Hello I entered this forum because a Omega watch entered my life. For me this was an extraordinary event because I never was interessted in watches very much, but since I "found" this watch (it is from my grandpa) I fell in love with it.. Thanks to the interenet I learned a lot about it: it's a reference 2256 with a caliber 283 movement and according to the serial number it was made about 1948..1950. I allready found a good address to give this watch some care and maintenance. I will replace the glass (I'm still not quite sure whether to take a original Omega part or a cheaper one) and the crown, give the case some (but not to much) polish and a revision to the movement. The clock face will get some cleaning but nothing more. And ofcourse I will replace the quite ugly metal straps with some nice leather straps. Here are some pics: The quesition I have is aboout the hands. Without any doubt the second hand is not original and I definitely will replace it. But what about the hour and minute hands? In the interenet I found Omega watches with the same hands, so they propabely are original Omega parts. But are they original for my Omega? Some guys in another watch forum told me that both of them might be not original. Their argument is that both hands are filled with luminous material but the clock face has not. And the longer I'm looking for pics of vintage Omage watches in the internet the more I get the feeling that both hands do not fit to the design of my Omega. What do you think - do the hour and minute hands fit to my Omega? If not: which hands would be more suitable? Kind regards, Thomas.
Welcome to the forum Thomas. I don't know anything about this reference, so I will let others chime in. I will say that it is a nice looking piece and as someone who also wears his grandpa's watch from time to time, I am sure will enjoy it once it has been serviced and is on your wrist.
Usually lumed hands go with a lumed dial. Here are a couple of other examples of this reference: https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-oversize-38mm-from-1947-ref-2256-cal-30-t2.12842/ http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/omega-ref-2256-1-39mm-587618.html Both have the leaf style hands like Hoi's example above. Should be able to find proper replacements if you want. gatorcpa
Hello to all, thanks for your respond The hands you suggested are looking quite good - and much better than the old hands. I will try to organize some. What color would be better: polished sílver (like the case) or maybe steel blue? Kind regards, Thomas.
I like the silver hour and minute hands with blue steel seconds hand, but then again I may be biased.
Hello, I got my Omega back from revision, now I want to show the result. The hands have been replaced with new one. Unfortunately they are not original - but the design is quite close to the typical hands of Omega watches with cal. 283. In my opinion the hands design fits very well, and I'm very happy with this result. Nevertheless the hands are to new for this old lady. Maybe some original hands (from the late 40s / early 50s) with some nice patina would be better? So this journey could not be over yet What do you think?
Looks nice. Some of these watches had dauphine hands. Only criticism would be that the minute hand is a bit short as these should reach the minute track.
Don't be so quick to dismiss the "quite ugly metal strap". Those Bonklip (or Bonklip style) bracelets were extremely practical and are very period correct for your watch. http://milspectime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/THE-BONKLIP_HI-RES-1.pdf EDIT TO ADD... If it is a Bonklip, and the end width is 17.5mm or higher, then it could be worth a fair bit.