I hope you all can help me. I'm an open minded person. I saw this watch in a Jewelers and they person who owned the store said to me he would sell it for $300, I looked online and instantly saw these watches for substantially more money. I knocked him down to $250 not letting on what I believed it to be. I asked him to open the watch up in the store and saw the Caliber to be 355. I did not take any pictures of the watch opened. :-( From what I have seen online and what I remember when it was opened it looked correct. (I'm to scared to do it myself without correct tools). My question is does it look authentic? I noticed it does not say Swiss Made at the bottom. I am in the states and from what I have read alot of these watches do not say that due to the movement being put into an American case. Any help and education pertaining to my new purchase would be great. I think it is a 2757 as 355 caliber in seamaster was 1954. Like I said I'm no expert im looking to all you guys for this. I zoomed in on the lettering to help with identification on if it has been re-dialed or it is original. Whatever the case I love this watch whatever the outcome. Also if anyone could recommend a Horologist in the Chicagoland area who could service it I would be grateful, as you can see the Hour hand needs adjusting and the crystal is scratched. Thank you once again for any help.

 

The watch looks to have been redialed and relumed. Sounds like you're happy with the watch, so enjoy it!

 

Yes, it is a redial.

 

I concur!

 

Good to know, Just for piece of mind. Was he price justifiable? Or did I loose out? Meaning what would be the standard value on a piece like this. I understand that I can show the inside, but ballpark?

 

The watch is heavily polished and with a refinished dial. I think you paid about what is currently the value of such a piece. Enjoy!

 

I will enjoy, FYI S/N is 13336271 and model is 2627-12SC does that make it 1952?

 

Check out the Omega Watches for Sale forum on the MB for an idea of what such an Omega might trade for. I have a strong suspicion that you might find the asking price for a decent watch like yours will be somewhat higher than than either the asking price or the selling price that you mentioned. What something is worth is really what someone is willing to pay for it!

 

I've looked at watches like yours on ebay for years, and one with a clean unrefinished dial, correct crown and overall good condition would likely be at least $600-$800 these days, from what I've seen. For yours, the experts here seem to be right, though on a good day it might go for a little more than $250 on ebay imho. So you didn't overpay. But I'm curious -- if you're buying from a jeweler, why buy one that you know needs repairs? The cost of repairs seems like a major unknown factor when an ordinary service alone can easily cost more than the purchase price.

 

Who among us hasn't spent more resurrecting an old watch than the marketplace deems the value of the watch to be, simply because we like the watch? When I like a watch that needs work, I don't give a rat's you know what about what others tell me it's worth! And even though I do my own work, I have still spent a lot of money on the odd watch because I like it. Like the Certina I bought at a garage sale for two dollars (that's what I paid, even though she was only asking 50 cents). I have spent over $200.00 resurrecting that watch, not counting my labour! But I like it, and what is wrong with a totally irrational investment in something you will never consider as anything other than an investment in pleasure?

 

Not bad price. Would have preferred orginial untouched dial but what can you do...

 

Yes, I understand completely. In fact, anyone who is an enthusiastic vintage collector of anything would understand completely. And that watch was a good find. My question was about the seller. If the seller is a jeweler, who is a professional retail dealer in the watch business and if not a watchmaker himself surely works with one, why has he not repaired the watch prior to offering it for sale? He is unlikely to be selling something like that on consignment, right? Even if he is, why not offer to fully repair and service it and raise the price to $450 or $500? Why must the buyer take it as is, bring it to someone else and risk it needing a far more expensive repair?

 

Because as is often repeated here, you won't get the money back out of a proper service* when you sell a watch, even if you are a retail seller.

*In my experience as a watchmaker, many sellers and jewelers are looking for a "quick and cheap" service, so not a real service at all. This is why I won't do what is referred to as "trade work" in this business. If the seller in this case is asking $300, then is $150 or $200 service (raising to $450 or $500 as you have suggested) a proper service? Not in my books...

Cheers, Al

 

Yes, but that is a different issue. I don't mean to belabor the point, but you will know if the watch needs $400 worth of work or $800, or even if it needs parts that are no longer available (perhaps rarely a problem with someone of your abilities, but still), and the buyer won't. If I am buying from you or from any professional in the business, rather than from a thrift shop or antiques barn or anonymous ebay seller, I would want that information and ideally the opportunity to buy it with the proper repairs it needs, whatever the cost. Perhaps the answer is, it takes time and effort even for a professional seller to examine and evaluate the condition of a watch, and for a $250 watch it isn't worth doing. But I would expect this from a good dealer, just as I would expect a guarantee the item is not a fake.

 

Without fully disassembling the watch and inspecting the parts, you won't know the extent of repairs required, so is a dealer going to pay to have that done only to find out the watch needs $400 of parts plus a service, for a watch that is really worth $250 to $300? Not likely.

I expect a dealer to be up front about the condition, but not to repair it for me. I think most collectors here tend to have a watchmaker they want to do their repairs, and not some guy a dealer hires for a cheap price. If you read threads here, most people don't want "dealer prepped" watches. Maybe if you had seen the work from some of the repairers that jewelers use you might think differently about this...

I service watches for people all the time where the costs of my labour and replacement parts will exceed the value of the watch by a significant margin, but I guarantee you it's never for a dealer because they could not survive operating that way. It will be like the person who dropped off his watch with me yesterday after he had dropped it on the floor (vintage Seamaster) and it stopped running - he simply said do whatever it takes.

Cheers, Al

PS - I am not a dealer, so I don't repair and sell watches on the side like some watchmakers do...

 

The square date window tells me it was one of the early production pieces, so 1952 is about right. However, the dial and lume look like 2015 production.

 

Yes, I think that's right. But "most people here", at least the regular posters, are highly experienced, knowledgeable collectors who have bought (and sold) many watches over many years (edit: including ulackfocus and dsio, obviously), and have earned that experience with an expensive mistake or two. No surprise they need and want less from dealers. Not surprisingly, they often buy and sell with each other at much lower than dealer prices. But someone looking for just one or two nice vintage watches is a different kind of buyer. Anyway, I appreciate your always worthwhile advice.

 

Yep, and they often pay the noob tax. It tends to be part of the learning curve. If you are suggesting that buying a watch prepped by a dealer is a way of avoiding that noob tax, I think this is where we disagree.

Cheers, Al