Collective,

Would like your opinions and wisdom. Been looking at vintage seamasters & De Ville circa late 60's for purchase but I'm also rather taken by the Electronic F300 hz Constellation chronometers. There is one on fleabay at the mo c1970 for £525.00

Was wondering what you think about them and are they maintainable? I can see a movement watch being commercially viable as an investment, but would say a (can I call them 'quartz'?) electronic watch be repairable in the long-term and a holder of value. I see from the threads there is a UK specialist (Electronic Watches UK).

Thanks.

 

If you use the SEARCH function at the top of the page and type in Omega f300 watches, you’ll find a wealth of information on them. See the magnifying glass icon. You’ll find facts, opinions, reviews, technical information, strengths, (and weaknesses), and information about service centres. They are transistorized, but not quartz.

 

I say buy one for it's curiosity value, don't give it any abuse, enjoy the modest price point of most hummer but remember their age sees them in relatively small diameter cases.
See also Bulova Hummer and Eternasonic listings on the bay of E.
Currently I have two and enjoy them in the above fashion.

 

They are actually quite large for the era due to the diameter of the movement. 35mm range.
Not a lot of people work on them anymore. Chew up batteries fast.
Treat it like a mid '80s Porsche 944. Buy it cheap. Drive it until it breaks. Costs more than it's worth to fix.

 

F300's are great watches but only if you get a good one.

First, you can't call them quartz. They are totally different beasts. The only similarity between the two is that the mechanism that drives the watch is powered by a battery.

Now, more importantly, these things are susceptible to wear the same as a mechanical watch but they also have electronic components. Those components are now more than four decades old ... and they fail. This is on top of the sort of issues that you can find in all vintage watches, like corrosion. Most of these components are still available, either new or recovered, but there's no promise that you can find what you need easily. There are only a handful of people around the world who specialise in these watches but at least two of them are members of the forum. Hopefully they'll chime in and make themselves known to you. These are all things you need to bear in mind if you're considering buying.

If you are going to buy, do it one of two ways: buy a cheap one in the full knowledge that you can easily sink £3-500 into bringing it back to full working order and treat it as a gamble; or, pay much more on a fully serviced and working example with a warranty from a dealer or collector. The early ones, in good order, are starting to appreciate. A good 198.00(0)1 or similar in full working order, with service history, good case etc is starting to break the £700 mark. That said, I bought one a few months ago and (I think) I paid about £35 for it. I sank over £300 into bringing it back from the dead, though. Still not the wrong side on value.

You will find yourself stopping and looking at or listening to the watch when you catch the distinctive hum from the mvoement. Go find a nice one and save it for future generations.

 

I bought the f300 diver last November here in the forum from a great forum member and it is a great go to piece that keeps great time and never needs setting. Case shape is not to everyone’s taste but has wrist presence alright.
It also has annoyance factor if you leave it on the bedside table and the wife tunes into the hum.
Great watch very underrated in my eye but pricing probably reflects the fragility of the movement if something goes wrong. However there a still places where you can get them serviced and fixed.
As previous advice posited, find and good one and buy it.

 

I love them and have 2 now. Both were serviced by paul at electronic watches for £110 and £130

Look out for the date wheel and make sure that it advances all the way round - these are plastic and that plastic is brittle now and the plastic teeth breaks off. The date wheels are becoming scarce

The D shaped cased constrllation still keeps drawing me in, but are scarce

Pic shamlessly “borrowed” from the interweb

Cheeers

 

I have owned an f300 Omega now, for five years. Never wore it because the plastic date ring had chipped teeth, so the calendar was not reliable. I finally got around to searching eBay, and found a NOS ring for sale, and ordered it. The watch now functions perfectly. The vendor for the new date ring is in Mannheim, Germany! To him, my thanks,

 

How often should they go for service if they are working well?

 

Same as a fully mechanical watch I think - so every 5 or so years

After all, they still have gears that need to be lubricated like a fully mechanical watch

 

Thanks for your time Canuck, tikkathree, redpcar & jimmyd13.

Canuck, I did use the search before I posted, (hence the title) sorry I will try and be a bit more thorough before I post again.

 

Hi @Socks

Not sure if you have seen this site but it contains some good information.

http://electric-watches.co.uk

Also here is a pic of my constellation f300. Found it to be very accurate.

 

Thanks all. They all seem to be small diameter units (particularly like the offset dial one posted by Sherbie). The one I’ve seen is more dressy. At the risk of upsetting the seller and Hockey (sorry) which one is, or are they both correct?

 

Both are correct. There are literally 100s of variations and no, not all are ‘small diameter units’. There are 41mm hummers.

 

Very good advice IMHO.

You may check BEFORE buying anything if you can have easy access to somebody trusted and competent who could work on them, because some do require some kind regular service. It is too easy to sink real money in this and end with a dud. Also, future value and maintenance? Nothing is certain, I much prefer simpler technology, be it mechanical or, in fact, quartz: mostly the circuitry or the quartz itself could fail in a quartz, the mechanical parts can get gummed up but it is easy to clean. Electro-mechanical watches can be fiddly, very delicate to service, may require specialized tools and training that were available... half a century ago. Be warned, do your homework beforehand.

If you want to have one, maybe buy one you want and another one for spares, a ratty one with a good movement you could cannibalize if you ever need parts in the future.

 

If you are interested in something less dressy then the SMF300's are much larger at almost 42mm across, brilliant watches. Solid chunks of 70's. Also the cones are large, and the Speedsonics.

 

If you like them, buy one. They are great watches for a small price. Back then in the 70s they where very expensive and therefore had hi quality cases. Common failures:

-coils
-date discs

Coils are still available. If they are all dead, there are people that will rewind them, like they do for the older Bulova 214 movements. Regarding date discs, they are available original and after market made from stainless steel.

 

They keep very good time and look good but I would advise buying one that's working.
A bit like a classic car, buy one that the last guy had all the work done on and the bills are then paid for a couple of years.
Also remember not to leave the old battery in after it's died.
Lastly look in our for sale section, mine is available. (shameless I know)

 

Your wife might tune the hum out by resting the watch on a book or a cloth. I deliberately set mine wherecthey can resonate and generate a low level background sound: that's how much I like 'em.

 

This is my pair; casual Cone and dressy watch