Omega Constellation 168.018 - Authentic?

Hey all,

Would love to hear your opinion on this watch that I found on Ebay: https://www.ebay.nl/itm/324909230069?hash=item4ba61967f5:g:TDwAAOSwIhNhoqL4

It seems to be in a great condition and the price seems reasonable. But I'm no expert and Ebay always seems to be a minefield. What do you guys think? Does this look genuine to you, or are there signs that something was done to the watch? Would love to hear your opinions!

To my eyes, that looks like a well preserved watch, prepped for sale. Very high price in my opinion; way too much and so a pass.

The hands look off in my opinion

Pictures are better than links. Overpriced and overpolished example that as @nicks said is prepped for sale. If you're looking for a good example on eBay keep an eye on this thread.

Thanks for the advice. I will refrain from purchasing it.

Next time I will include the pictures along with the link next time. Thanks for posting them.

And form my education: what are the things you look for to determine it is overpolished? And what do you mean when you mention it is 'prepped' for sale?

The best way I have found to judge the level of polishing is to look at a significant number of the same reference, and compare the shape of the lugs and their edges, and the case back. Normally, in an unpolished or very lightly polished watch, you’ll see various indicators of use, small scratches and so on. I am not a fanatic about “never polished” (I believe that’s quite rare in a vintage watch) but I like to see the case and lugs retain their (mostly) original shape. This watch look “soft” - don’t know how to describe it better than that.

An unpolished or lightly polished case back would never look like this one. You can see that all but the deepest scratches are missing - a dead giveaway.

So, it’s been tidied up for sale; fair enough, sellers do that.

A couple of other things. The dial pictures are overexposed, which tends to mask the actual condition of the dial. As someone pointed out above, the hands are clearly mismatched.

All that said, the watch isn’t awful, just not very good. The asking price, however, is just ridiculous.

Hope that helps.

that is not a reasonable price.
You should check out/explore the Private sales forum on OF.
There’s one in great condition and comes on a BOR.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-constellation-ref-168-016-collector-grade-must-see.140129/

Thanks for the extensive reply, much appreciated!

Thanks for the tip. Already had contact with Prieman. Sadly, I'm located in Europe and the import taxes hit pretty hard. Hence, the eBay hunt looking for a decent watch in in Europe.