Hi all,

I am a newbie and am looking to buy a decent mint vintage Omega. I recently came across this Constellation and I am very tempted. Price-wise, I think it is definitely being quite marked up by the seller, but given my lack of experience I am willing to pay the mark up. However, I want to make sure this is a solid Constellation and not a fake or a Frankenstein watch.

According to the seller, the case is unpolished and the dial is also original. Do you think this is true to its description?

I believe this is the page from the Omega Achieve corresponding to the watch:
https://www.omegawatches.com/watch-omega-constellation-omega-ck-14381

Any input will be greatly appreciated!

 

It looks good to me apart from the incorrect crown and scratches on the case back. I guess how good it is depends on the price?

 

Sellers often claim their watches are unpolished (and serviced) so please take these statements with a pinch of salt. The crown is a later service replacement and would have originally been fitted with a scalloped or thin decagonal type. Apart from that everything else looks correct for this reference.
All comes down to price I suppose. For me it’s a £700 - £900 watch.

 

Looks like a decent example to me.

 

Not being a purist, I sometimes have mixed feelings about crowns. At least my fingers can grip and turn the larger replacements like these.

 

Have you had a Constellation with a scalloped crown? I really like those

 

@Noddyman, Thanks for the input. Great to hear that all looks correct except for the crown. The price is definitely decently more than what you suggested. But I guess it's the newbie premium. I will try and see whether I could find some other good bargain. But if not, I will probably bite the bullet and go for it, since it speaks to me.

Speaking of the crown, do you know how I could try to find the original one for this reference? If I end up getting this, I might want to find the right crown to replacement the current crown.

I started read up Constellation crown, and I think one could write an essay on Constellation crown. It is hard to pin down which one it should be. And I haven't bee able to find any picture/achieve of this same watch online to figure out what the right crown should be.

@ConElPueblo it seems like you have a wealth of knowledge of Constellation. Maybe you have some ideas?

Looking at http://www.ofrei.com/page_147.html, it looks like the replaceable crown now for case 14381 is 8100/1080, which looks like the one that is on the watch at the moment. I would like to know which scalloped or decagonal crown I should look for.

Also thank you again for writing in the thread! It is really helpful.

 

The OPs watch is really quite nice however, it is not entirely unpolished as the facets on the lugs are soft.

The movt has some rotor rub so if you are paying a premium be aware the watch requires a service.

(What exactly is the asking price?)

The correct crown is the classic slim decagonal but this reference is so frequently seen with a scalloped crown that it is also believed correct.

@ConElPueblo ’s thread on the subject.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-curious-case-of-controversial-constellation-crowns.54568/

 

@Peemacgee The seller is asking for 1850 GBP, which I think is very high.

They said it is freshly serviced with 3 months technical warranty. From what you said, it sounds like l need to service it regardless. So it has a good chance it was not serviced.

This probably means I will be paying even more for the watch. Maybe at the end of the day, I should not be getting it...

 

The rotor rub may have been sorted if the watch has been properly serviced.

However, even retail, £1850 is way too much.
That kind of money should still buy you a pretty special Connie. (Especially a dome dial)

 

This is 550-650£ watch. Nice one for the right price.
Seller is on lala land.
1850 £ is for a nice solid gold Connie.

Pass and have a look on the forum sales section. People price their watches fair here.

 

FIFY
I think folks are being a bit optimistic regarding Connie prices.
@Noddyman is about right with his pricing but retail is always going to be substantially more.

 

Agree on everything said here

£1850 would buy you an excellent, pie-pan dialed, stainless steel Constellation with dog-leg horns, IMO.

 

Have to say I agree with @Peemacgee and @ConElPueblo .

There are many low/optimistic valuations of vintage Connies and seamasters posted on OF recently...but strangely I see very few watches offered for anything like these figures in real life?

One may get lucky and find the odd item on eBay or similar that is being listed by someone who doesn’t know its true value, but by and large these are few and far between, collectors usually spot these and so the final price isn’t that cheap anyway.

Anyone who knows about their watch won’t be selling it for anything less than market value.

I see that prices vary according to geography, for example the US prices are cheaper than that in Europe but not by a massive margin and any reduced cost for a European buyer is eaten away by postage and import costs if buying from the US.

If anyone can tell me where decent watches are being sold at these (mythical) knock down prices please let me know! I’d be VERY happy and grateful to be shown to be naive to some rich vein of good quality cheap vintage omegas I had no knowledge of!

 

@Sidnos
@ConElPueblo
@Peemacgee

Pricing depends very much from a country to another. UK has higher prices than everywhere else.
If the seller is a dealer “forget about it”. They want a leg and hand together with the money they ask.

In other European countries you get a lot better deals.

I have bought 3 Omegas in the recent past.....2 Connies and 1 Seamster.
Seamaster and Connie pie pan were less than 800usd.
The last one is solid gold pie pan and it was 1500usd.

So, go ahead pay thousands of bucks if you wish....the reality is that these watches can be bought for less. You need to shop around and avoid greedy dealers.

 

It takes patience, but reasonably priced examples are out there. I've found dealing with sellers who posess significant knowledge of horology and years of experience tend to price their examples fairly. Many still believe reputation means something. Again, patience is the key.

 

I'll add that I started collecting American railroad pocket watches about 10 years ago. I gained a little knowledge from some very good forums on the subject whose members were always willing to provide opinions on examples I was considering. Unfortunately I wasn't patient in the early years, couldn't wait to use my insufficient knowledge to buy a watch and immediately post it to one of the forums and await with anticipation the members' praise of my purchase, only to be shot down by observations of why the particular example wasn't the gem I thought it was. After doing that several times I learned what patience was. Some learn patience this way and some are fortunate enough to be patient right out of the gate.

 

Agreed, there’s reasonably priced examples about and yep, £1,850 is too much for this one.
The sale section here is a great point in case, on the whole fair prices but not the prices that have been mentioned for quality pieces.
As I say, there are fair valued bits out there, but quality dictates what I’d consider good value.
You can pick up a redialled, low quality seamaster for peanuts.
@Noddyman estimates seems reasonable to me.

 

Double the price it should be

Keep looking


Use this as a beginners guide. ( heaps of variables )
£1000 gets you a nice SS dome dial Constellation
£2000 gets you a nice SS pie pan Constellation
£3000 gets you a not bad to nice Gold Pie pan Constellation

 

Condition is everything when it comes to price.
Bargains can always be had but we were talking ‘nice’ Constellations.
And of course, prices always vary dependent on location.
I would very much like to see your $1500 gold pie pan.