Have I summarized things correctly?
No!
The original specification by @seekingseaquest did not mention "Seamaster" which is nice as tomorrow I will post a contender meeting the demands but with no Seamaster on the dial 😁
No!
The original specification by @seekingseaquest did not mention "Seamaster" which is nice as tomorrow I will post a contender meeting the demands but with no Seamaster on the dial 😁
The title of the thread suggests otherwise.
True! I am not versed in the early Seamaster history, but @MtV seems to know a thing or two about nameless Seamasters.
My fellow countryman calls this 2493-4 cal. 332 bumper from 1950 a "Premaster" - I guess he means that it is a Seamaster predecessor?
Anyway, it is a true 36.3mm jumbo with beefy lugs. I just picked it up from service, with a new mainspring fitted. The watchmaker was able to polish the wonderfully shallow crystal!
Let the vintage archives speak:
Very nice example, this - and I doubt anyone here would argue that this isn’t a Seamaster. It’ll simply be a pre-1950 example, build before the model name found it’s way on the dial.
Thanks to @seekingseaquest, this stunner is on my wrist today. Of course, the story of the delivered then missing parcel (picked up inadvertently by another courier moments after delivery, super fun to track down) will become part of the tale. And boy, what a difference 2mm makes!
I'm hedging my bets here.
First a cal 354 sold to me by the redoubtable @seekingseaquest
And a 1950 cal 351 'Premaster' 😉
its jumped to being one of my favorite in my whole collection instantly... a keeper for life