Hello from France to all members of this very interesting forum !

I found my father's watches in a drawer where they had slept for more than 25 years, an Universal Genève ultra-thin and an Omega Constellation he bought new in Geneva - Switzerland in 1956 if I remenber well ?

The watch as I found it :









The 2 watches were running but I would prefer to make a good service before to use them, and the Constellation had a very short power reserve.

I found a reputed watchmaker in Lyon, near my home, no problem with the Universal Geneve but he would prefer to decline with the Omega as it seems that Omega don't sell old parts anymore and ask for shipping to Bienne all the watch to be revised, cost between 800 / 1600 €

I searched the internet and found an excellent watchmaker in UK, watch sent on February 4th, received on February 7th. Email received on February 18th :
Inspecting your watch, we noticed that nothing is really wrong with it. All it needs is a service, a new mainspring and a new crystal mifht be nice. Unfortunately a new original omega crystal is not available, so we recommend a generic one as you had before. The overall cost including shipping back to France is £ 206.

They also sent me a link to follow the work about my watch with a lot of pictures, perfect, then the watch was tested and I received it on Februrary 28th !

Some pics of the work, with a first timegrapher test at 91s/day :


























And the test after work, 2s/day and 42.1 hours for power reserve




Now I am very happy with my dad's Constellation, it's a very nice watch full of good reminds of the past :





A question for the Constellation lovers : I was thinking that this watch was a PiePan, but not sure ?

And I don't know if I can give the name of this excellent watchmaker in UK, I was very happy with him and I think he could be interesting for all members ?

I ordered an Archive Extract from Omega in the aim to confirm the year and authenticity, I hope to receive it in 5 or 6 weeks

 

Not a pie pan. It's what's referred to as a dome dial. Give the name.

 

Shure you can

 

Lucky you, this connie is amazing with its arrowheads indexes. I'm interested in knowing the watchmaker's name.
I'm french too and it seems that is almost impossible to find a trustworthy and conscientious watchmaker able to source parts who isn't charging 500€ for a common service on a 3 hands.

 

That's the way to keep everyone confused.

 

Hum, this PiePan name seems to be a subject !

So the guy in UK is Christian Dannemann, http://watchguy.co.uk/
The work on my Connie : http://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/library?action=show_photos&wat_id=3567&tk_id=86433285

Thanks Folgono, you're right about the arrowheads indexes, wonderful look indeed

 

Great first post! welcome to the forum - lovely watch too!

 

I'm a firm believer in shooting the messenger.

 

What a beautiful watch, your father had great taste and you must be really pleased now to be wearing it after the service.

 

I would call this a dome dial, not a pie-pan, but that matters little - a great looking watch! And you did well in choosing watchguy for your work. He had a go at my (now sold) Constellation, so I am no stranger to fifties accuracy

Just one thing - Christian's pictures always carry the watermark shown at the bottom of my pic, I think it should replace the photos you've posted with the unedited ones taken by Christian.

 

Very nice watch, very well done service. Wear in good health

 

@hoipolloi regards the "pie-pan" "any dial that has two parts, the inner center and the outer circle that I can see clearly."

 

I edited the pictures for better viewing and because I was not sure I could give the name of the watchmaker on this forum ? I am on many forums about pre-war cars and Honda bikes of the 60's-70's, and giving links with subcontractors are often closely watched !

As I give further Christian's name and company link, I think it's not useful to repost all his pics, I'll ask Christian ?

Thanks to all for the kind comments and PiePan precisions

 

They are called Pie Pans because the stepped edges of the raised part of the dial are superficially similar to the base of a pie pan.This is what a pie pan looks like.

I don't know who came up with the name, but I strongly suspect it is a collectorism and not an Omega term. Which would make their definition of a Pie Pan no more valid than anyone else's.

 

That's also the take of Desmond on the Pie Pan name ; http://omega-constellation-collecto.../the-omega-constellation-pie-pan-factoid.html

 

That's clear, my watch is not a "12 pans" as stated by Omega

I saw the same Connie as mine on ebay, called PiePan, which misled me : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-Cons...-Black-Dial-Caliber-505-Vintage-/143096786606Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

I'll have to give a value for my home theft insurance, do you think that $1500 as on this sale is right ?

 

What a lovely example. Enjoy the memories.