My first Omega watch - vintage Omega Geneve Cal. 601

SkunkPrince

That watch is supposed to have a brushed finish, so don't do anything with that as of yet.

That patch on the caseback is a curiosity, something I've never seen before. It looks like a small piece of brass soldered over a number stamped into tthe caseback with a different number manually added on top.

This watch would have come with a plain strap, probably black calf. You can have literally anything you want that fits 18mm.

Don't bother trying to polish the crystal. If it's cracked it needs to be replaced. Your watchmaker will do that and also replace the crown and possibly crown tube to restore water resistance.

As these are not particularily valuable or collectible, don't sink a pile of money into it. The dial is degraded and the hands aren't in terrific shape. If it were sentimental, I'd suggest sending it to Omega for restoration (refinish the dial and replace the hands) but as it's not, let your watchmaker service the movement and wear the heck out of it. He might be able to refinish the case, but you might just live with it.

You didn't really get that much of a deal but that also means you do have a little room to improve it. Service, strap, crystal, crown, and I'd call it done.

SkunkPrince

That price is astonishing, as the parts alone would exceed that amount.

M Mr. Virtual

Hello everyone! It's a great pleasure to meet you. I've only recently joined and this is my very first post. Hopefully it is the first of many.

I think it'd be nice if I introduced myself. I've only recently started collecting watches (since my 18th birthday when my friends gifted me a nice Casio Edifice) and in the past year my modest collection has grown to five watches (it was 6 but that birthday gift got stolen...) They are by no means anything special; they are just decent watches that I could afford and get my hands on.

Anyways, recently I started looking through my country's OLX store and noticed a lot of people selling vintage watches for relatively cheap prices. You can literally find dozens of Junghans, Seikos, even Glashuttes for piss cheap prizes. I've even found some from 1910's selling for 20-60$. The reason why they are cheap is, I believe, that people are generally uneducated and have no appreciation of watches, and thus unaware what they have or how much it could be worth. Most of these watches are inherited from their grandparents or parents who worked abroad (a lot of elders from my country used to work in Germany) so they would buy these. If anyone's interested you can pm me and I'll link you, maybe there are some gems they can spot. There are several Omegas too, though they are a tiny bit more expensive.

Anyways, I recently found a vintage Omega Geneve with a 601 calibre that I found stunning, and reasonably cheap. After doing some research and contacting a few people, knowing that it is in a relatively rough condition and that the crown is not original, I reduced the price to 127$ and bought it.

Today, it finally arrived and to be honest, I am ecstatic. It's by no means anything extraordinary, but the feeling of holding a 51-52 year old piece of watch history made by Omega just doesn't cease to amaze me.

To be honest, I think I got reasonably good deal. I don't even think I want to wear it. It would be very nice if I could wear it on some special occasions but I think I need to get it in a better shape.

I am going to take it a watchmaker to ask for their opinion on this, my vintage Slava stopwatch and an old Seiko 5.

My first question to you is, of course, is it an original? My second is, what is the gold plating found at the inside of the caseback. I have never seen that before.

Besides that, what do you think I can do to improve the overall look? This leather it came with is okayish but I am not terribly awed by it. Do you have any recommendations for another bracelet?

Also, I am thinking of using a polishing cloth to get the case in a better condition, make it more shiny and get rid of scratches. I don't plan on going over the top, but just to make the look of it a bit more appealing.

Also, I am thinking if polishing the crystal. Is that advisable. There is this crack I am not so sure I can get rid of. Also, do you think a polywatch is necessary or I can use toothpaste? 😀 Tight budget, I have an University l to pay.

And, can the dial be nicened up? It looks like there are some dust specs accumulated there.

So, what do you think? Did I get a good deal? How can I improve its look? I am sure in the future I will have a lot more Omegas to post here.

Thank you so much for your time!