different models.