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Help with grandad's watch

HunterJ
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Hi everyone,

While on holidays and staying at my in-laws, my wife unearthed this omega seamaster that belonged to her late grandad.

I'm new to vintage omegas and needless to say this only served to fuel my newly found hobby (obsession).

From what I was told by the grandmother, the watch hasn't been worn in at least a decade and hasn't been serviced in at at least 20 years. And apparently it was bought new.

I've tried to put to use everything I've learned in the past few months in order to identify it and verify its originality, but the dial is giving me a hard time..

Basically, some text I would expect to be there such as "OMEGA", "AUTOMATIC" (as I later found out), "SWISS MADE" as well as the minute marks are nowhere to be seen. The dial of course is in a pretty terrible state (scratches, debris, stains, missing seconds hand), but at the same time the "Seamaster" writting is clearly visible and having compared it with many original examples online, seems correct.. Also the hour and minute hands do match with some examples of this model that I can find online.

Is it possible for everything else to have vanished while "Seamaster" has remained?

Or is it possible for these not to have been there to begin with?

For the rest, everything seems to match (don't know about the crown though). I took it to a watchmaker and had it opened and the case ref no is 166.001 which according to omega website is a match for the movement cal. 562 it has. The serial number also dates it to the time this model was being produced.

By the way I was in awe when the watchmaker opened it and I realised that the bloody thing was in full working mode! These watches are immortal.

I also like the case. If you ignore the significant build-up of grime, it is to my untrained eye probably unpolished with quite sharp lugs, no big scratches and a quite crisp hippocampus symbol on the back.

So, also sue to its sentimental value, the plan is to have it serviced and keep it in the family for years to come. If the dial is original I could live with it as it is, albeit having it (gently) cleaned. If not, I guess I could have it refinished.

I would therefore really appreciate your views on the dial as well as any other comments you might have.

Apologies also if pics are not the best.

Many thanks in advance,

John
 
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TexOmega
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Great heirloom

I would agree the dial is in rough shape.

Now, originality is always good, but in this case if I wanted to invest in a service and plan to wear it regularly, I might opt to also do a refinish on the dial. You'll be way above value but that call is for you to decide.

Service it at the very least if you plan to wear it.

Welcome


edit

Might be missing the bezel, hard to tell from the pictures.
Edited:
 
Heisen0erg
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The Seamaster text appears to match the one on other watches. I might be a little thick though but not sure.

To me it seems like the dial has been refinished before. There is no Omega or Automatic text. Also the minute markers seem to have gone.

The parallel line on the dial next to the minute hand, is that a scratch on the dial or on the glass?
 
DaveK
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This might be a candidate for sending to Omega for servicing
 
TraderSantiago
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Seamaster text looks OK. The only way to truly find out is an Extract of the Archives from Omega (~$150). Regardless, if you do push ahead with the refinish, it may be worth seeking someone very good; possibly even Omega. An alternative would be to source a used dial on eBay?
 
HunterJ
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TexOmega TexOmega
Great heirloom

I would agree the dial is in rough shape.

Now, originality is always good, but in this case if I wanted to invest in a service and plan to wear it regularly, I might opt to also do a refinish on the dial. You'll be way above value but that call is for you to decide.

Service it at the very least if you plan to wear it.

Welcome


edit

Might be missing the bezel, hard to tell from the pictures.
Many thanks for the reply.
I'll definitely be taking it for a service in the next few days. I agree on the dial, but I'll wait to see how it looks exactly after a bit of cleaning and polishing of the crystal. On the wrist in the sun yesterday it didn't look as bad (but still pretty bad)
 
HunterJ
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Heisen0erg Heisen0erg
The Seamaster text appears to match the one on other watches. I might be a little thick though but not sure.

To me it seems like the dial has been refinished before. There is no Omega or Automatic text. Also the minute markers seem to have gone.

The parallel line on the dial next to the minute hand, is that a scratch on the dial or on the glass?

Thanks for the reply. The Seamaster text does indeed appear a little thicker than it should on the photos but in reality not so much. Is it possible to refinish a dial and at the same time keep some of the text?

That parallel line does unfortunately look like a scratch..
 
HunterJ
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DaveK DaveK
This might be a candidate for sending to Omega for servicing

Thanks for the suggestion DaveK. Excuse my ignorance, would they be able to refinish/replace the dial too? If so do you know by any chance how much that would roughly cost?
 
HunterJ
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TraderSantiago TraderSantiago
Seamaster text looks OK. The only way to truly find out is an Extract of the Archives from Omega (~$150). Regardless, if you do push ahead with the refinish, it may be worth seeking someone very good; possibly even Omega. An alternative would be to source a used dial on eBay?
Thanks for all the suggestions. Also on the extract. It would be interesting to find out where it was delivered since no one seems to know. On the other hand the grandmother is adamant that it was bought new by her husband, she even looked a bit offended that I asked (he was a relatively well off lawyer). Needless to say, I got a similar look when I questioned the originality 😜
 
HunterJ
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
This is what Omega thinks it should look like...

https://www.omegawatches.com/watch-omega-seamaster-omega-je-166-0001

I suspect factory service in Switzerland, if you want it to look like the catalog, is your only hope.

