Hi guys,

I recently requested for an extract of the archives and Omega responded with this request (see pic below). Has anyone else experienced this before?

This came as a disappointment to me as I was looking forward to learning about a watch I acquired recently. Thanks in advance!

 

Shame. Got mine for a Speedie only this week. What was the watch?

 

18m serial is pretty old... maybe somewhat understandable?

 

@Norfolk It was for a Speedy as well : (

Yes, its old and understandable. But I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this before?

More importantly, could this possibly mean by movement / Speedy is not original / fake?

 

The archives goes long back, here is one with almost half the number

 

Everyone's allowed to spill a coffee every now and then.

A lot of watch companies have gaps here and there in archives.
Others will give you more on this.

 

This has happened to me a few times, the archives are not totally complete.

 

Post some pics if you're unsure about any part if your watch.

We'll give it a thorough going over!

 

Hi

In my experience , 18mill Speedmaster serial numbers are not available from the Archives.

However , I would take it as a positive....rather than a negative.

Best - Neil

 

Thanks for the replies.. I guess my experience is consistent with some others then?

@Davidt3449 Of course : ) Will post photos as soon as I get down to taking some good, high-res pictures

 

I have heard of a couple archive requests that were refused - but these watches were highly suspect frankens to begin with.

 

@ulackfocus Hmm yeah that's what I am worried about. But any idea how Omega would know these watches are fraken to begin with just by the movement serial number (which is all Omega requests for when you purchase the extract...)?

 

Unavailable archives hit and miss, as it turns out, for various blocks of serial numbers. 15mm and 20mm in my experi(nice).

 

Got it. Thanks very much for the advice guys! Will post pics of the speedy once I get down to taking some good quality photos!

 

Hi Dennis

Sorry , I don't agree with this....Omega aren't refusing the request , they are saying it is not possible to fulfill as it is simply not possible due to the reasons given.

If there was a match on their database then they would simply return that information....which could (I agree) be bad news.

However , in this case no-one can say either way and therefore we will need to judge the Watch on it's other 'qualities'.

Best - Neil

 

Hi Neil.

I wasn't saying the watch in question was definitely a franken, just reporting something interesting that was kind of related to the thread.

..... which is unusual for me since I usually hijack threads completely.

 

Allow me to put the record straight factually regarding Speedmasters of this period, although some on the forum may chose to no agree with me I know 100% that my facts on this matter are correct. Many Speedmasters references 2915, 2998 and 105,002, including a range of 105.003 and indeed numerous cal 33.3 and cal 28.9 Chronographs where made under licence at Lemania.

As such the archives simply do not exist for these watches and as a result and increasingly as the popularity of these models grow collector are going to continue to be frustrated because the extracts do not exist for their watches. This in no way means (although of course there is always a possibility) that they are frankens or have replacement movements it simply mean that in more cases than sadly not these precious watches were not made at the Omega factory but actual under licence by Lemania.

 

@Tom Dick Cool, thanks for that! But wouldn't it be extremely sloppy of Omega to only keep records for their watches produced on their premises but NOT keep records of the watches produced from outsourced partners such as Lemania?

I mean, I know it was the early 1960s but I'm sure they would have proper filing and paperwork already no? Haha.