Omega Constellation - looking for dating and valuation information.

ConElPueblo

I believe that a few of these has been shown on OF before and a period advert was found as well.

Could you photo the caseback and the inside of the clasp where the markings are?

NotAClue

Sounds typically like the description of auctions houses 🙄

Welcome to the forum. The more experienced members will tell you everything you need to know about the watch but to help them help you tell us a little bit more about the watch and yourself (like, if it is yours; provenance of it’s not and what your interest is on that particularly watch) 👍

gatorcpa

From a 1964 UK Catalog:

http://www.old-omegas.com/catuk64.html

Value is heavily influenced by gold content. It still will carry a hefty premium over melt value.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa

Peemacgee

Welcome @Jovanaar

It looks like you have an English cased 18kt gold constellation.
The style of the stars is enough of a clue but the London hallmarks on the attached bracelet pretty much confirm this.
I don't know who the bracelet maker ‘CB’ is but if you can confirm the letter at the end of the hallmark you can determine the age of production (of the bracelet at least - you would have to see inside the watch to date the watch case accurately but they’re likely of a similar age)

Your watch is a ‘special’ produced without lugs but based on a 168.004 ‘hidden crown’ Constellation and will almost certainly contain a cal561 movement.
It looks to have a solid gold dial as well as case with (I think) the typical fat, flat, onyx inserts associated with a gold dial.

nice watch and a lovely heirloom.
congratulations!

Jovanaar

Thank you very much for the welcome and great information. It's really fascinating to learn about this piece. I have tried to take one more picture up close of the hallmark but I am still unable to make out the last character. I can see crown, 750, devil. Would you have any idea on the value of such a watch?

Peemacgee

the devil you refer to is the London ‘Leopard’s head’ hallmark.
I think the date letter is damaged and so difficult to identify what it is.

the watch is quite difficult to value because of the fixed bracelet, no lug, style.
and it also depends on whether you want sales value or replacement insurance value ( two very different things)
A good condition Swiss cased 18kt gold constellation de luxe, head only, might be worth say £3,000+
You could add up to £2k for a separate Omega gold bracelet.

however, you have an English cased watch and bracelet and the bracelet is fixed.
English cased watches are as good quality as Swiss cased Omegas but have a slightly lesser sales value.
Also the fixed Milanese bracelet will have to be irrevocably ‘sized’ to fit the owner, which again reduces usability / saleability.

In addition, the hidden-crown style isn’t the most sought after constellation style.

so, as a sales value you might value your watch at say, £3,000+ but you would probably need to double that for a replacement insurance value.

hope that helps.

Jovanaar

That's some really fascinating information, thank you for educating me. I will continue to try and identify the date letter, my camera doesn't seem seem to pick up the detail well. In your opinion, would it be worth to send this watch off to Omega for repair/restoration?

Peemacgee

most would recommend an independent watch maker - less expensive and less chance of them devaluing your watch by doing stuff you don’t want done (like polishing)
If you tell us where you are (country / state will do) you may get recommendations for a watchmaker near you.

wilderbeast

Whereabouts in England? If London, there are a few options. Many recommend Simon Freese; I use Stefan at Vintage Watch Fever; @ChrisN comes very highly rated, too. Lots of UK based options.

PS - cool heirloom. Congrats!

Dan S

That's a great heirloom, really interesting watch. IIRC the bracelets were basically fit for a particular wrist and can't really be adjusted or swapped out. So if it fits your wrist, you are lucky. 👍

Dan S

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here. Obviously, nobody can predict future value of gold or the preferences of collectors.

As noted above, since the watch and bracelet are so heavy, the value is greatly influenced by the price of gold, which is relatively high at the moment. The watch also has value as a collectible timepiece, which can fluctuate as tastes change over time.