But that is assuming the correct caseback. I think it might be put together from parts.
Hi, thanks for the reply SkunkPrince. I saw the image, on the omega website but I guess (or hope) that as usual there would have been many different dial versions for this particular model.

Do you have any idea how much the factory service in Switzerland might cost?

Interesting what you say about it being put together from parts. Is there any particular indication of this I should be looking at?
 
SkunkPrince
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The hands are completely different. The case looks dissimilar. A watchmaker having it apart and looking at wear might be able to tell. For example, taking off the hands leaves evidence, according to my watchmaker.

As for price... could be anywhere from $550 for a normal service to $1500 we’ll do whatever it takes.

I am known for spending more than most on these kinds of things and I personally would choose to do nothing. Too many questions, not enough evidence.
 
Heisen0erg
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HunterJ HunterJ
Is it possible to refinish a dial and at the same time keep some of the text?

That parallel line does unfortunately look like a scratch..

It is possible by just covering the text with a little piece of tape. Do you see any differences in color hue between the color that is within the letters of "Seamaster" and the color around the word "Seamaster"?

The reason why "Seamaster" might have been left there is because it is much harder to replicate than "Omega" and "Automatic". If the dial surely was refinished once then it wasn't from an official watchmaker. Maybe your grandfather let it once be serviced (+ redialed) somewhere but somehow the watchmaker never finished it's intended work for whatever reason.

Furthermore, the scratch on the dial might be another indicator that the dial has been refinished at some point. If you slap paint on top of paint without removing the first layer, grinding it off and adding a primer, these cracks might happen. The top paint is after all on an unstable surface. Just my suspicion.
Edited:
 
HunterJ
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
The hands are completely different. The case looks dissimilar. A watchmaker having it apart and looking at wear might be able to tell. For example, taking off the hands leaves evidence, according to my watchmaker.

As for price... could be anywhere from $550 for a normal service to $1500 we’ll do whatever it takes.

I am known for spending more than most on these kinds of things and I personally would choose to do nothing. Too many questions, not enough evidence.
Thanks for the reply. Certainly a lot of questions for the watchmaker when I go there tomorrow!
 
HunterJ
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Heisen0erg Heisen0erg
It is possible by just covering the text with a little piece of tape. Do you see any differences in color hue between the color that is within the letters of "Seamaster" and the color around the word "Seamaster"?

The reason why "Seamaster" might have been left there is because it is much harder to replicate than "Omega" and "Automatic". If the dial surely was refinished once then it wasn't from an official watchmaker. Maybe your grandfather let it once be serviced (+ redialed) somewhere but somehow the watchmaker never finished it's intended work for whatever reason.

Furthermore, the scratch on the dial might be another indicator that the dial has been refinished at some point. If you slap paint on top of paint without removing the first layer, grinding it off and adding a primer, these cracks might happen. The top paint is after all on an unstable surface. Just my suspicion.
That's a very plausible suspicion. Many thanks for your thoughts, very useful for someone as inexperienced as I am
 
Heisen0erg
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HunterJ HunterJ
Thanks again, you've been very helpful! I think I'll take it for a service at the local watchmaker first and see how it feels/looks after that.

That's what I would have done too. I wouldn't want an expensive overhaul to make the watch look like brand new. For that kind of money, you could buy yourself a great, used modern watch. Just do enough to make it run again as I think this would be the best approach to keep your grandfather and the watch he wore in memory.
 
Archer
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HunterJ HunterJ
Hi, thanks for the reply SkunkPrince. I saw the image, on the omega website but I guess (or hope) that as usual there would have been many different dial versions for this particular model.

Yes, there are different cases and dial variations for this reference, so using the Omega vintage database is always something you should take with a grain of salt.

The steel cased version came with at least 2 options - silvered dial or black dial. The silver dial is still available from Omega, so you won;t need to send it to Omega to get the dial replaced (if that is what you want to do) as any watchmaker with an Omega parts account should be able to order one in for you.

BTW you won't be able to tell if it's a franken by seeing if hands have been taken off, or anything like that, because clearly hands are taken off for servicing.

Cheers, Al
 
HunterJ
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Archer Archer
Yes, there are different cases and dial variations for this reference, so using the Omega vintage database is always something you should take with a grain of salt.

The steel cased version came with at least 2 options - silvered dial or black dial. The silver dial is still available from Omega, so you won;t need to send it to Omega to get the dial replaced (if that is what you want to do) as any watchmaker with an Omega parts account should be able to order one in for you.

BTW you won't be able to tell if it's a franken by seeing if hands have been taken off, or anything like that, because clearly hands are taken off for servicing.

Cheers, Al
Many thanks for the valuable advice. If I can also ask, how complicated would it be to find an appropriate (not necessarily from the time) replacement for the missing seconds hand?
 
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