Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a vintage omega as a gift. I have no idea what the difference is between seamaster, de ville etc. Can someone please give me a quick overview?
I know it's not much of a budget for an omega, but I'm looking for under 500 pounds. There seems to be a few 1980s/90s for this price and under, is buying from this period a mistake?
Also, i don't want to end up with a fake (!), does anyone have any advice about the watches on vintagetimewatches.com? I'm not bothered about the box, original strap etc, just the actual watch movement being genuine omega.
Does anyone have any site recommendations (preferably UK) for vintage, but reasonably priced, omega watches?

Thanks in advance

 

Look in the Private watch sale section and take your time to ask question.
Determine if you want st. Steel or gold on steel, manual or automatic and color of dial and style.
Best
Mounir

 

I would stay clear of eBay is you are a bit unsure.... there is a lot of nice looking omega watches on there most of them re-dials relumed at the price range you are looking at .. The private sale section on the forum is the place to look ..people are honest and the watches are genuine.

 

Best is take your time to do some research and read up on the watches or range that interest you. This forum is a great start.

 

There are a LOT of refinished dials out there on the Omegas in this price range. Proceed with caution. Check out the FS section here to be safe.

 

This http://www.chronocentric.com/omega/choosing.shtml might give you a starting point. Also, a bit more information about who is to be the recipient might help e.g. male/female, current watch preferences/style, reason for gift - significant anniversary etc.

There are literally hundreds of choices from manual wind chronographs to quartz digitals and all points inbetween.

 

Thanks all, i've been doing a bit of reading and have narrowed it down a little, could i just ask a couple more things?
on the back of an 80s seamaster 1425, on the seamaster logo on the back plate, would it have the 1425 engraved under this if it was genuine, and does it always have the omega logo on the lower half of the seamaster logo? would they ever say quartz instead of the omega logo?

 

Can you post a picture?
Sounds like you are describing this;

https://omegaforums.net/threads/seamaster-tell-me-things-please.5924/
You will get many opinions here. Personally, I don't think Omega quartz watches fully represent the spirit of Omega. The history of Omega is so rich with the pursuit of precision time keeping, with a mechanical heart.

 

hi yes it is like that, seamaster, omega logo underneath then the code engraved. (On the website in my first post) Most of the ones i've looked at just have the seamaster/omega logo so wasn't sure if this was a genuine thing? I'm looking for a birthday gift, i can't stretch to a new omega! so not necessarily a collectable, more just a nice keepsake watch, but obviously i'd like a genuine watch. it's not so much of an issue for me if its not all 100% original for example with the strap, but don't want to get conned on an obvious fake!
On the omega website where it shows the picture of the watches corresponding to the codes, would the faces all look exactly the same? so for example all dashes marking the minutes, or numerals at 12/6 etc or is that just an example and there may be variations?

 

Reference number is the style of the case. 1425 is the caliber or type of movement (in this case a quartz movement).
Omega usually produced numerous dial variations for each style of their watches.
I hope you read the second link I supplied. The thread makes very good points.

 

Hi newtowatches1 and welcome to the Forum. You came to the right place for Omega advice.

How will your name, newtowatches1 work out for you after a few years when you are consumed by all things horological and you're oldtowatches?

 

OK thank you kingsrider, i'll have a good read through. just wasn't sure that if there were slight differences in styles that it was a red flag that it wasn't genuine.
noelekal it's my husband that likes watches, just a general interest so any i buy he should be happy with! hopefully if i manage to buy something good then we might have to share the interest and register a new account! he's always wanted to own an omega but id like to keep it a surprise so can't really ask him any questions!

 

Hi, also new the the forum and vintage Omegas.

I understand the logic behind buying on this forum vs eBay, but is there any recourse for a fraudulent seller through this site? Signs I should look for? I see some nice pieces, but not all sellers have references and can be just barely over the 200 post minimum.

Sorry, I've never bought anything second hand online. Makes me nervous to hand over several hundred dollars to a person I've never met overseas. Does PayPal allow you to pull back payment if the seller has already drawn he money out?

Apologies again for the basic questions. Just hoping to get some best practices.

 

There are various degrees of happiness when receiving and purchasing a vintage watch. The watch that is chosen will say many things about the man wearing it.

 

thats a lot of pressure with that statement! id like something fairly classic, not too busy on detail

 

Develop a small check list. Don't be afraid of Ebay. You can post links here first and you will get honest opinions. For your budget there will be lots of nice choices.

PS
when you post, explain that it is a gift for your husband. Solicitation of opinions can be a touchy thing here.

 

Your best bet a newbie is to buy here in the sales section.

We are a tight knit community and fakes have no mercy here. That's prob. As save it gets on the internet for you.

Stay away from eBay until you can identify a cal.601 from a pedestrian glance at a pic.

 

sorry i didn't realise! this should be a one off purchase (for 30th) I've narrowed it down style wise to the deville and the seamasters as even though the ones i've looked at are 80-90s mainly (to be in the cheaper price range) they still look good and stylish. maybe for his 40th i'll have saved up for a new one!

 

Hi NTW
I think you should still be able to find a reasonably decent 60s Seamaster or Deville for under £500, but you'd only find that on ebay as dealers will of course want their markup, and it is often a sizeable one. You then need to factor in another £100 to service the watch as wearing it unserviced will rapidly cause wear and damage. If you want to buy him something that's actually nice rather than just with the Omega logo, my suggestion is a either plain dial or date dial in a stainless steel case. It depends how long you've got before the birthday arrives as they don't come up every day, and you'll either need time to learn or assistance, and if it's publicly given on here then of course everyone who looks on OF can see what's been recommended, which may drive up the price.
Personally I would not go for anything quartz as that's very workaday and a typical man likes to receive something with quality under the bonnet, whether he can see it or not.

Add: What your husband will like will depend on his personality, eg if he is very precise and picky he maybe won't want even a quality watch with the dial imperfections that so many pick up over the decades, but if he's big on craftsmanship then the quality might mean more to him than minor signs of ageing.

 

i have roughly a month, so is the alternative to quartz the automatics?