Help with very early (1907) Omega/Page Keen & Page wristwatch

Hi all,

I'm new here and this is my first posting, so hope its in the right place.

My friend gave me this watch to look at. No attempt has been made yet at any disassembly. I want to see if I can find more info before doing so. As you can see the dial is marked “Page Keen & Page Plymouth”, while the movement has the Omega stamp, and from my research appears to be an early 13” (it measures about 28.5mm) Omega movement (with 7 Jewels?).

From some quick research, Page Keen and Page was a silversmith, jewellers and “watchmakers” that seems to have been in business from about 1811 to 1970's when the name was lost after a merger. They were based in Plymouth, England.

The English silver import marks inside the case give the year of import as 1907.

So can anyone shed any light on the movement? Is it rare to find Omega movements in a non-branded Omega watch? Since the movement appears to be only a 7 jewel movement, did Omega supply such “lesser” movements to other brands? Does this make the watch rarer than an Omega branded watch of the same period? Is it worth more or less than an Omega branded watch? Is the movement contemporary with the case?

As you can see in the pics, the hairspring has been completely mangled. Does anyone know if any spares can be obtained from anywhere?

Any info would be welcome.

Tim

Welcome, and kudos for doing some personal research before posting!

That's a charming trench-style watch.
Take it to a professional - this excellent thread gives an idea of how intricate the individual components can be: https://omegaforums.net/threads/1916-omega-13-sb-trench-watch.41387/

So can anyone shed any light on the movement? Others know more than I, but your suggestion of 13''' = 13 lignes seems appropriate (not 13" = 33cm! That's more of a Flavor Flav size). The movement has little ornamentation, in keeping with the emphasis of function over form that spurred the development of trench watches.

Is it rare to find Omega movements in a non-branded Omega watch? To my knowledge, during this period it was pretty common for Omega to produce movements for watches with dial variants reflecting the market and retailer.

Does this make the watch rarer than an Omega branded watch of the same period? Is it worth more or less than an Omega branded watch? Maybe it is rarer in absolute terms, but the value boost (if any) would be far from enough to compensate for the poor dial condition, and probably not a significant factor in value even if the watch were in mint condition... the 800lb gorilla in the room is the dial, which looks like an 800lb gorilla might have sat on it.

Is the movement contemporary with the case? The case number suggests a production year between 1906-1910. Occam's razor would point towards the affirmative - it would be an exceedingly bold business model to create and sell Frankenwatches with bad dials and broken movements; probably not enough hipsters out there to sustain a market for non-running wabi-sabi trench watches...

In summary, unless your friend's watch comes with a distinguished provenance (e.g. WWI story with loads of photos and paperwork, OR was worn by Leonardo DiCaprio as he danced with Kate Winslet on the Titanic's ill-fated voyage), the sentimental and historical value (as well as professional restoration cost) probably outstrips the monetary value of this watch.

Great! Thanks for your detailed reply. Yes, of course I meant 13''' not 13" – slip of the keyboard!

I was not aware that Omega routinely produced watches for other retailers, so that is very interesting to me, and means I'll look more closely at any "mystery" brands of similar age from now on.

Any idea how much it might cost to have the dial repaired (if it can)? I'm not familiar with enamel dials, bit I'm guessing it will be rather expensive to get it looking half decent (and maybe not worth the cost).

Tim

Everyone will probably shout at me for even suggesting this, but given the state of the dial and the mechanicals (that can be seen) it might be an option to see what Omega'a specialist restoration department could do. However, the prices start at eye-watering and probably end up somewhere north of astronomical 😲

Fair point, everybody has an individual frame of reference for what is an acceptable price.

I was quoted ~$1000 by Omega for restoration of a wristwatch dial with light spotting, alone.

I have no pocketwatch estimates to quote, but for the above pocket watch in present condition you can probably multiply that by a factor of NOPE (likely could buy more than one minty Omega sterling trench watch with a similar amount of money).

Third-party restorers may provide similar service at a lower price, but one may have to buy a donor movement and dial restoration will still not be cheap, you would have to contact them directly for quotes. Good luck!

Enamel dial restoration is hellishly expensive. Any worn-out parts in that movement would have to be fabricated.

Personally, seeing how tortured that balance spring is, I wouldn't bother.

Tom

Thanks for all for your replies.

I don't think the watch has that much sentimental value to my friend, so it will probably end-up going back in the drawer!

Just out of interest though, I have read that the better Omega movements of this period had Breguet hairsprings - would this "lesser" movement have had a Breguet or flat spring?

Tim