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My Early Seamaster 120 Divers. What to look for and what to avoid.

C
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Yes i agree with Sonicosa, also the movement looks like it's been a bit traumatised, different coloured rotor to a few other components that i'm not experienced enough to identify, but the bezel is wrong for sure, the teeth on the outer edge aren't usually that deep and a bit more worn, i have one that's worn nearly smooth because it's been worn by a nervous bezel-fiddler in the past, apparently the case should look matt brushed as well and not glossy and polished unless it's been serviced to within an inch of it's original-ness
 
C
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Not exactly an avalanche of archive extracts from Omega flooding the internet. Nada, less than nada in fact.
A land-locked country supplies it's army and/or air force with a luxury branded diver/dress watch (rated to 120m when brand new but actually probably only suitable for snorkelling) and laser etches an incorrect resemblance to it's motif on the back, becomes more preposterous the more i think about it, unless this is Imaginationland, which changes everything
 
duffy7
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Thanks for this helpful thread - I managed to grab one of those beauties.

Was a bit of a gamble with just 3 blurry pics (no movement pic) but to me everything seems legit. (I hope I didn't miss anything)
 
20210329_181052.jpg 20210329_180617.jpg 20210329_180909.jpg 20210329_180811.jpg 20210329_180747.jpg
duffy7
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No it was on an other auction website - in my opinion it was fair priced
 
C
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Nice find duffy7, i'm not as experienced as some of the guys and girls on here, but still a brave move to buy without seeing the movement, how does it look by the way? (the movement)
It may be the light (or my eyes) but the hands look like they've had the lume redone, usually their colour ages at the same rate as the hour markers so match each other's darkening to that amber aged look so common with old tritium lume. I have one exactly the same as yours except your bezel is in much better condition, it's had less fiddling so retains the toothed edge, i can't remember how many teeth a genuine one should have compared to a dodgy one, i think it's about 12 extra, but yours looks fine to me, in my super-novice opinion

At least the seller didn't try to claim it was issued to the Afghan military
Edited:
 
C
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Also i think the crystal on yours (duffy) looks like genuine one, i think you can just make out the Omega symbol at the centre
 
duffy7
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C Concretepuppy
Nice find duffy7, i'm not as experienced as some of the guys and girls on here, but still a brave move to buy without seeing the movement, how does it look by the way? (the movement)
It may be the light (or my eyes) but the hands look like they've had the lume redone, usually their colour ages at the same rate as the hour markers so match each other's darkening to that amber aged look so common with old tritium lume. I have one exactly the same as yours except your bezel is in much better condition, it's had less fiddling so retains the toothed edge, i can't remember how many teeth a genuine one should have compared to a dodgy one, i think it's about 12 extra, but yours looks fine to me, in my super-novice opinion

At least the seller didn't try to claim it was issued to the Afghan military

Thanks for your reply.

Normally I don't go for a watch in this price range without movement pics but sometimes you have to go for a gamble if you are hunting for a special reference in a honest condition. ( I didn't see the movement by now so I don't really know if everything is fine; watch is running without problems)

You are right- the lume on the hands is a bit more greenish. It noticed this already on the blurry auction pics (as far as I know the lume on the dial and on the hands don't always age the same way so for me it is not that sure that the hands have been relumed)

Yeah the crystal is signed with the Omega symbol.
Cheers
Duffy
 
JwRosenthal
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duffy7 duffy7
Thanks for your reply.

Normally I don't go for a watch in this price range without movement pics but sometimes you have to go for a gamble if you are hunting for a special reference in a honest condition. ( I didn't see the movement by now so I don't really know if everything is fine; watch is running without problems)

You are right- the lume on the hands is a bit more greenish. It noticed this already on the blurry auction pics (as far as I know the lume on the dial and on the hands don't always age the same way so for me it is not that sure that the hands have been relumed)

Yeah the crystal is signed with the Omega symbol.
Cheers
Duffy
I would reserve judgment on the hands until you get it in the flesh- seller has some mixed color balance happening there. Not uncommon for hands to age a shade or two differently from the dial (different contractors), color should be similar though. Later tritium service hands could also be a possibility over relume as there was a green lume period for Speedy’s in the early 70’s and hand replacement was SOP for a factory service. I wouldn’t be concerned either way- they are the correct hands and a hand relume is easy to match it actually bothers you. Congrats on a good pick-up.
 
fleekyjane!
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duffy7 duffy7
Thanks for this helpful thread - I managed to grab one of those beauties.

Was a bit of a gamble with just 3 blurry pics (no movement pic) but to me everything seems legit. (I hope I didn't miss anything)
duffy7 duffy7
Thanks for this helpful thread - I managed to grab one of those beauties.

Was a bit of a gamble with just 3 blurry pics (no movement pic) but to me everything seems legit. (I hope I didn't miss anything)
To be honest, the watch not only look fantastic but also 100% legit. Thank you for sharing the photos!
 
kaplan
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I'm thinking of buying this one: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p839058233

It ends in one+ hour as a heads up, if anyone missed it and wants to buy it instead, let me know, I'm on the edge of giving up anyway

One worrisome thing, everything checks out, but the dial is too good, and the seller is also a dial merchant, so I suspect the dial is a replacement part, as the lume of the hands got darkened/molded, yet the dial is NOS-like - an aged dial on an aged watch could be better

Would appreciate a quick check up before I make another very bad decision 😁

At the same time, I might also wait a 136.027

i-img1200x675-1616823278xkhbbc736388.jpeg
 
COYI
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Had a quick look at the photos:
Dial looks ok but possibly re-lumed
Hour & minute hands look like more modern replacements
No movement shot to comment on
Bracelet is not correct
 
kaplan
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I'm not an expert, but the lume looks worse than what a painter did to my house ...

Edit: to clarify, my vote goes to very bad re-lume
 
W
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Haha ok, I was just concerned that the watch is really bright. But the rest looks OK?
 
kaplan
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Davidt Davidt
Unless I'm following the wrong link it doesn't look like a relume to me.
Screen Shot 2021-04-07 at 00.21.03.png


I'd bet heavy on re-lume 😀

My opinion is it makes the watch worth the bezel + movement + case - so like $1000 maybe
 
W
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Hah well if you did end up getting it and are thinking of parting it out, id take the bezel off your hands 😀
 
Davidt
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kaplan kaplan
Screen Shot 2021-04-07 at 00.21.03.png


I'd bet heavy on re-lume 😀

My opinion is it makes the watch worth the bezel + movement + case - so like $1000 maybe

Perhaps were talking about different watches. I’m referring to the one linked in your post.

If you’re referring to the watch linked by @who, that link isn’t working for me
 
W
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@Davidt: the watch in the post was the one in the link. I am not sure, how could you identify a re-lume? In my oppinion, it looks good but I just started to learn about this watch.

@wcm82: unfortunately I was too slow, already sold 🙁 Its quite hard to get a SM120..
 
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