Exceedingly hard to find I’m afraid. You’ll likely need to buy a donor case to salvage one.
I’d have a think as to whether it’s worth it as your dial isn’t in very good condition. I’d look to return this and start again with a better example. It’s always best to pay more for a better watch, than to try and buy a cheaper one in poor condition and restore it. Frequently the restoration will cost more than a good example and it still won’t be as nice.
Exceedingly hard to find I’m afraid. You’ll likely need to buy a donor case to salvage one.
I’d have a think as to whether it’s worth it as your dial isn’t in very good condition. I’d look to return this and start again with a better example. It’s always best to pay more for a better watch, than to try and buy a cheaper one in poor condition and restore it. Frequently the restoration will cost more than a good example and it still won’t be as nice.
It’s obviously very subjective but I don’t consider £230 to be a good deal tbh. You’re probably looking at £50-100 for a bezel and possibly several years to find one.
Alternatively a donor case will be at least £100.
So you have lots of time and effort + around £330 minimum for a watch with a poor dial. Much better imo to pay slightly more for a good one in the first place.
Wouldn't the bezel on this be solid gold? I'd estimate the chances of finding one without a case at zero, really. Not only do you need to find someone who, somehow, has a spare bezel but no case, but the person would also need to know that the bezel fits this reference without having anything that would point him to it.
Bezel are simply the most difficult part to replace on a watch, period. Two options: A spare case,and finding one for 100GBP is also quite a stretch. Or you buy a full watch/case, have someone copy the bezel, and sell it again. I'd only recommend this if you really know what you're doing.
Apologies if this sounds all very negative, but I'd be very pessimistic about this. If you really want to stick with this particular watch as a project, set an eBay alert for the reference, wait till a full case comes up and transplant the dial/movement to the new case. It'll be your choice if you look for gold-capped only or if stainless steel is also an option. My guess is that the latter will be significantly easier to find.
I'm unaware if it's sold gold I highly doubt it as the case is gold plated and the back cover is stainless steel , appreciate your time in responding thanks
That's exactly why I asked, as commonly, the bezels on gold-capped cases with steel backs were indeed solid gold on vintage Omegas. Personally, I'm not particularly into the 60s Seamasters so I'm not absolutely certain how those were produced, but it definitely wouldn't be surprising.
