New Arrival, SM300 14755-61 With Original Bakelite Bezel Intact ??, Macro Shots Will Decide

ndgal

The early bezels were coated with a thin coat of Nitrocellulose lacquer which glows Green under Blacklight.
Nitrocellulose based lacquer was also used to finish guitars (amongst many other things).
In the vintage guitar world we use UV light all the time to check if a guitar's finish has been re-done or touched up. All of these usually show up pretty clearly against the Green glow of the Nitrocellulose lacquer.

ndgal

The early bezels were coated with a thin coat of Nitrocellulose lacquer which glows Green under Blacklight.
Nitrocellulose based lacquer was also used to finish guitars (amongst many other things).

gemini4

This just arrived, a Pristine 2nd Generation Seamaster 300, reference 14755-61. Appears to be in wonderful condition with lots of originality. Radium dial is pristine with original Arrow Hands with matching lume. I believe that Bakelite bezel is all original although there is some damage at the 12 O'clock. LOTS OF MACRO SHOTS TO FOLLOW. Even the pipper still is intact with lume/radium (see the lume shot). The movement serial number 1881xxxx, caliber 552, is spot on for 1961. 7912 Bracelet is nice and long, in great condition and has correct #6 end links. Bracelet production date of 1st quarter 1962 means it is most probably original to the watch. Crown is original flat foot and the case shows no evidence of polish. This watch was not worn very much.

The star of this show is the bezel. 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation SM300 (2913,14755, 165.014) were issued bakelite bezels which were very prone to chipping. Today, early surviving Seamasters have a restored bezel or a blank black bezel. The next generation, the 165.024-63 were issued more robust bezels.

Sourcing a 14755 with an original bezel (I hope),in this condition, is really a find. As the bezel macros will show, the digits appear painted on and uneven which signifies originality. Macro restored bezel digits (such as Aldo) show evidence of computer graphics. Others restore bezel digits appear, under a loupe, to be decals.

Except for some lume loss on the hour hand and the bezel damage at 12 o'clock, this 55 years old watch is about as good as they come.

ndgal

Yes.

Don't do this

Steve1haggart

firstly what country are you in ? if the UK sent it to Simon Freese he is widely respected and will carry out out a movement service only for you that will get the watch running . as for the bezel leave as is don't get the case polished and please don't give this to any old watch maker you could end up getting a pig with lipstick back .

Concer

This and first of all be extra careful with the bezel or whats left of it. DONT rotate it, DONT try to take it off, it's best not to look at it at all…

This little bastard is, as you can already see by its broken status, very fragil. There are two, to my knowledge, recommendable addresses who can repair or mend the part well.

But as mentioned before it would be helpful to know where do you life …

edit: oh an congratulation to this great watch!

Yves86

Out of curiosity... how 'broken' should the bezel be, to recommend one of the expert forum members to 'redo' the bezel? (I honestly don't know when it still has a lot of value to keep it, I've seen a 75% bezel being offered for the price of a nice Connie)

Concer

As far as I know the bezel will be completely replaced, but iam not an expert. Here you can see the work from mcgyver for example: https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-ck2913-14755-165014-bezel-insert.122069/

As far as i know there are three people working on the bezels

- mcgyver from ?
- Rene from Germany
- Aldo from Italy

There are some experience reports here in the forum.