Lost in time

Hello Omega forum!

I'm 25 years old and hopefully an up'n'coming Omega watch owner!

Yesterday I was strolling down the streets if Helsingborg, Sweden when I found an Omega De Ville Rattrapante that caught my eye in a local pawnshop. Love at first sight! But I am not fully confident in my gut feeling and I am worried that my affection for this piece of art blinds my common sense, hence turning desperately to this community for guidance.

The sales person in the pawnshop that showed me the watch could not find any information regarding the watch's time of purchase and it comes without original boxing and documents, which I understand is bad. Furthermore, the watch has a white leather band (should be black?) and is made out of steel. Refnr: ST 178.1708 Snr: 78250945
Here is an image of the watch.

Please help me with this purchase! They request a fairly high price, is it worth 41'000 swedish kronas (about 4'900 und)? What do you consider is a reasonable price for this watch?

Kindest and most humble regards,
B.Z

You have to be VERY careful about buying in pawn shops. Is that a picture of the exact watch being sold? We'd need to see a few very clear shots of it to evaluate it for you.

I can see what you fell in love....let the members here take a closer look...

If you could get a movement and inside caseback pics, it would be a great start. 👍

Thank you for the responds!

The authenticity of the watch has been confirmed by reliable sources. So I don't doubt it is a genuine Omega watch. However, what is a reasonable price to pay for this Omega De Ville Rattrapante. I have spoken with the sales person and asked some quite specific, but in my opinion relevant, questions and I got the following answers:

1. Is there an original packaging? - No
2. Are there any original documentations? (The three red cards with 'international warranty', etc.) - No
3. Do you know what year the watch has been manufactured? - No
4. Do you have the original receipt? - No
5. For how long has it been in your store? - Since 2012-11-19
6. Does all the functions work? - Yes
7. Over a longer period of time, how much does it error? - Don't know
8. Has it at any point been on service? - Don't know
9. What caliber is the watch? - Don't know?
10. Has the co-axial movement been exchanged at any point? - Don't know [correct me if I am wrong, but the old co-axials weren't that good and some were exchanged by Omega as warranty. Do you, on omegaforums, know if this problem has been reported for the De Ville Rattrapante?]
11. Is the wristband original? - Don't know [it is not. The wristband should be black]
12. Has it ever been damaged by moist? - Don't think so, at least not doring the time in this store.
13. Has the gasket ever been changed/tested? - Don't know

I believe that 4,900 usd is way of considering the risk I am taking. The first thing I would do after purchase would be to send it to Omega for service (probably 970-1800 usd) and fitting of a new black wristband (about 480 usd).

My question to you gents and ladies, what would you consider a fair price to pay for this lovely machinery?

PS. Also, if Omega finds it to be stolen, Swedish law protects me and the pawn shop will have to pay back my expenses DS.

Sincerely,
//B.Z

Interesting watch.
Mmmm, you have to be sure on that.

If so, that is still a lot of 'don't knows' to pay that amount of money for.
You might want to start with answers (i-net is The source...) ☕📖📖📖
Besides that, you are apparently willing to throw a lot of cash towards it. Won the lottery ? 😉😉

In general: do not send an old watch to Omega, but have a trusted watchmaker conduct a service
Wristbands are available for much lower prices than your quote.

My2Ksh

With regard to pricing, have a look at Ebay and other sources such as Chrono24. The price for these seems to vary quite a lot from around $3500+ to upwards of $8000 😲 However, most of them come with box and papers. I would suggest that the price you are being asked for is on the high side, especially as you are in essence paying it for the watch head only.