Help with an Omega Railmaster / Seamaster PAF

Hi guys,

Can anyone tell me if this Omega Railmaster/Seamaster PAF is completely original as far as you can tell based on the pictures below, and what value it has today?

I actually held the watch in my hands today, but being a newbie I need you expertise to form a better opinion.
The back had a serial number, but I forgot to take a picture of it. It even had the name of the Pakistani airman.

Thanks in advance.
https://www.assisandsons.com/watches-relogios/omega-railmaster-seamaster-paf

Hi Freeman, you are in luck. I can tell you a lot about this watch because I actually knew the original owner (a friend) who sold it to Assisandsons a few months ago. In fact, I have the exact same watch (in better condition I think) with a corresponding serial no.

My friend (who lives in Dubai) bought it from a seller in the UK who had both pieces. His serial no is 17527122 while the one I own is 17527123. His has the engraving "S.M. Ahmed" while mine has none (other than PAF both on caseback and movement). Honestly, the dealer who has this watch now thinks that that name/engraving has some historical significance and therefore represents a sort of proxy provenance because he found a page after googling about a Pakistani airforce pilot with the same name and thinks they are related, but I can tell you as a Pakistani that that is a very common name and what they think about the watch is pure conjecture at best.

The watch is an honest watch in good condition but I think they are asking for an exorbitant amount for it (not sure what they quoted you exactly, but I have a bit of an idea of what it might be given what my friend bought and then sold it to them for and the fact that they've not mentioned the price explicitly on their site and are asking to be contacted for determining this!).

Both this watch and mine do not have Omega EoA because Omega can't find the serial nos in their records (for whatever reason). For reference here are a few pictures of mine (again, exact same watch but with cleaner dial/lume and no engraving at the back). If you have any other questions, please let me know.

The above watches are not Railmaster PAFs 👍
They are ref 2996.
Below are Railmaster PAFs
Cheers, Michael

They are not. I never implied it either. These are of course the slightly less known/less regarded, more misunderstood/more controversial Ranchero Seamasters aka Seachero.

The fact the dealer/seller has called it Railmaster tells you everything you need to know about them....(I've met them in person and they know very little about the watch per se or it's history etc.).

Thanks for the thorough reply. You're being very helpful! This forum is a real gold mine!

The 2996 is a very nice watch indeed, I have owned a few but to help the OP the most important thing for me to mention straight away is the fact that it has been sold as a Railmaster, which it is not.
Cheers, Michael

Fizz and Michael E,
Do you know why those Seacheros read PAF on the back of the watch and on the movement, as seen on Fizz's pictures?
Are the Railmasters and the Seacheros distant cousins or is the latter a bastardized version of the former?
I noticed that the PAF has a broad arrow. What are the other differences? The movement?
Thanks again for taking the time to answer me.

Hi Freeman, I can explain/answer:

The Seacheros (and Railmaster, both 135.004 and the more collectible 2914) have PAF because they were issued to the Pakistan Air Force in the early 60's. Hence they are regarded as military watches as well.

Both the Ranchero/Seachero and 2914 Railmaster also have the PAF engraving on the movement, although the 135.004 Railmaster PAF does not. There is speculation (unverified) that the Railmaster and Ranchero's were both issued to PAF at about the same time (July/Aug 1960 onwards) and if you do a reference check of the serial nos (for which I maintain an Excel sheet) the serial no range of these 2 references are very much in the same bracket.

The Ranchero was a different watch than the railmaster. Ranchero was 36mm while Railmasters was 38mm. They have similar aesthetics but this is true of all vintage Omega professional lines from that period (see also the Seamaster 2913 and of course the Speedy 2915, all of which came out in 1957 (except for the Ranchero which I believe came out later).

Curiously, while the PAF commissioned these watches, they did not want either Railmaster or Ranchero on the dial (which is how they were sold in their non-military versions). For this reason, the dials of these read Seamaster. Why? No one knows but this is what PAF wanted and Omega complied.

Speedmaster, even Flightmaster might have made more sense. But apparently, there was some negative connotation associated with Rails in Pakistan (it is seen as lower class mass travel and their conditions to this date are rather poor, plus the memories of the time of British colonialism when these railways were introduced also probably had something to do with it).

The hands are different - Seachero has "dagger" hands, while Railmaster (2914 at least) has broad arrow hands. The 135.004 Railmaster (issued in 1964) has sword hands.

I think the movements of both Ranchero and Railmaster are the same but am not sure. However, the casing for the Railmaster is different (it has an additional inner case back to act as a shield from magnetism, sort of like the Rolex Milgauss).

The rest, as they say, is...history (or speculation).

Thanks, Fizz! Your knowledge is impressive. Based on both your answers, I've decided to pass on that Seachero. I'm glad I asked for a second opinion. Take care!