Omega Constellation - onyx or painted?

kalin91 · Nov 22, 2023

Hi all,

I was looking at a listing and was wondering if the indices are onyx or just painted.
Can anyone advise? To me it looks too shiny and lacks depth, but I am just a novice and might be wrong.

Many thanks!

kalin91 · Nov 23, 2023

Any thoughts?

gbesq · Nov 23, 2023

See the discussion in this thread: Onyx-Inlaid Constellations | Omega Forums

Fallout Boy · Nov 23, 2023

the last picture of bartH (1st page) shows, how to look at the indices....

hoipolloi · Nov 23, 2023

kalin91
Hi all,

I was looking at a listing and was wondering if the indices are onyx or just painted.
Can anyone advise? To me it looks too shiny and lacks depth, but I am just a novice and might be wrong.

Many thanks!

Looks painted to me.

Zman4eva · Nov 23, 2023

It looks painted too me as well after focusing on the 4 and 5 o' clock markers. The black only shows on the top.

Screenshot_2023-11-23-06-54-07-27_e4424258c8b8649f6e67d283a50a2cbc.jpg

I looked at one of my Constellations with onyx and this is how it should look. You can see the black onyx is an actual bar slotted into the hour markers. The side is black as well.

Screenshot_2023-11-23-06-55-15-15_965bbf4d18d205f782c6b8409c5773a4.jpg

kalin91 · Nov 23, 2023

Zman4eva
It looks painted too me as well after focusing on the 4 and 5 o' clock markers. The black only shows on the top.

I looked at one of my Constellations with onyx and this is how it should look. You can see the black onyx is an actual bar slotted into the hour markers. The side is black as well.

I was afraid this could be the case as it didn't look slotted as on other ones.. it's a pity the onyx is not real given that the dial seems spotless.

Just wondering when you take out the onyx, what do you stick in to fill in the gap and paint over it? Or was it without any onyx originally?

Zman4eva · Nov 23, 2023

I'm pretty sure the painted ones are how they were originally made. Not every dial has onyx inserts.

Personally, onyx inserts are a nice to have. They wouldn't be a deciding factor for me if everything else looks good (dial, lugs, case, crown, caseback, movement, crystal).

But watches are about the details. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. If it bothers you so much, just wait for the next one. Plenty out there.

kalin91 · Nov 23, 2023

Zman4eva
I'm pretty sure the painted ones are how they were originally made. Not every dial has onyx inserts.

Personally, onyx inserts are a nice to have. They wouldn't be a deciding factor for me if everything else looks good (dial, lugs, case, crown, caseback, movement, crystal).

But watches are about the details. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. If it bothers you so much, just wait for the next one. Plenty out there.

It doesn't really bother me from an aesthetic perspective, but didn't know if that is how it came from the factory or someone played with it and affected its originality/authenticity and hence the collectible value.

Omega Constellation - onyx or painted?

kalin91

kalin91

gbesq

Fallout Boy

hoipolloi

Zman4eva

kalin91

Zman4eva

kalin91

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