Hi all.

I'm brand new to this forum so please be patient if I commit some kind of watch buyers heresy!

I'd like your advice on buying my first Omega, I have been a fan of the brand since my first day of work in 1986, the chap who mentored me was wearing one! I cannot remember the model but I was struck by its simple design and it's slimness. It looked just beautiful!
Fast forward nearly 30 years and I'm now in a position to possibly fulfil a dream and own one!

I would love to own a vintage watch from 1970, very specific I know, but that's the year I was born so I feel that's the year I should try to get!

I have trawled the net and watched various YouTube videos about spotting fakes etc but all this has done is worry me more that I'll make a huge mistake. There are several terms such as "redial" and "frankenwatch" which bother me too! I'm assuming a redial is either a dial that wasn't original or a re painted one and a frankenwatch is one made up of two or more broken watches.

How important is having a completely original watch and how likely is that possible if I'm trying for a 1970 watch?
Is there any good sites on the web where I can do research?
Is there some kind of register to compare serial numbers to years (I found some but they were vague at best)?

Thanks for taking the time to read and I appreciate any help given!

 

Hey Pete, Welcome to the forum.

I'm kind of new at buying vintage watches myself. The first word of warning I can give you is it's pretty addictive. First you buy a nice little gold topped Seamaster one day and then before you know it you're selling the furniture to buy an Ed White with papers.

I'm not a real collector. I'm more of an aquisitor. Collectors want a watch that's 'correct' and guys like me like a watch that looks nice. Now if I can get a nice looking watch that's also correct I'm really pleased.

1970 you'll find seems to be an interesting year in watches. The electronic watch was beginning to roil the market and big changes were beginning in the business.

If you take your time and have patience (easy advice to give and HARD to follow) you'll find a great watch or two. Or three.

There are several great resources besides the general discussion in these forums.

http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/

Also http://speedmaster101.com/

These links and many more can be found on this forum here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-watch-resource-information-service-repairs-parts-suppliers.52/

 

Hi Pete ! Welcome to the Forum! First of all Great Choice to go Vintage! Vintage watches bring Great joy and hunting them down is part of the fun. First of all I would advice you to narrow the field down of what kind of watch you want as it is a vast field of Models produced. Do you want a hand winding or automatic movement? A Sports watch or a dress watch or maybe a diver? I would suggest you Start looking at constellation, seamaster and Speedmaster models of that era you desire. And last but not least your budget plays an Important role.
As I am more of a Speedmaster guy and there are nice speedmasters from 1970 i suggest you Check out speedmaster101.com for all the info you Need. Your 1970 reference would be 145.022.

Hope that helps a little.
Kind regards,

Max

 

Hi, thanks for the very warm welcome!!!

Thanks for the links ahsposo I'll read them through!

I'm definitely wanting an automatic, I've looked at the stainless steel case Seamasters as a preferred choice but I wouldn't be against a gold one! As such I'll be looking for a dress watch but I'm really wanting to wear it most of the time. I use a seiko automatic for work so this watch would be for all other occasions.

Budget will be a factor, in my first post I did say "possibly" realise a dream! I'm really not sure of the final figure I could go to as I have seen vast differences in pricing from watches around the date I want I think realistically I'd want to be somewhere between £300-£800 with the £800 being a few months of saving away! Obviously the dreaded Ebay throws up watches £300-£500 regularly but I don't know if that's reasonable money yet as I need to do research. Jewlers in my area seem to either only carry modern pieces or watches up to a decade old but with papers that are out of my price range!

Max, I'll take a look at the Speedmaster and Constallations! Thanks for the link.....seems I have reading to do!

 

I'd also look at the Geneve Dynamic. The third year of production was 1970 and it's definitely a design of the period. Kind of cool, very funky and very 1970s, with many dial designs to choose from and prices in your price range. Here's a little bit about it: http://www.omegamuseum.com/lost-lines

 

That is a stunning watch.

 

Still reading the various links provided, very very interesting!

Things I have learned so far......the Speedmaster looks a beautiful thing but is a bit "busy" for the look I am wanting, the Geneve Dynamic that efauser suggested is stunning! It looks absolutely gorgeous and has the 70's look, I absolutely love it's looks but it's not the clean classic round faced watch I'd imagined myself wearing.
The Constallations, however, had me drooling I'd not paid much attention to them as I thought I'd prefer a Seamaster but now it seems I'm torn!!
One other thing, I'm not a fan of pie pan watches, very odd to look at!

The Speedmaster thread is really helping especially the parts on replacement parts and patina, I'll finish reading it all then comment and try to ask sensible questions!

 

Theses two are the styles I'm after I think....not sure of the year theses were made but it gives you an idea what I'd like to find.

 

Try Watch Recon. It monitors the various watch forums. When you find something you like, post photos here for a final thumbs up or down. http://www.watchrecon.com/?query=omega constellation
http://www.watchrecon.com/?query=vintage omega seamaster

 

Thanks, I'll take a look!

 

Let's just assume I hunt down a watch I want.

What process and questions do you guys go through to establish if you are really interested?
Is it enough to go from the pictures and serial number or is there things you can ask that will steer you clear of trouble?
Is a re painted dial always a bad thing?

Straps? How can you find out how the watch was originally presented in terms of a leather strap or metal strap? Was there a choice for customers back in the day or did Omega just sell variations?

 

Omega has a vintage data base where u enter the model no and they give spec of the watch. Like movement cal as well as bracelet/strap it originally came on. If u decided on one with a metal bracelet just make sure it fits as links can be scares and costly on older watches.

 

Thanks CFW! I'll seek that out!

 

A few things you may want to keep in mind.

Cost of service. Most vintage watches are offered with unknown or untrustworthy service history. Since you are buying this to wear rather than collect, a visit to a watchmaker will be advisable.

Size. If you haven't seen these watches in person, it might be a good idea to pop into a vintage shop and try some on. It's difficult to judge the sizes online and depending on your wrist, a Speedmaster may be too large and a Seamaster may be too small.

Don't write off a manual wind too fast. They are a bit less expensive to service and if it's not worn daily, the autos aren't a big advantage.

 

Thanks for this advice, I've been looking through the watchrecon threads that efauser suggested above and came across a Seamaster 600 that really looked nice!
I'm having a bit of trouble finding the Omega database though, everyone I try returns a 404 not found error!

This is the watch:

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-600.33053/

 

http://www.omegawatches.com/planet-omega/heritage/vintage/

It has gotten finicky and less useable with a recent redesign.

 

Ah thanks!!! That works!!

 

Lovely. Not my area of expertise so I won't comment, except that buying from this site will be a much less risky endeavor than ebay.