I have this family heirloom watch from my grandfather. I would guess 1940-1960 era. Can anyone help with these pictures? Should I just take it in to have it looked at?
One more thing to add. I can see no markings one the outside anywhere. Not looked under the back cover.
Looks like a Cosmic ref 2473. We'd need in-focus pics to tell you whether the dial is original, but my early impression is that it may be a reprinted dial. (How'd I do, Omega guys?)
Good deal Lou - ref. 2473 omega triple date moonphase in either a solid 14k or 18k case with a refinished dial.
Never mind the above comment about not working. Seens to be keeping time! Here are some better pictures. Can you guys confirme this is an Omega 2473 Cosmic? What year? Would it be worth having it "tuned up" and what would the value of this watch be? Thanks you all very much for the help.
OMEGA lettering is uneven and too close to the applied logo. The minute markers appear to not have a consistent length. Wouldn't that suggest a repainted dial?
Dial is really bad, if its an heirloom that matters to you I'd see about getting one of the better restorers to re-do the re-do to a much higher standard and get it serviced. DON'T wear it or wind it, even if it runs the lubricants will be dry and you'll do damage to expensive parts that are a pain to replace. Since its a family piece and solid gold I'd get it serviced by a quality independent and then redialed again to wear. These have less than zero water resistance btw, don't splash it, don't wear it in rain, hell I'd keep it somewhere dry even if its just a humid day.
I love these watches and would like to own one piece one day. There are 2 problems with that though; 1 is that 99.9% I've seen had a redial and 2 even in case of point 1 they usually go for silly money. Obviously in the vintage trade originality is king and if the person doesn't mind a redial he should buy it. But I wouldn't. When I saw your first pics I was kinda excited and thought "finally a real one" but as Larry pointed it out it is an obvious redial. And a very bad at that I might say. It could also be an adaptation,meaning somebody used a cheaper moonphase have the dial remade to "Omega" so they could sell it for bigger money. We can't say it for sure unless we see a pic of the movement and the case-back but I'm really leaning towards this theory.
Thanks for all your input. From what I know of the watch and the owner is he bought it new as a gift to himself for making it through WW2 alive. I knew this guy pretty well and would be surprised if he ever had it serviced let alone have the dial face worked on. But you might all be correct. I am going to take it to a watch maker and have it looked over. I do find it interesting that in all my research I can’t find another one of these with this color of face? Only white.
All the Cosmics I've seen came with a bigger case as well. Even though it's hard to judge by photos only it seems that your watch is rather small. Omega's cosmic models were I think 35-37mm or so. I could be wrong though. Have a look at this dial and compare it with yours. And here's another black dialed version.
I love a mystery! Can’t wait to have it opened up and looked at to see what I got. Thanks for the pictures of another black face, they are very similar but not quite the same. After looking at some other examples it now seems quite obvious the watch face I have has been hacked upon. I will put in an update once I have more info. Either way, it’s still a good looking time piece. Just don’t look too close
If you like the watch as it is have it serviced by a watchmaker and enjoy. As said before originality is king in vintage watch collecting but others have different views on these things. Anyways, post some photos when you get the chance. And don't wind the watch before the watchmaker sees it.
Understood. At a very minimum I will have it serviced and probably a new crystal. It’s so scratched up it makes it hard to read. Thanks again.