New acquisition: Omega Seamaster 60 'Big Crown' blue dial

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Hi everyone,

Bought this Seamaster 60 (ref 166.062) with a very damaged dial and was able to find another almost NOS dial to replace the dial. I also ordered a new glass and gasket and my watchmaker serviced the movement. The 1069 bracelet was already in my possesion since i also have a Seamaster 120. The 120 and the 60 have the same bracelets, the 1069 with 524 endlinks and the 1098 with the 547 endlinks. I'm curious how you like it!

60_pols.JPG 60_zij2.JPG 60_voor.JPG
60_zij1.JPG

The bezel is damaged but in my opinion it really good looking. Only things to do are new hands and a new crown and stem (all original Omega offcourse).

Last photo is of the SM60 and the SM120 together:

SM120+SM60.JPG

The Seamaster 60 was intended for snorkeling, not serious diving. So 60 stands for a water resistance to 60 meters, where the 120 could (you never guessed it) to 120 meters and the 300 to (yes unbelievably) to 300 meters of water resistance.

Looking at the large crown, you would think it would be just the other way around, that this Seamaster 60 could do a lot more. Oh, by the way, there are models with the word 'Seamaster' under the dial still marked '60' as the Seamaster 120 also has. Both dials are officially from Omega, it is not exactly clear why that was changed at some point. The dials came in three colors, 'Burgundy Red', 'Dark Blue' and simply 'Black'. The bezel is supposed to color to match the dial color, so the red one has a reddish bezel and the blue one a bluish one. That bezel in turn is made of Bakelite, an enormously fragile material (witness also the many broken bezels with cracks).

The dials are no longer available from Omega, which makes them precious and rare.

Let me know you're opinions, all opinions are welcome!
Edited:
 
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Or well, if you have a spare blue bezel in good condition, i am open to talk about that..
 
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Is the blue color a result of the black paint fading or were they painted blue from the factory? What year did the blue 60 come out?
 
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Congrats @KaiseRRuby !!! Looks to be a wonderful example and finding that dial makes it look all the better!

Is the blue color a result of the black paint fading or were they painted blue from the factory? What year did the blue 60 come out?
The blue is original from the factory, not a result of black fading. These also came with Burgundy dials and bezel inserts. Others may know the exact years of production better but from when I was looking for one, the examples I found were produced from the late 60s to the very early 70s
 
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Congrats @KaiseRRuby !!! Looks to be a wonderful example and finding that dial makes it look all the better!


The blue is original from the factory, not a result of black fading. These also came with Burgundy dials and bezel inserts. Others may know the exact years of production better but from when I was looking for one, the examples I found were produced from the late 60s to the very early 70s

Interesting! Was Omega the first manufacturer to put a blue dial on a dive watch? Does this precede the blue 1969 Tudor Sub diver?
 
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Those are great questions but I don’t have enough knowledge on the subject to answer your questions. Other members may know or some may have an Omega Extract from the archives that could shed some light on early production dates for these 166.062 references.
 
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Interesting! Was Omega the first manufacturer to put a blue dial on a dive watch? Does this precede the blue 1969 Tudor Sub diver?

Omega started production of the Seamaster 60 in 1969. So, it's a close call about who was first. The movement of my watch is produced in 1968 according to the Serial Decoder but its unclear if this movement belongs to the watch. In the past 60 years, a lot could be changed in the watch, even a replacement movement.