I was just chit chatting with a fellow watch collector friend and he offered his vintage Ploprof for sale. Was never keen on the Ploprof 600 as ALL live examples i have seen has got horrible looking pimpled dials and lume flaking. Somehow decided to give his a try and arranged to meet. Well, the rest is history guys.... And a wrist shot.... I know you guys will ask for it... hahaha... lume shot Now a couple of questions. Why doesn't the second hand lume show up? Is opening the case the only way to find the movement number to buy an extract? This looks extremely difficult and i am worried local watch makers will not have the proper tools hence damaging the watch. Also, my friend's uncle who passed him the watch claims that the case has never been opened and he is the only owner. Which watchmaker is competent to do a first servicing for me? I do not mind shipping this overseas for the servicing. Does the watch look polished to you gurus? I am inclined to think this watch is a MK2. But it came with a mesh bracelet which i thought only MK3 and above has that option. Anyone can help give a definitive answer to this? I am basically a Speedmaster guy and am really surprised that i can be so happy scoring a Ploprof. Hence the ranting here. It has never crossed my mind that i will be wearing one of these. Which brings me to another problem... my wife will definitely notice this watch being completely different from my Speedmasters... no way to hide the fact that i broke my promise not to buy any more watches in the near future. Hahaha. Another happy problem.
Dibs Problem solved. Edit : to answer. Any recommended watchmaker on OF can do it. What’s closest to you, Australia? I’m no guru on these, but the case looks good. Could the seconds hand be relumed? Or maybe it was directly over the hour hand when you took the pic. Do you have another pic? That button looks quite new. As usual, I may be wrong. If the second hand is relumed, and the button new, that would make me start to question a few other things. But might be uncalled for... Edit : apparently most folk with Ploprof claim that the second hand does not glow. GOOD TO KNOW! Kinda makes sense...who needs time that accurately underwater...
Thanks Eugene for the reply. Will just pick a watch maker recommended here then. I thought special tools are needed to pry open the case. Still not showing up.... Looks like a possible relume... well, time to find a correct seconds hand for the service.
Nice one! And welcome to the enchanting world of Omega divers! The mesh bracelet is a later service one, hence the (59) on the stamp. First Ploprofs came with a Isofrane or metal bracelet. The original mesh had a (37) on it when it came to the market. To me this looks (without movement shot or serial) with the D2 dial that should time this to around a -73 Ploprof, but the bezel being a slightly later version. Would be great to know the serial. There’s very little information at what time the bezel changed to the one you have, but most likely around the time the D3 dial came around. The second hand very rarely lights up under UV, i have many that don’t. So I wouldn’t be too worried about that. Have you checked out this site already? https://www.omegaploprof.com/
I am surprised there is no glow to the second hand, but they often don't match the hour/min hands so it could be original and just dead The case looks unpolished, but your photos are not clear enough to be definitive The mesh is a modern replacement, so not original to the watch. If I were to guess I would put that watch as being 32,xxx,xxx manufactured in 1972, but the only way to find out is to open and get the serial number, and extract. If it has never been serviced, I would expect the seals to be goo by now, and recommend giving it to a specialist for service soon. Swiss Time Services would be my recommendation in the UK. The red button does look new, but it is not necessary to open the watch case to replace this item.
Thank you both for the comments and the recommended link. Will leave the second hand as it is then. Glad to know most originals no longer light up. Just need to sort out the servicing part. Will try to upload clearer photos tomorrow during the day.
Just as a funny side note, check how wonky the 10min markers are on the bezel. On the Ploprof and SM1000 there seems to be some small “oddities” like these on several bezels until they got it right. Looks for sure to be original, but they had these kind of issues. Could explain maybe the D2 dial but later B2 bezel, if it was close to a transitional period?
I love the design of these watches. I’ve seen the modern ones and really like the vintage much better.
And if this is the case, then i would not recommend to attempt to remove the movement from the case if it’s not done by a professional watchmaker with experience in Ploprofs. If you accidentally get some of the black goo of the old gasket on the dial, then this will never come of it, thus tainting the dial!
Hey Jan, the link you replied above has tons of information. Thanks. Now i am getting worried again about opening the case.
Don’t be, i think just removing the bezel could already give you som telltale signs of the gasket condition. Latest when you remove the securing ring of the crystal.
That's the main reason i bought this. Really no intention of getting a vintage Ploprof until i saw this.
I have a set of new ploprof tritium hands and the second hand does not glow at all, even under UV light, so it must be non-luminous from factory. Even the second hand that is genuine to my 1972 ploprof is non - glow one.
