Hello I was given my first Omega watch today as a gift. I have been admiring them from a distance for a long time and fortunately someone noticed. I love the look of the old watches so I have a vintage one. However I have been doing a bit of looking around on the internet trying to find out when my watch was made and also just a little bit of background info. I don't mind about valuation etc. but if someone could give me a little more info on it that would be really great. Any constellation lovers out there? (obviously there are 100s) The seller of this watch who is a registered watch seller and maker said that this movement was a certified chronometer or something of the like. Any advice you could give on this watch would be really good. Stats: ROLLED ROSE GOLD CASE AUTOMATIC - CALIBRE 561 CASE REFERENCE: CE168019 MOVEMENT SERIAL NUMBER 23811768
Its from about 1966 and being a chronometre grade, will keep excellent time, enjoy it! That's a lovely watch!
Do you have any pictures of the inside of the watch or back. The reference you gave is incorrect for that watch. It likely does have a Cal 561, which is a chronometer as a Constellation would have. The dial has been re-painted, incorrectly.
I don't have any pictures of the inside I'm afraid. I can take a picture of the back but all there is is the observatory. Should I be worried about this reference? The guy who sold it isn't the kind to play funny business as he is a friend of the family.
I think it's a 168.009 http://www.naligazone.com/index.php/data-watch/omega/caliber-5/cal-561/ba-168-009-168-017
I have checked out this one but my watch doesn't appear to be solid gold. The back is also different but has the same basic shape. Should I be asking for a refund on this item as the face has been repainted incorrectly?
From a collector's standpoint, yes. The watch was a gift, you like it, so screw whether it's collectible or not. That said, confirm the cal. and the ref. before making your final decision.
Ok then, well I do like the watch but obviously I wouldn't have wanted for it to have been paid over the odds for by a member of my family. Any idea what difference the face would make to the value. I.e. What would one of these watches be worth with the original face versus what would it be worth with a repainted face and what impact does the fact that it has an incorrectly painted face have? Sorry if the question was a little confusing.
Definitely too much. Here is a similar one that I paid about $800 for, with the original dial. Rose gold capped, cal 564
It's a good looking watch, but not something a (serious) collector would be interested in, given the amount of wear and polish. So the estimation (which is hard to tell anything about to begin with in the first place), would have to be made without considering these as potential buyers... Even without considering the redial, which is obvious, but not (IMO) unattractive. Would a non-collector pay those $922? Well, it has been bought at that price once, so could happen again The main questions are whether or not you like it, and how you feel wearing it. Is it unattractive? Hell no. Would 999 out of 1000 people comment positively on it? Hell yes.