Hello Omega Forums! This is my first post, and it's because I just acquired my first Swiss made mechanical timepiece. It's an Omega Seamaster Professional Chronometer 300 M (2531.80.00 Cal. 1120) produced November 1997. I purchased the timepiece from a dealer in NYC sight unseen. I was very uneasy about it, but I did my research (here on omegaforums, and over at WUS, checked eBay reviews, Yelp review, and BBB). Reluctantly, I pulled the trigger (paid by CC through PayPal, to try to get as much purchasing protection as I could). I received the timepiece today and... wow! I think I have the real deal here! I was worried It could be a fake, or even worse a Frankenwatch. I took it over to a local jeweler and they said they couldn't guarantee the authenticity, but it looked like the real deal. The bracelet was a little tight, so I headed over to the local Omega Boutique and inquired about whether they had an extra link on hand for this particular Seamaster. I told the gentlemen at the boutique how I had acquired the watch and that I was still a little nervous about authenticity, but he said by his best estimation, this was the real deal and mentioned that the serial number had checked out when he entered it to locate the link's part number. He said of course, I could send it in for "extraction" or even for "service" to really, truly guarantee authenticity, but he said he was confident I had an authentic Omega on hand. Everything was meticulously packaged when I received it; you could tell someone took a lot of care in preparing the shipment. Inside I found my invoice, and they included the original case (the red case, not the white cardboard box) and the Omega International Warranty Card. They also included their own certificate of authenticity with a limited one year warranty. They even threw in a travel case for the timepiece and a heavy duty polishing cloth. All in all, I think I got a very well kept Seamaster. What do you guys think?
Wear it in good health, and relax. It's as real as it gets. I've owned mine since '97. Now the question is, when was it last serviced, and by whom? I assume you thought about that when deciding how much to pay.
I'm not a fan of the later Omega divers, but that one is close to changing my views. Those markers are very attractive, Yellow Box Honey I reckon.