Hello everyone I recently took a trip to Arizona and purchased my first vintage Omega for less than a thousand from an old jewelry shop. The watch is a constellation with a 564 movement and a reference number of 168005. The watch is 14ct gold and is currently keeping good time. The owner of the jewelry shop was selling the watch on consignment for an elder friend who was said to be the original owner. He stated that watch face hadn't been refinished, and that the watch had a rare factory original back cover that was intended for engraving (no observatory). I really liked the watch so I decided to take a chance on it. I recently ordered a new Omega brand crystal for the watch and will likely send it to TLC watch repair in Texas for service. The current crystal is not original and is really scratched up so the pics are a bit distorted. I'm a beginner so I wanted to run it past you guys. Is the face redialed?( looks original but the seconds marker near the 12 looks a bit off imo) Is the back original? Thanks,
The information about the caseback is correct - the watch was designed for inscription. These were called "presentation" models, with plain casebacks instead of the usual medallions, meant to be given as awards or gifts.
That is rather interesting to read confirmation about the plain caseback available for inscriptions. My father has a 14ct Seamaster from 1961 with a similar plain caseback, however there is no inscription on his. On the inside it has a stamp from the "OMEGA WATCH Co".
Here is an old ad from Omega regarding the “presentation” casebacks: My example of this watch is very much the same as yours, especially the part about finding it in a jewelry store for stupid cheap money. Very nice find and your watch should clean up just as nicely. gatorcpa
If it was a redial the only reply you would have gotten from me in the first post was "Redial. Pass."
Here is an extract from a 1968 Omega catalogue, showing examples of presentation case backs of Constellation.