Hello Everyone, I recently came across this watch on a Polish auction site and could not resist the urge to buy it here It is only after that I started having doubts. It's a 562 werk and the watch has supposedly been made in 1959. It's the part where it says that the case of the watch is "entirely made of stainless steel and 14K gold" that troubles me, it does not say it's gold plated. Also there is no Omega logo on the glass.. Can any of you adivce if the watch is genuine or not and if it's worh 500 Euros? If not, do you think I have ground for returning it? Thank you in advance!
I suspect that this might be a redial...the "Omega" printed on the dial looks a little off, especially the "G." Others will chime in with their opinions as well so hang on a bit for more input.
I am fairly sure it is not an out and out fake. The crystal (glass) may have been changed and replaced with a non Omega part, changing the crystal is normal and acceptable though an Omega replacement is preferable. The movement looks to be in nice condition, I am not sure if the dial has been repainted or not. Someone will be along soon to confirm one way or the other. The second hand also looks to be a different colour so this may be a replacement and the case does look to have been polished. I have no idea on whether or not the price is reasonable.
Thanks for your input, much appreciated! The more I look at the pictures, the more worried I become..
As for the hands, the description clearly states "original, golden Dauphine type hands", it can of course be BS, but maybe there's a slight chance that they appear as different coloured because of the light direction?
Yeah, I agree I thought the pictures were very good at making the watch look nice but not great for detail though it may just be my tired old eyes, as well as a lack of knowledge....
No worries mate, I am not an expert myself, far from it. Otherwise I would not be in the position I am now Your input is still appreciated!
The watch is quite genuine and appears to be in good condition. The dial does appear to have been refinished, as noted by Hijak, the fonts don't look quite right, although its not a bad job. Serial number dates to ca 1960 and is correct for the case. These are what is called a gold capped case, stainless steel with a heavy layer of solid gold fused to it, much thicker than gold plating.
X350 XJR, thank you for your reply and for lifting my mood a little bit after starting to think more and more that I've been ripped off. Means a lot! Not that this changes anything at the moment, but in your professional opinion, do you think the watch was worth its price?
Yep, redial for sure. Owned a few 14.70x Seamasters and Genèves over the years, and that's definitely the wrong fonts. What was the price in US $, €, and/or £?
I wouldn't say you were ripped off, but you did pay a little bit more than a redial would bring on an open auction. Most of us have done WAY worse if we went on our own for our first vintage Omega purchase.
Thanks, I really thought a LOT before bidding, but apparently I could have figured out that maybe asking somebody who is much more qualified than myself in making an assessment like this beforehand would be a good idea..
It's a very posh looking watch. And the pictures are very well taken to show it off to advantage. Believe me, you could have done far, far worse. Will you keep the bracelet, or change it for a leather strap?
The watch is still not in my possession, I am expecting it to arrive within the next 2-3 days & I have not made up my mind yet. It is supposed to come with an additional leather strap as well and I am not expecting the leather strap to come with an Omega buckle that would for sure look killer with it. I am yet to make up my mind about this, but I am leaning towards leaving the bracelet option, I think it's a good combo!
For some reason this sounds like bragging, but it's more embarassment: I think I have the "Dumbest n00b Purchase" category sewn up. At least for somebody who stayed with the hobby. Here's the link inside a thread about first vintage Omegas: http://omegaforums.net/threads/post-your-1st-vintage-omega.4040/#post-46633
Wow, now that's an instant smile-raiser I think it would be really hard (but still not impossible) to top that! Because of all of you I already am at least 2 times smarter than I was a few hours ago in regard to Omega watches and for this I want to say thank you. I am definitely not going to get discouraged by my first purchase, might not be 100% what I signed up for, but it just motivates me - as you said it's not a disaster. On that note, if any of you guys ever come across an original dial that I could use a replacement to make my Seamaster a bit more complete, I would more than appreciate any tips!!