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Is this as rare as I think it is? 1944 Omega 2300/7 Copper and Black tuxedo dial
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EAO101
·Hello all,
I pulled this out of my storage recently, and to be honest I cannot remember when or where I got it.
Is this watch as rare and collectable as I think it is? It seems to be all original i.e. movement, case, crown, dial etc. and is in amazing, seemingly unpolished condition. I have been told a reference with the combination of movement and physical features, in its current condition, is a true "rarest of the rare" and a collector's grail watch for WW2 era military watches? I have also been advised it is a museum grade rarity and condition? Surely I didn't have something this rare sitting in a box forgotten.... There seems to be no existing versions of this watch in any open, public digital archives but is a legitimate Omega configuration with less than 200 models ever produced but not confirmed and no publicly confirmed surviving versions and may possibly now be a 1 of 1 left surviving?
I have done some research and found the following:
Year: 1944
Reference: 2300/7
Movement: 23.4SC
Serial: 10495973
Case: 30mm stainless steel with rose gold bezel
Dial: Gold/copper alloy plated brass with black bullseye / sector two-tone dial
Buckle: 1950's / 1960's replacement Omega buckle?
Due to the features, the central seconds movement, two tone dial and year of manafacture it seems to be a high end version of the "Medicus" family from Omega produced mostly for military medical personal and officially Omega's very first center seconds movement ever produced. This was allegedly also one of the last models to use the 23.4SC calibre before changing to the calibre 310 in the mid-late 1940's.
What the hell do I do with this this thing 🤣🤣
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padders
··Oooo subtitles!That square movement in the round case is surprisingly beautiful
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EAO101
·The camera adds 10mm
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Spoonta66
·And also indicative that the case size is small. The rectangular movements were most commonly seen in ladies cocktail watches. It’s usually a red flag for a watch modern tastes would consider masculine.
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JimInOz
··Melbourne AustraliaThanks padders, I'm not hugely worried about modern watch tastes. I'm juat trying to work out if I have a possibly sole survivor of a watch.
Take it for what it is and enjoy it.
Edited:
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Spoonta66
·I understand your hopes for this example, but for every watch posted in watch forums by people like us, there are many many others sitting in drawers, sitting in safes and sitting in long forgotten places that will never see the light of day on a forum.
Take it for what it is and enjoy it.
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Peemacgee
··Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungersSo far the Omega flagship store, two ex-Omega watchmakers, the main Omega service centre, and the internet cannot find another example of this dial on a watch
Why would you think that modern Omega store staff, ex Omega watchmakers or the Omega service centre would have come across an uncommon variant of an 82 year old watch?
You might be able to say that this version of your watch dial is the only version to have arisen publicly.
However, it is very unlikely that it was a one-off dial - so, as @JimInOz says, you can never know what is sitting in someone’s drawers or cupboards - so it is impossible to state with any certainty that it is the sole survivor of that variant.
I’m with Jim - just enjoy having an uncommon watch. (Without trying to shoe-horn it into any particular category)
Edited:
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Spoonta66
·I hope that you understand that the only relevant source that you cite in this statement is ‘the internet’.
Why would you think that modern Omega store staff, ex Omega watchmakers or the Omega service centre would have come across an uncommon variant of an 82 year old watch?
You might be able to say that this version of your watch dial is the only version to have arisen publicly.
However, it is very unlikely that it was a one-off dial - so, as @JimInOz says, you can never know what is sitting in someone’s drawers or cupboards - so it is impossible to state with any certainty that it is the sole survivor of that variant.
I’m with Jim - just enjoy having an uncommon watch. (Without trying to shoe-horn it into any particular category)
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Peemacgee
··Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungersAnd we get that- which is why I said what I said above about being the only one shown publicly.
But you were wondering if it was a lone survivor.
- and no one can say it is.
If you look at all of the ref 2300 images available online you will see that there are several dial variations but no two (that I’ve seen in a brief search) the same.
So they are all equally uncommon as your dial - just perhaps not as pretty.
But you were wondering if it was a lone survivor.
- and no one can say it is.
If you look at all of the ref 2300 images available online you will see that there are several dial variations but no two (that I’ve seen in a brief search) the same.
So they are all equally uncommon as your dial - just perhaps not as pretty.
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Spoonta66
·And we get that- which is why I said what I said above about being the only one shown publicly.
But you were wondering if it was a lone survivor.
- and no one can say it is.
If you look at all of the ref 2300 images available online you will see that there are several dial variations but no two (that I’ve seen in a brief search) the same.
So they are all equally uncommon as your dial - just perhaps not as pretty.
Might not say much but we will see.
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Peemacgee
··Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungersYou would indeed be fortunate to get an extract as that service is not currently available at present.
Others have tried with no success - even after approaching omega HQ directly. ( and getting a polite but negative response from the CEO himself)
If they make an exception for you they will be flooded with requests.
(But it might mean that they really like your watch)
Best of luck!
Others have tried with no success - even after approaching omega HQ directly. ( and getting a polite but negative response from the CEO himself)
If they make an exception for you they will be flooded with requests.
(But it might mean that they really like your watch)
Best of luck!
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Davidt
·Also, the extract is extremely unlikely to mention the dial. It’s a long shot you’ll get an extract but even if you do, it will probably just mention the movement number and confirm the date of manufacture and country of delivery.
I wouldn’t obsess over it. It’s a nice watch with a nice uncommon dial. Rarity doesn’t always equal huge value and that is the case here. Just enjoy it.
I wouldn’t obsess over it. It’s a nice watch with a nice uncommon dial. Rarity doesn’t always equal huge value and that is the case here. Just enjoy it.
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Dan S
·If you look at all of the ref 2300 images available online you will see that there are several dial variations but no two (that I’ve seen in a brief search) the same.
So they are all equally uncommon as your dial - just perhaps not as pretty.
I think that if each of us pulled a 1940s watch out of our collection, it would be very difficult to find an identical example on the internet for many of them. Even though there might have been thousands produced, so they were not intrinsically rare watches.
This is honestly why I mentioned that "rare" is a trigger-word for collectors, who generally prefer to reserve the term for watches with documented low production (e.g. IWC ref 325), not just one variation among many.
