Newbie in need of help with vintage seamaster 600

Hello everyone, I am very green to the world of collecting vintage omegas and was wondering if any of you could help me. I have been looking at ebay for a vintage seamster 600 and came across these here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171302154701?_trksid=p2055120.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281314415559?_trksid=p2055120.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151149365348?_trksid=p2055120.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I would like to find a watch that is not a re-dail and to my untrained eye I think the first and second one here listed seems off (also not sure if the 600 had caliber 600 in them), I think the most complete watch is the last listing but then I am very new to this. I am just looking for some to point me in the right direction or point out something I have not noticed. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Newbie

IMHO, the first one is by far the best choice. The second one is kind of ok, but the dial could be much better. #3 is overpolished and overpriced. But (far) more experienced users will chime in soon.

Thanks for your reply, the issue I have with the first listing is the dial (the lettering), it seems off, like the T Swiss Made T at 6 o'clock, but again I am very new to this. I agree with you about the last one, but I think (aside from the polished case) it seems the most complete.

Hi Lessismore,

You are correct in being suspect about the first watch. I believe it is a redial based on the smudges and such in the dial printing (smudged G & A in Omega, the 6 in 600 looks off and of course the M in Swiss Made is smudged). The printing also looks too thick in general and I think someone was trying to remove the inscription on the case back but realized they would also remove the hippo-campus as well and stopped (the case back should have a different finish on it and the hippo-campus should have a circle around it). Case back example...


Too bad really because this watch is quite nice other wise...case is somewhat sharp, movement looks very nice and it even has correct crown.

The second watch has the nicest dial (compare this dial to the first and you can see how off the first one is) but the case is beat up and over polished, especially the case back, oh and the crown is wrong.

Forget the third one as I believe moisture has gotten into it at some point. Look at the movement picture and the dial has evidence of this as well.

In the end the second and third are way over priced (I purchase a near perfect SM 600 in this price range) and I believe the first will be bid up too high by inexperienced buyers (because of the movement and case) but may be worth watching since its at such a low price now.

Personally I'd pass on all three!
Just my 2 cents,
Hijak

...one day I might learn to spot a redial. 🤔

Thanks Hijak, you just hit all the points I was worried about, only thing I had not noticed was the possible water damage in the third listing. My other question with the first listing was the caliber, was it common for this model to have a cal 600? or should they only have cal 601?

By they way, as far a collecting is this model (SM 600) more rare than say a Deville, Geneve or just plain Automatic?

It took me a long time and I can still be fooled, that's why we're here right!👍 Here are some pictures of my past mistakes just to make you feel better...

Big giveaways here is the N in constellation is all wrong (tail of N should roll under it) and the fact that the "T Swiss Made T" is above the minute markers among other things (wrong crown for one).🙁


Don't think too much needs to be said about this one...Automatic font way off and if you look close the De Ville trails off somewhat (the D is much closer to Seamaster than the last E). And both of these watches are over polished messes!

So at least your checking here before you buy!😎 Expensive lessons I learned!!!🤩

None of these are "rare" watches in fact they are somewhat common. The trick is to find the really good ones.

And the cal. 600 in the first one...well the Omega data base says it should have a cal. 601 and I would personally feel better if it did...but keep in mind that the Omega data base is incomplete and it is possible, I think, for this combination to have come from Omega.

Just for a tease...



I purchased this from Norman (X350 XJR) some time ago and it is one of the nicest ones I've ever seen. I've purchased several watches from Norman and he puts some very nice watches up in our For Sale thread from time to time...keep an eye out. In fact our For Sale thread is a great place to be looking if you want nice examples of any watch!👍 Many of my nicest watches were purchased there.

Yeah that's a beauty! In your experience are the date ones more common? I also like the look of the deville, geneve and the automatics without the date complication from the same period (60's) ref # in the 165.XXX, read somewhere that I should look for those models with the cal 552 what do you think? Or do you have any models in mind?

I been looking at the For Sale thread also, some nice watches there!

Just to reiterate...all of these watches were talking about are common.

I also have a SM De Ville I like very much with the 552...



And covet one of these older Geneve models (a cal. 562)...



I think all of the 5xx movements were very good (heard some things about the cal. 500 but nothing a service can't handle)

You might also want to look at some 1950's Seamasters as these are very nice as well.



The left two obviously...


Anyway my suggestion is to go back and read through some old threads on here about the watches you're interested in (the more you see the better you will become at spotting the good from the bad) and this will help you oh so very much!👍 At least this is what I did/do and it has helped out a great deal. A copy of AJTT couldn't hurt either.

Thank you so much for your help. I will keep an eye out for a copy of AJTT, what do you think of John's book? Is on par with the AJTT? Do you mind if I message you if I have any other questions? Again thanks.

I saw the crack gator, but also the 600 seems thick and I am not sure about the "swiss made" lettering pacing at 6 o'clock.. it seems too close together, but like I said before I am very new to this.

I am also looking at these two but also have my doubts about them...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351049263977?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271457246256?_trksid=p2055120.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I am trying to narrow which models to look at because I just seem to like them all from this time period!!!

can you elaborate on the argentine? thanks

Thanks gator I will keep that in mind, by the way are any of you familiar with the crown and caliber website? It seems most other websites beside ebay (in some cases) have all of these vintage watches over polished