Hi all, I recently started looking into restoring an Omega watch that was passed down to me by my father. It runs fine but has been around the block a few times. He told me the story of how it originated from my great grandfather around what he thought was 1948. I've been attempting to ID the watch via the serial and case number on the Omega site with no success. I also haven't found another one like it online yet to compare. I have some pics below and was hoping you guys could help me out. Any help or guidance in how I can figure out the year and name of the watch would be terrific. Thanks.
Hi Nate. The movement's serial number of 10,645,783 dates that to 1946. It's very possible the watch was bought in 1948 as it might have been a year or two before the movement was cased, sent to market, and then purchased. The reason you're having trouble finding an exact match is that the dial has been repainted at some point. I think Kyle and Mike (members here) own watches like yours so they'll be able to give you more information.
Thanks for that info! So the dial was painted? That's really interesting. What does that mean exactly?
The original finish from the factory probably deteriorated so much that the dial was sent to be refinished. No redialer EVER gets Omega fonts correct for some odd reason so an experienced collector can usually spot a redial.
It means that the original dial finish deteriorated with time and use, and the dial was redone. In collector circles, where originality carries a premium, that is not generally a good thing. Of course it's better than having a rusty, unreadable dial. And in this case, the watch has tremendous value as a family heirloom, never mind what collectors think....
Here was one that I sold which had an original finish on the dial. If you compare the fonts and the finish quality you can see the difference. You have a nice and desirable watch though with a nice history!