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Help with De Ville cal. 565

klook31
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I am considering getting this watch. It is an Omega De Ville cal. 565. It is monocoque and requires Tool 106. I do not know as much about the De Ville line so I thought I would turn to this forum for some help.

As far as I can tell, crystal and crown are signed. Dial, case and hands look good to me. Seller does not have the tool to remove the crystal and check the movement. This is a bit of a concern. It also means I cannot know the exact date of the watch.

The watch is -44s/d but seller tells me it has been serviced. He claims that +-60s/d is good enough for a vintage watch, but from everything I have read +-15s/d is probably the max for Omegas from this period (assumed late 60s/ early 70s). He says the beat error, 0.2 ms, indicates the watch is in good condition. I do not know what this actually means - or how to properly interpret the timegrapher results.

The price is c. $635.

Any comments/ thoughts welcome!

5.webp 6.webp 7.webp 8.webp 9.webp 333.webp s-l1600.webp
 
Canuck
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With an error such as shown, a thorough service would be required, irregardless of the fact the seller says it has been serviced. So you’ll likely double your total investment in attempting to bring it to a reasonable rate. Not worth the asking price in my opinion.
 
Dan S
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Apparently the seller doesn't know how to use the timegrapher either, since the cal 265 has a different lift angle. But the timekeeping alone suggests that it probably wasn't truly serviced recently. Most likely a watchmaker would regulate it better than that.

Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with the watch, and it is in appealing condition. But it might need a service. You can make an offer, but they look like professional photos from a dealer, which might explain the BS claims about a service.

Edit: The crown looks a bit small, so it may not be correct for the reference.
Edited:
 
ErichKeane
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Note sellers often have a couple of 'definitions' of serviced:

1- I sent it out to a qualified watchmaker who charged me $3-400 to service this, so I'm sure it is perfect, and did everything you could think of to make it perfect.

2- I sent it out to a guy who pulled it out of the case and gave it a quick once-over for $20, but left his screwdrivers in the drawer. He might have tried a mild regulation, or MAYBE cleaned a few of the visible jewels to get the amplitude to not be awful.

3- The timegrapher doesn't look SUPER bad, and no one knows different, so I can claim that it was recently serviced. Trust me Bro.


You are in #2 or #3 here based on that timegrapher.

as far as the watch: Everything looks pretty good to me. It DEFINITELY needs a service (again, $3-400, and as you said, this Omega should be able to do 15s +/- all day). You can get a 'needs service' Deville similar to this for ~$400-450 all-day, so at $635, this is way over priced. WITH a service/running fabulously, I'm not sure I'd go much more than $550 on it anyway.
 
Canuck
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IMHO, no”watchmaker” would be satisfied with over 40 seconds per day variation. A true test on the timing machine would have rated the watch in more than solely the “face up” position as shown in your picture. I bet a more extensive test would open a an of worms!🐛
 
DON
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Timing should be better than that. Easily under 10 seconds a day. Case is fair. Can’t tell if missing a piece of metal at the 9 side.

Hands fair

Dial nice

Crown. Check reference # to compare.

If he’s not the watchmaker. Opening, removal of movement etc. is not the easiest with these cases which is why I stuck to snap or screw backs.

Check eBay completed auctions to compare price, but make sure you look at comparable conditioned models.

If it does need servicing. Figure $300, so ask yourself if you want to take the chance or apply that $300 to the current amount and look for something better in the $900 range
 
Mark020
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218 degrees 😜
 
klook31
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DON DON
Timing should be better than that. Easily under 10 seconds a day. Case is fair. Can’t tell if missing a piece of metal at the 9 side.

Hands fair

Dial nice

Crown. Check reference # to compare.

If he’s not the watchmaker. Opening, removal of movement etc. is not the easiest with these cases which is why I stuck to snap or screw backs.

Check eBay completed auctions to compare price, but make sure you look at comparable conditioned models.

If it does need servicing. Figure $300, so ask yourself if you want to take the chance or apply that $300 to the current amount and look for something better in the $900 range
Crown does seem smaller. I have compared with one or two other watches and the crown usually goes slightly above that line on the side directly above. I am not sure if it has a name.

I will have to do some more digging but there seems to be fewer de ville cal. 565 around. I think I will have to be patient.

Can you say a bit more about the piece of metal potentially missing? Do you mean the small chip on the side of the case? I am not sure I am seeing anything else
 
klook31
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ErichKeane ErichKeane
Note sellers often have a couple of 'definitions' of serviced:

1- I sent it out to a qualified watchmaker who charged me $3-400 to service this, so I'm sure it is perfect, and did everything you could think of to make it perfect.

2- I sent it out to a guy who pulled it out of the case and gave it a quick once-over for $20, but left his screwdrivers in the drawer. He might have tried a mild regulation, or MAYBE cleaned a few of the visible jewels to get the amplitude to not be awful.

3- The timegrapher doesn't look SUPER bad, and no one knows different, so I can claim that it was recently serviced. Trust me Bro.


You are in #2 or #3 here based on that timegrapher.

as far as the watch: Everything looks pretty good to me. It DEFINITELY needs a service (again, $3-400, and as you said, this Omega should be able to do 15s +/- all day). You can get a 'needs service' Deville similar to this for ~$400-450 all-day, so at $635, this is way over priced. WITH a service/running fabulously, I'm not sure I'd go much more than $550 on it anyway.
Funny enough he mentioned a complete service, including inspection, adjustment, cleaning, and lubrication of the regulation and anti-shock mechanisms.

Needless to say, the results speak for themselves. Unless the service was like 5+ years ago ..
 
Davidt
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These aren’t to be confused with the automatic 166.020 which are nicer and more desirable watches.

Serviced or not, I wouldn’t be falling over myself to buy one of these. Theyre a step down from the earlier seamaster Devilles and I’d look for one of those, which can be found for a similar price without bracelet with a bit of patience.
 
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