Hi @all, I`m new to OF and this is my first thread opened by me so I want to introduce myself a little. I`m collecting watches of all kind and brands for years now mostly I`m interested on vintage watches `cause I like design and technic of them and I`m located in Switzerland so I think it`s something natural Before quiet a while after a long time of hunting I was very happy to aquire a 168009 to my collection and I had it for complete OH at Omega in Biehl which was very professional and the watch is as good as new and I`m very pleased with their work and communication. I had a lot of questions to Omega all where answered and one was for the original bracelet for my Connie `cause there where marks to be seen before OH on the downside of the lugs which indicate for me there must have been a solid 18k bracelet back in the days but they told me they delivered this watch on a black croko leather strap with solid 18k buckle so i decided to go with that option and it looks good to my eyes. You can see my watch here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/vintage-constellations-show-and-tell.19186/page-75#post-1826788 While watching other cool Omega on the www I stumbled over this pictures: I like the looks of this bracelet but it left me with the question of it`s origin and reference. As long as I understand and maybe I`m wrong and please correct me then that in the 1960s when purchasing a Omega watch at a store as a customer you had several options for a bracelet you like to have on your new Omega. I`m right with that opinion? So it can be that Omega Swiss delivered my watch on a leather strap and the first owner decided at the store for a solid 18k bracelet and go with it. Was that possible? Or is this bracelet custom made by a goldsmith? So my final question for the advice, experience and knowledge of you all is that bracelet on this pictures a legit Omega bracelet and if yes what reference it has or is there some other stunning 18k bracelet out there I must consider/hunt? Thank you for reading all of this and for your answers!
It might be Swiss or it might be local ie from elsewhere. Shackman made very nice solid gold mesh bracelets for the uk market under licence from Omega and others. If I had to guess though I would say the one you show is factory ie Swiss. Search Shackman on here for further info. I have a Rolex equivalent in gold and an omega mesh in steel. Here is the Rolex Shackman mesh.
Your Constellation could either have been delivered on a strap or a bracelet. I don't know if it was common for Omega to sell aftermarket gold bracelets at the point of sale, but it could have happened. The first owner could also have opted to buy a non-Omega solid gold or gold plated bracelet to go with the watch, all are valid possibilities.
@ConElPueblo Thx for join in! Omega told me that they have taken a look in their data and that my watch was delivered on a black leather croko strap within Switzerland. I personally believe that this watch never left the country and was sold by the inherit of the former owner after he passed away and unfortunatley scrapped the bracelet for gold value Did you maybe have some knowledge on the bracelet from the pictures above?
I'm pretty sure these were legit options, albeit rare. Here's one on Chrono24 in white gold (a grail watch for me if I ever win the lottery...)
C24 was the right direction: https://www.chrono24.ch/omega/omega...al-engine-turned-bezel-168019--id18428991.htm Here is another one and you can see the specific marks on the lugs for this type of straps this as a reason of my idea that there was a 18k strap on my watch also. But maybe this strap is from a later period? Omega told me they delivered my watch in 1967 even if the serial indicate 1966 as date of manufacture and they said this reference wasn`t sold often and I think it was very expensive in that days. After I bought the watch it had wrong hands and within the OH at Biehl they replaced with original ones they had stored since 1966! The reason why they have them was the same: Don`t sold often this reference and even less have them for service. I was really lucky!
The replaced hands where Omega origin also but bigger and with lume maybe the former owner as getting older needed that to read time but this is speculation only. So the reference number for the bracelet shown in the pictures is 1092/111 does that mean its original Omega? This is the clasp of the white gold bracelet shown by Bojumhunter
Pretty much all bracelets leave marks like that, the wear depends on how loose it was worn and if it was a gold-plated or solid gold endlink. If it was solid gold it could have been sold for scrap, if it was plated gold it could just as well just have been scrapped. Other solid gold bracelets are available for C-cased Constellations from Omega and naturally there are untold variants for other companies.
Actually, it’s the other number… 368.829 represents a bracelet, automatic, water-resistant chronometer watch. That’s exactly what you have. In my opinion, original bracelet made for that watch. Very nice! gatorcpa
Not sure I understand. The fact that the bracelet version of this watch had a separate case reference than the strap version and the bracelet had its own separate reference number are strong indicators that the bracelet is original to this watch. gatorcpa
Unless I completely have misunderstood the OP, the bracelets pictured here are not his - they are mounted on watches he has found elsewhere on the net in order to identify which type of bracelet that could have been on the watch at some point. Omega has already replied to him that the watch was delivered on a strap. @sirtaifun - in addition to the mesh bracelet in this thread, the steel bracelet most commonly found on c-cases were also available on gold watches. The ones in the photos below are white gold, but yellow gold are more common: https://omegaforums.net/threads/18k-wg-c-case-constellation-w-brick-bracelet.2351/ https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-constellation-c-case-white-gold.112154/
@all Thank you very much for all this information! And yes the bracelet and clasp I showed in pictures are from Chrono24. My initial question was which bracelet I should searching for to fit legit onto my watch as anyone agree to my understanding I go for the 18K solid gold 1092/111 wich has its own reference.
I appreciate your effort! But I think gold/steel as an combination is not my liking BTW is anyone out there who wair it like this? I mean 18k gold case with stainless steel or whitegold bracelet?
Please see my posts again - they are both in white gold (both watch and bracelet) and can be found in yellow gold as well. The only thing I have said about non-solid gold bracelets was that since the bracelet that had been mounted on your particular watch was an aftermarket purchase, it could also have been a gold plated variant instead of a solid gold one. And yes this happened, just as a gold plated watch was sometimes paired with a solid gold bracelet. I have had both.