My first Omega: Noob and the on-line auction

I have been obsessing on the forum for a while and thought I would share my first Omega story purchased in September.

It began with YouTube and late night surfing when I start watching watchmaker repair videos. Last Jan. I got to thinking I would like to start wearing a watch again. That led to wanting a mechanical watch and I found a Seiko Alpinist Sarb017 as a good safe bet.
I really enjoyed it and still do, but I have always wanted an Omega since I can remember.
My wife and daughter recently bought estate jewelry at local online auction and got me looking at a watch auction where I saw this not so beautiful thing.
I did some research and found a huge range of values for 1950s Omegas. I decide that $276 would do it, so bid. Wouldn't you know that I would be leading for the next 5 days. just enough to get me hooked. I was outbid on second last day, so quickly bid $450 and was out again 10 minutes later.
Now I was getting angry and possessive about this frog of a watch. It would be mine. With 30 minutes left I bid $600 plus 22% premium. Success!
Picked it up and cleaned it up to this
not too bad once the tarnish, arm cheese and paint? was cleaned off.
A trip to the watchmaker and ended up with this. 2577-10 cal 351 that keeps time at -5 seconds/day.

Now I am spending too much time on Omegaforums and searching the web for Connie's. Bad addiction started...

Seems to be a good group to hang out with.

I hate to say it, but I am sure your watch has a redial. The Seamaster lettering is uneven and does not conform with the usual style - see my example below. It is not the same model, but close enough for you to see the dial lettering differences.

Redialling of vintage watches is very common, so don't feel badly about it. If it bugs you, just sell it on. We have all had 'learning experiences'.

This is a great group to share your experiences and to learn from.

I have wondered about the dial.
No Swiss Made on it , but have seen other early 50s dials without in pics on here of acclaimed originals. The markers touch at 12 and 6 too. If a redial or perhaps service dial it would have been done decades ago. I have seen Seamaster in the same font as mine too on other references.
All in all the dial is likely not original but I’m ok with it. I was never going to be able to tell from the crappy auction pics.
Cheers

It is a redial. No question. And it is obvious in the auction photo. If it matters to you, ask in advance.

My first vintage Omega was a re-dial, too. Still have it. Now have many more. Enjoy.

Many more redials? Most of us learn after the first mistake. 😉

Ok. I worded that wrong.
Now have many more Omegas. One terrible re-dial.
I actually have an original to replace it and chose to leave it alone. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of my first discovery of Omega.

Most of us aren’t collectors to start with.
We like watches, we see a watch we like and want to wear and buy it.
For many, that’s it. We get a lot of pleasure from the watch and no one worries whether it’s old, new, re-dialled or otherwise.
For some, we do become collectors, we fret about originality, restoration and 'the next watch'.
People who restore classic cars don’t worry quite so much about originality and just enjoy the restored car.
It can be the same with watches.
You can wear and enjoy. 99% of the people who see it will admire it. It cost a fraction of the price of a new Omega, Rolex etc.
It is a restored classic.

All dollars are Canadian so 35% cheaper, still paid too much.
When I was looking at this I didn't know this forum existed. Now I know to vet potential purchases here first and I know a lot more.
I'm curious, what is the big tell for you?

To be honest, most people on the forum wouldn't even need a specific tell when seeing a re-dial like this, it's apparent without taking the time to identify specific tells. If you take the time to look closely, you'll see that all the text is wrong, uneven, inconsistent, and sloppy, and there are also issues with the minute markers. No SWISS MADE, missing lume on dial, etc. After a few years looking at thousands of dials, you won't even have to ask when seeing watches like this.