Help identifying a men's and a ladies Omega from the 1970s

J

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Johnstrand

·May 13, 2022

Hello all,

My parents recently gave me two of their vintage watches, and I could really use some help identifying the models. And if you happen to know a ballpark price, that would be helpful also.

The men's watch is from 1976 and is only identified as "Megaquartz 32 KHz"

The women's watch is from around the same period and only says "De Ville".

I wish I had more information, but my parents couldn't remember any other details.

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

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Johnstrand

·May 13, 2022

I have managed to find out some more info about the men's watch:

Cal. 1310
Model: 196.0038 = Geneve Megaquartz 32khz
Manufactured between 1972 and 1976
Features: Date, Day, Hacking, Quick set date, Signed Crown, Signed Crystal
Country of Origin: Switzerland
Case Material: Gold Plated
Case Shape: Square or Rectangular
Case Size: 37-39mm

Apparently, it is an important model as it is one of the first to use 32khz timing instead of 8khz.

Could anyone please give me some advice on where would be the best place for me to sell and an approximate value?

I am a complete novice in the watch market and would really appreciate any advice I can get.

John

 

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sleepyastronaut

·May 13, 2022

J Johnstrand

Could anyone please give me some advice on where would be the best place for me to sell and an approximate value?

Go to https://watchcharts.com/ and search for

Omega 196.0038
or
Omega 196.038



Go to eBay, search the above, then select

Filter > Show More > Sold Items

Find three or so that are in comparable condition, average the sold price, that will give you a rough estimate.



Then list it for auction with no reserve on eBay starting at $1 and you'll know what it's worth definitively when it sells.

 

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Johnstrand

·May 14, 2022

Then list it for auction with no reserve on eBay starting at $1 and you'll know what it's worth definitively when it sells.

Yes, I realize that I can just list it on eBay and see how it does. I am trying to get some idea of what the watch is worth to make sure I don't get ripped off. And I was asking for some advice on whether there is a better place to try to sell it than eBay.

 

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Davidt

·May 15, 2022

They’re not going to be worth a huge amount.

Ladies - vintage ladies watches aren’t really collectible or valuable as the supply is high and the demand is low. Maybe 100-150 £/€/$.

Gents - these mehaquartz can be trouble to service and although they have their fans, most vintage collectors prefer mechanical movements. It’s also gold plated which is the least desirable case material.
You don’t say if it’s running.
If non running, same as the ladies, 100-150.
If running probably around £300.

What @sleepyastronaut is also saying is you can use eBay to find the sold price of similar watches and use this as research to help you understand the current market value.

 

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Davidt

·May 15, 2022

For these watches btw, I’d say eBay is the best place to sell. A dealer is going to offer you a pittance for them.

 

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Johnstrand

·May 15, 2022

Thanks for the added info. It's very helpful to have some sort of idea about the price. Because the only listing so I could find for the megaquartz on eBay listed it for $852-895, and I knew that was way high.

Both just serviced and running.

Okay. Since the consensus seems to be that eBay is the best place to sell, I guess that's what I'll do. Much appreciated everyone.

 

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connieseamaster

·May 15, 2022

The ladies DeVille is a ref 511.0459 (written on the inside of the case back.

For eBay, my rule of thumb is to set the starting bid as the value of my time to prep the thing for shipping (less eBay fees) and then let the market take the wheel. That usually means a $50 starting bid.

 

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kaplan

·May 18, 2022

<=13mm is ladies
>=17mm is mens

In terms of lug width, this applies to ~95% of watches but there are very some exceptions, unsure for sizes in between, I immediately get rid of <17mm watches, but I suspect some 16mm ones are mens as well, because the demand is high

I disagree with the starting price, if you start a ladies Omega from $50, if you're lucky you'd get no bids, maybe 1 bid if a non-Omega person stumbles onto it for his wife, but if you start auctions from $1, it reaches a much wider audience, and they sell for around $100 - in my opinion they are $20 watches, mainly because there's no demand, nowadays most ladies wear vintage mens size

 

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sleepyastronaut

·May 18, 2022

kaplan

if you start auctions from $1, it reaches a much wider audience

this guy speaks the truth

 

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unxsr

·May 19, 2022

I also found this site that could help for future reference: https://serial-number-decoder.com/omega-model/omega-model.htm

 

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kaplan

·May 19, 2022

unxsr

I also found this site that could help for future reference: https://serial-number-decoder.com/omega-model/omega-model.htm

I just tested but it doesn't work, 511.0404 is a mens watch, it probably has a very simplistic logic rather than a case by case database

 

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perks713

·May 19, 2022

not sure about the accuracy of that site but it does return as a ladies watch which makes sense. If it starts with a 5 it’s a ladies model.

 

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kaplan

·May 19, 2022

511.0404 is a Mens size tank, there’s a smaller size Ladies tank

It’s an 19mm lug width watch

Surprising for me if it was produced for Ladies originally

 

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connieseamaster

·May 19, 2022

I find that tank styles are a bit odd to judge by lug width, because the width of the watch is so close to the width at the lugs. A 19mm lug width on a traditional tank watch would mean a 25mm wide watch (ish). But certainly under 30mm, which is certainly within the normal range of watches marketed to women in the 1970s.

Compared to a round watch where the lug width is approximately 1/2 the diameter. Example: 165.027 Seamaster 120 is 36mm and has a 18mm lug. The 565.027 Seamaster 120 is 31mm and has a 16mm lug.