Hi,

I've been considering this Omega Seamaster and just wanted to see if anyone would be able to tell me if this is real?

I know very little about these watches but based on what I've manage to find so far it all looks good!

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

I have never seen a case back with 2 reference numbers... smells............................................ fishy

 

It looks like it is actually closest to a 168.022 rather than 166.026, so it's strange that's been carved out and in a bit of a crude way (the numbers left don't line up).
If it is a 168.022, the dial would be silver though. Either way, Seamaster font isn't correct for this era. A few too many question marks.

 

Lume on the hands but not on the face? I smell fish as well.....

 

Looks like the original ref number has been machined off, then someone has had two goes at adding a ref which suits the look. Might just be an amalgamation of parts.

 

Thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it.
Think I'm going to give this a miss and keep searching for now!

 

If it's very cheap it's worth going for, it has issue I'll agree, so the price should be very low.

Aside from the caseback, there is a question about the dial and the beautiful Cal 564 has been neglected.

It could make a nice daily wearer, or it could be a money pit.

There will be another one out there.

 

This is on eBay with a starting bid of £395.
Think I'm going to take my time and try and learn more about these before spending any money.
Really glad I posted here before rushing into things!

 

Great to hear! Like @JimInOz says, there will always be another watch. Take your time and read up on the posts here on the forums as well as in the sales threads - everyone selling there is a member with references from other happy members who have purchased from them.

 

Hi Pj32

I was in your shoes a few weeks ago. For what it's worth, here is my little bit of advice:

Be really really careful buying from eBay. Perhaps avoid it altogether. You've probably noticed quite a few of the watches there may have something wrong with them. The scammers are careful, they inflate their reviews by selling cheap, real stuff, and then drop the scam every now and then. They also use alt accounts to "watch" their auctions so their products look more authentic.

Based on the above, I would stick to buying something here. There are scammers here of course, but it's much harder to pull an outright scam here. They would get caught immediately. You'll get roughly what you pay for.

So don't rush into a purchase. Try to educate yourself about the watch you want, and wait for the right one to come along.

I chose a vintage constellation (pie pan) because a) they're pretty and b) there's a lot of information about them out there, including the excellent Omega Constellation blog.

If you plan is to keep the watch for a long time, I think it's worthwhile to pay a little extra for peace of mind. So if you see the right watch, but it's above your budget, I'd find a way to increase your budget.

Finally, be careful of well known jewellery stores. My interaction with them (all of them!) was extremely odd. They would only give blurry photos, wouldn't show me the movement, etc.

Good luck.

 

Will definitely be taking your advice!
I'm going to hold out and find a watch from someone here I know I'll be happy with.
I'd much rather spend a little more and get the right watch.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out, much appreciated.

 

Having 2 reference while being not real common is not unheard of.

I agree with both. But I think the font is correct this has movement number 2717xxxx, ref. 166.028 (non-chronometer)

Just my thoughts.

 

More than one reference in a case back is actually fairly common...

 

With a obvious alteration to the case back? and what appears to be a hand stamped number

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/why-2-case-numbers.39022/

 

Actually both numbers look hand stamped/engraved, but your original statement was only concerning there being 2 refference numbers.