Just wanted to share with you a funny buying experience... I stumbled upon an ebay listing with the following description: Quote: "Vintage Omega 564 Automatic Sweep second Date: quickset by repeated pulling the crown Few Scratch on the glass Never Opend for replacing Battery Original Bracelet Fast and Secure EMS Shipping! This is an 100 % Authentic Omega Watch For Men From the early 60' In Very Good Conditions and runing on and off, Need to replace battery. " The auction ended below the reserve price and I took the plunge and contacted the seller. I explained to him that this watch did not need a new battery but a good cleaning and lubricating and he should consider the costs for servicing when fixing the price... We mutually agreed upon a price... and finally it arrived 2 days ago. It is the kind of watch I like to buy: full of gunk, never polished at all, no attempt to pimp it up or make it "oh shiny", sold as found... The edges and bevels still crisp, brushing as it left the factory with only slight surface marks but badly scratched crystal. I gave it a short outside cleaning to remove the dirt, polished out the scratches of the crystal, gave it some initial winds and put it on to see if it ran. And what a surprise! It winds and runs flawlessly, keeping reasonably time within about 25 sec./24 hours without any intervention So I became curios about the condition of the "heart". There appeared a very clean Cal. 751 (I already knew that the listing was wrong with Cal. 564). All the screws are in crisp condition, no watchmaker marks, and I suppose the watch had not been opened for decades. The oscillating weight had some tarnish and after a gentle wipe with a microfiber cloth it sparkles beautifully again. The condition of the gasket (or what was left) proved that the case had not been opened for a very long time - it was melted down to a sticky black mass and I removed it carefully with a tooth pick - left "sticky fingers" as you can see. I will give the movement a good service to prevent any damage and then it will be one of my daily beaters. As I enjoy the precision of these chronometers I will wear this regularly and let my second (mint) example be a safe queen as she is in top notch collectible condition. I would appreciate to experience more of such buying surprises in the future
These are great watches. I just picked up a 168.050 chronometer and I already know it'll be a firm favourite! Would love to see your crispest model!
Great find Erich. In Australia you would be called a "tin arsed bastard", which although sounds bad, is actually a term of Aussie endearment for a mate who has had some good luck. Cheers Jim
Yes, I know this is not the real thing, it is an aftermarket one but it wears comfortably, and I do not mind to scratch it when wearing the watch daily.
Oh, it was you who won the competition! (is it from Turkey?) I had a try myself as this Ref. is missing in my SM chronometer collection... I think you did well!
Thanks Mac! I really didn't know much about this model until I read up on it on watchprosite. I tend to be attracted to unusual case designs and I thought this one qualified, also the fact that the case brushing and racing dial looked really nice compared to other versions I'd compared it too. And also the staple cal. 564 was an attraction. I'm sure this model will come around again, but, you are certainly set up on my dibs list after ainterian should I sell It. Complete respect finding the nice untouched example above!
My constellation came on such a bracelet. It looks to me like it has the spring loaded ends to fit multiple band sizes. The problem with these types of bracelets is that because the ends rotate with the rest of the bracelet, they can scratch up the lugs pretty nastily.
I use 99% alcohol for cleaning up the "black goop" and it takes it right off. It does make a mess though...