Omega Naiad Medicus - 6B/159

Afternoon/Evening/Morning All!

I (hopefully) have something of interest.I have been lurking here for quite a while - I spend most of my time over at the MWR Forum, Smiths section generally (as no doubt some of you here will know). Apologies if this is somewhat boring...

So then, to the watch! A while ago I spotted a nice bundle with a 1960s Omega automatic, an interesting Bravingtons and a few others - after a closer look I spotted another Omega amongst them with a 6B/159 engraving (6B/159 mentioned but nothing about RAF etc. and didn't appear to be sold to deceive). I made an offer equating to around what the Omega Automatic and other watches could be moved on for which was accepted.

Whilst waiting for them to arrive I started to see if I could find any similar watches and found the one over at 'finest-hour' - https://finest-hour.co.uk/product/omega-naiad-medicus-raf-6b-159/

As well as the above I found a discussion about the 'finest-hour' watch on MWR and the conclusion was that most if not all thought it was somewhat dodgy, particulary as the extract stated delivery to Taiwan which was under Japanese rule at the time (oh and also no AM engraved on the caseback). I asked the seller a few questions and apparently the watches had belonged to an elderly relative and had been passed on to other family members.

Once the watches arrived it was obvious that it hadn't been cleaned in a long time (see photos below) and the engraving was somewhat similar to other British military watches that I own and have seen online (certainly not sandblasted, laser engraved etc.). I moved the Omega automatic on and used some of the money to order an Extract - just over 3 weeks later it arrived, production date the day after the 'finest-hour' watch and this time delivered to Thailand (who joined on the side of Japan in December 1941).

After a little more digging I found another 6B/159 Naiad in a forum posting from 10 years ago - this time with a dial similar to the 'finest-hour' watch (apologies if the link isn't allowed):

https://www.watchprosite.com/omega/...el-with-interesting-dial-/677.690618.4436773/

Which leads me to caseback numbers, mine being 9963384 and the 'finest-hour' watch being 9963340, rather close together - the other that I found above has the caseback number 9963341! This could just be one heck of a coincidence however those numbers being so close to each other and having the 6B/159 engraving almost looks like a batch delivery to the same place rather than separately to Taiwan & Thailand.

Is it possible that these watches were marked for the Far East but diverted 'elsewhere'? Many fakes, Frankens and other watches that have been messed with are out there (sadly) including those purporting to be of military heritage - when I first saw the 'finest-hour' watch (and comments) I thought "Uh-Oh! There's something not right there!". I'm still not 100% convinced however with the addition of mine and the other that I found it does make me wonder if these were sent somewhere as an emergency batch or something. Anyway, enough of the boring text - here are some photographs:

Dear Hilts

Congratulations on your latest acquisition and thank you for your post.

We have no concerns regarding the authenticity of the wonderful Omega Naiad we previously sold.

As highly professional and cautious dealers, we carefully appraise and scrutinise all our watches and other items before they are offered for sale. Consequently, the watches we sell are some of the very best examples to be found.

Unfortunately, some people can be too quick to wrongly judge and condemn such an unusual piece.

Vintage military watches often prove not to be an exact science, which is one of the reasons we love doing what we do and why they continue to fascinate us!

We sincerely hope you enjoy your lovely new find and wear it in good health!

Many thanks and regards

Finest Hour

Feel free to bore me with that kind of post each and every day!

Thanks for sharing 😀

Thank you very much for the comments everyone! Now comes the task of seeing if I can find any further examples on that range of case numbers - perhaps a range from 9963340 to 9963390 (excluding the 3 of course). It would be wonderful if Omega could shed some further light on these watches however I'm not sure how far I would get with them.


Thank you for posting, that's great to hear - if possible would you be able to provide any further information on the watch you sold? It would be extremely helpful if you had any information on the original owner (I say owner I mean to whom the watch was issued, even just the Squadron would be handy).

Oh and I'm wearing the watch as I type - currently on an old leather pull-through (although tempted to put it on a Gay Freres ladder/bamboo bracelet).

Dear Hilts

You are more than welcome and congratulations again on your lovely new acquisition.

We acquired our example at a public auction and we have no knowledge of its original owner or service history.

Alas, such pieces seldom come with any real provenance.

Happily, your initial research and subsequent conclusions would seem to concur with our own. Naturally, some further detective work is required. However, we believe this to be very much part of the pleasure of owning such a piece and we trust you enjoy the journey!

Many thanks and regards

Finest Hour

The robot has spoken.