New to the forum, after some authentication tips

Hi all,

First time poster here on OF.

I'm very new to the scene of Omegas and luxury watches in general. My only prior knowledge of wind up and auto watches is my dad's Roamer Stingray, which he wound up selling on eBay. Somehow I've become deeply engrossed within the watch world over the past few weeks, and have began the search for my first Omega.

I've been searching in Japan where I've found a considerable amount of >1990s Speedys, Seamasters (as well as Planet Oceans) and Aquaterras for reasonable money. I've bought items from YAJ many times in the past, but I've had cold feet on a few watches as I'm simply not knowledgeable enough on Omega yet to roll the dice.

Eg. I found a great Aqua Terra, came with box, documentation and warranty ect, but it looked as if the last few digits of the serial no. on the lug had been polished off or had worn away. In saying this, the first 5 or so digits did seem to match the warranty. I saw the same sort of story on a Speedmaster, however the entire serial didn't seem to be present in photos of the lugs. Is this common/just concurrent with use and typical polishing?

Additionally, there was no photo of the movement in the photos of the Aquaterra. Is it typically a no-go to purchase an Omega without seeing photos of the movement to confirm it's authenticity? Further to this, what are the most notable issues to look at when inspecting photos of any of the aforementioned models? I've tried to compare stock photos, however you begin to second guess tiny details which may just be related to the angle of the photos taken by the seller.

Obviously buying the seller is a good point, and most sellers on Yahoo Auctions have sold several watches according to their feedback with no complaints whatsoever, however I'm trying to be cautious and am definitely wanting to learn more about the intricacies of these watches. It seems that whatever reference number you Google, the replica websites 'claim' to have a fake available.

Apologies if this was a long read, but I'm eager to hear some opinions and maybe be steered in the right direction in terms of authentication resources. I don't want to clog the forums with photos of every watch I might be interested in 😀

Thanks in advance

Welcome 😀

Take a look at the private sales listings here 😀loads of honest sellers here who aren't looking to screw you over. Welcome.

Good call. Will keep that in mind.

Nice to meet you and welcome to the Omega Forum!

Are you able to read Japanese?

Please understand the meaning of the Japanese in the description and be convinced to bid.
A member who had previously bid on a watch on Yahoo Auctions whose product description stated that the dial had been repainted asked, "Is this watch a redial?" and created a thread. This was because he had not checked the Japanese description carefully.

If you can read Japanese, please ignore my opinion.
The icon is KENMERI Skyline, so I guess you're from Japan?.

Hi! Nice to meet you too 😀

Unfortunately I'm not from Japan. I actually live in Australia and own a 240K (Yonmeri) Skyline. I assume you're from Japan considering you recognised the car?

Sadly, I can't read Japanese. I've been relying on Google Translate which tends to do a decent job. I'm able to put the picture together even though the translation isn't 100%. I tried to sign up for Yahoo Auctions just so I could make use of the watch list, however you need a Japanese mobile number to complete registration these days.

Thanks for the advice

Yes, I am Japanese and I live in Japan.
I can't speak English either, so I rely on Google Translate and Deepl Translate.

Most sellers on Yahoo Auctions don't ship overseas, so you'll need to use a buying service such as BuyJP.