I am tempted to put my toe into Vintage. My thoughts jump straight to the dirty dozen. I am looking between the Longines Greenlander and the Omega WWW. Both watches have great reviews, I believe that the Longines is larger at 38.5mm? It also seems that it is more expensive than the Omega? What else should I consider in research between the two versions? Lastly, I actually wear my watches, no safe queens for me Is there a downside, to picking up one of these with an obvious redial or work done, as long as I pay for non-original pricing?
Excellent choice My opinion regarding mil watches, the best place for advice - and in-depht review - is definitely the MWR forum, even though OF is not a bad spot either Below are pics of mine which I wear regularly... not bad for 71 yo watches. I wrote this a while ago on a french forum about the Omega - please excuse the now missing pics : http://montresmecaniques.forumactif.com/t7221-omega-et-autres-www Omega CK2444 wih MoD hands ... Rob @Horlogerie serviced it a year ago and (I think ?) wrote consecutively some kind of a review about the job done Longines 5707 so called "Greenlander" ... the only W.W.W with an antishock system Best of luck with your hunt watch friend
You should probably check this site also: http://www.time514.com/ The WWW's all have a certain charm. I no longer have my Vertex but I still like the style very much... Cheers, Al
Longines is no longer known as the Greenlander. One reason they are priced higher than Omegas is that there were fewer produced and sold to the British MOD. 25,000 Omegas and only 5,000 Longines. Collectors also like the stepped case of the Longines and the fact it was Steel. Both have iconic movements 30T2 Omega and 12.68Z Longines Longines have those cool Cathedral Hands too Love those WWW's
Ludi, is the Omega dial on yours a redial? It is in immaculate condition which I would actually prefer, rather than the "well traveled" look Just trying to grasp what I should expect
One thing to keep in mind that the Omega was shipped at larger numbers to the MoD, so is easier to find compared to the Longines. My personally favorite is the Omega, and that is what I would start with. Once you are enjoying the Omega on your wrist you can start looking for the Longines.... and then the others you need to complete the set....
The Greenlander name was used for the Longines WWW because they were supposedly used by the British North Greenland Expedition in the early 1950's That has been proven incorrect-the watches used were actually Rolex http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?10994-LONGINES-quot-Greenlander-quot-Fact-or-Fiction
Agee: Ahhhhh thank you! A wealth of information Joe: I agree I like the Omega, my main issue was the size, if 35mm would look too small
If size is a concern then you could go for a Cyma version. I think it has the biggest case size out if the dirty dozen, and it is easy to pick up a great example for a good price when compared to the Omega and Longines versions. Here's mine with its original dial, and a neat tropical sub-dial.
I still love the Omega more than the Longines, I have owned mine for 15 years, always catches the attention of vintage watch lovers
For those getting into it, always worth checking out the more affordable of the dozen such as the Timor, Vertex and Buren. They're all cracking little watches, here's my Timor.
There were a few small things I wanted sorting with my Cyma and now it's back to all original (apart from the relume on the hands). I'd still recommend these as an entry point mainly due to the full stainless case.
