I have never posted here before, so I apologize if this is expressly ignorant.... My grand father recently passed away and he left me his old Omega watch. Unfortunately he did not tell me anything about the watch before he passed. I know nothing about watches, but I did some research and discovered that it may be somewhat valuable. I have no intention of selling it or anything, since there is a lot of sentimental value. I was just wondering if you guys could give me some information on it. Here is what I noticed about the watch... When I picked it up, I initially thought something was broken on the inside because you can noticeably feel something move around (again totally new to watches). It is almost like a coin is rolling around on the inside. After doing some research I found that this is probably a bumper movement. The only engraving on the watching indicates that it is 14K gold filled. It still keeps time very accurately. Here is a link to some pictures of the watch itself.... http://imgur.com/gallery/4Laa5/new Also, I found this watch on Ebay that looks exactly like the one I found. However, this one is 18K solid, while the one I found is 14k filled, which i know detracts from value... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-18K...per-Automatic-35mm-Unusual-Case-/321774108488Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network Again, I am not sure if this sort of thing is appropriate for this forum, but I would really appreciate any insight into the watch I found. It has a lot of sentimental value, and I just want to know more about it. Any info on the value or history of the watch would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Welcome, A nice way to start a collection. I have included an image of what I suspect could be the movement in your watch. Earlier "bumper" automatics usually sound like something is loose.
Ooh I love black textured dial bumpers! Cool looking case. The green patina around the crystal needs to go and the crown is a replacement. You will have to have it opened up to glean more information. Have an independent watchmaker open it up an take a clear photo of the inside of the caseback and movement and while they are in there have them service it and replace the crown. Then wear your grandfather's watch with pride!
When I open up newly acquired bumpers I wish they looked this clean with a Swan neck regulator to boot!
Congrats on a nice watch and welcome to the forum! It appears to be a US made case with a nice original black texture dial. A look inside is required to identify the specific model and movement number as well as the approximate year the watch was made. There's not much value in gold fill, but this dial is quite desirable. Value is around $700, more or less. If you intend to wear then get it serviced first before doing so and note also that gold fill is easily worn out with wearing. PS: You don't need to get it serviced by Omega as it'd be very expensive due to the age of the watch. Just have an exprienced watchmaker do it for you.
That green tinge to the crystal doesn't look too good - I wouldn't be surprised if it had suffered water ingress, hopefully not damaging the movement. IMHO, a service would be advisable. Looks great, by the way
This one I found in pieces in a metal box, no case for it. Upon checking, I found it was complete, so I assembled it. I look forward to the day I can complete it and wear it.
Great Find! I like projects like that and I have a few that I have put together for myself. It is nice to give some of these forgotten watches a second chance around.