Omega forums -

Fitting to be my first post, I am a new proud owner of a 1950s 2640-10SC. This watch came into my life randomly, I'm actually a Rolex collector, but find its simplicity and elegance quite charming. The honeycomb/waffle dial is gorgeous and subtle. The watch runs great but it needs a new crystal and probably a new strap. I am still deciding whether to keep or sell, but I have a few questions that hopefully this group can help solve.

1. It needs a new crystal -- I am not sure what happened to the current one (looks like heat damage) -- what's my best bet for getting a time-period-correct crystal? Am I better off just getting a normal crystal that fits?

2. I have been struggling to find another example of this watch on the internet and have a minor concern this could be a re-dial given the omega logo looks slightly different from other examples I've seen. This 2640-5SC is the closest I've found (https://www.chrono24.com/omega/ref-2640-5-sc--id9763925.htm#gref) but it is ever so slightly different (wider markers, no "swiss" visible on the dial). Do you think this is a re-dial? Any other examples like this one out there?

3. The dial is in great shape otherwise, the lume hasn't patina'd (desirable to some, not to others) and will glow then fade under a blacklight. Are these honeycomb/waffle dials desirable/more rare?

Anything I'm missing or would be good to know?

Thanks!

 

That is a redial unfortunately!

 

Nothing wrong with a new crystal.

From Omega's vintage database:

https://www.omegawatches.com/en-us/watch-omega-other-omega-ck-2640

Dials varied with the same case number but yours looks refinished to me because the font of "OMEGA" hadn't been used for many years when this watch was made.

 

Just curious, what are the tells of a redial on this one? I'm new to Omega...

 

Omega-logo, ”lume” plots, indexes for example

 

Yes, unfortunately that is the wrong logo (it is usually seen in the 1930s IIRC). And they strangely painted markers in the place of the lume dots. Immediately obvious to people accustomed to looking at these dials. That's all I can tell at low resolution, but I suspect that there are more hints of a redial if you could show high resolution photos in better lighting. For example, the finish of the painted dial is usually wrong.

 

Shucks. The lume plots do glow under a blacklight, but you're saying that they look to be painted over? I can try and post a higher res photo, but I think in order to get a clean shot of the dial I'll need to get a new crystal put on (or take the current one off which I don't have the tools to do personally).

How much does the redial impact the value of the watch? It seems like originals are trading north of 1000-1500? I assume this probably brings it down to less than half of that...

 

I'm not sure what lume plots you are referring to, but there should be circular dots of lume filling the holes at the ends of the applied hour markers. Instead there appear to be painted lines underneath. If those are lume plots, they are the wrong shape and texture.

Assuming you are talking about USD, I think that there are certainly many dealers on Chrono24 who would put an asking price of $1,000-$1,500 for a typical 1950s hand-winder, but I think $1,000 would be on the high end of an actual sales price on eBay or between collectors. If you look at the listings in the classifieds here, you can find a lot of watches with various 30mm movements for comparison.

It's always tricky to put a value on watches like this, since it's really not a watch for a collector. However, with a new crystal, there would certainly be buyers, and there are eBay sellers that list watches like this consistently.

 

Thanks Dan - really appreciate the thorough answers. The good news is I got this watch for free through some very random circumstances. It's a bummer that it's a redial and therefore not collectible, but it's good to know that it's still an attractive piece to someone.

 

You still overpaid.

 

Nothing wrong with a redial when it's done right. Unfortunately. This one wasn't

If you can get the diameter of the dial. You can search for a replacement. Most dials are interchangeable with other 30 mm movements.

Just need to find one with silver indexes to match the hands

DON

 

Where's the beautiful 2640-10SC Cal. 283?

 

When a new member starts a thread by using the word "beauty" or "beautiful", I know it's going to turn out like this.

 

Hey now hey now... I was close to getting lucky. Can't fault me for coming to the experts.

 

I don't fault you at all ... honestly. It's just funny from my perspective because we see it over and over again. Sorry if you felt I was laughing at your expense. It's totally understandable, and if you had bought the watch, we would say that you paid your "noob tax". It's so common, we even have a name for it. I was just laughing because the language is so often the same.

For some reason there are a lot of threads from new members saying, "I just got a great deal on this beauty ..." Or something very much like that. Hang around for a bit and you'll see what I mean. It's a trope. Like the "I inherited this from my uncle" thread.

 

No sweat -- I got lucky on another vintage this year (Gallet Multichron 12) so you never know. There's lots of goods out there in the world of vintage.

 

Those are excellent chronographs, and there are many Gallet fans here, including myself. You should post photos in the Other Watch Brands forum, and I'm sure people will appreciate it.