Omega Seamaster 166.003, a Speed(y) auction!

Hi Forums Friends!

I do hope everybody has had a lovely weekend?
This weekend I only had one auction to focus on (Post on that one will certainly come…😉)!

Sunday evening was to be held together with my family and my brothers' to celebrate Mother's Day.
So I was sitting in my car and waiting for my wife to get ready (for the hundredth time....!!).

And as usual, I checked on my phone for some fun stuff.
Out of the blue, I found this watch on an auction, and its not a watch that I have been looking for.
But zooming in on the pictures I started to like it, and one of my many stupid ideas is a birthday watch…

The auction was going to end in about 4 minutes, so I had no time at all to do any research, contacting the auctionhouse, read any posts here on the forum or do a post asking for help….
There had been lots of bids during the last day of the auction, so there was plenty of interest in the watch...

I do know that many here are passionate about this reference/references,
and I have understood that it's a jungle out the with many different variations.
But I really liked the watch, and the case had facet lines and edges that were nice,
there was a small dent on one of the lugs,
but the overall impression was pleasing.


So I had to decide what to do, and here is how it played out…

15:41: I found the watch
15:44: wife entered the car and started chatting about some crap that I didn't listen to
15:45: tried to hide my phone, with the screen showing the auction (not so smart...)
15:46: pressed the bid button while driving (not so smart…)
15:46: a counter bid came from a person who must have wanted the watch since he had done most of the bids from the start
15:47: pressed the bid button again, still driving (not so smart…)
15:48: held my breath
15:49: the auction ended and I won the biding!!

Since it was Mothers Day, and I really wanted to focus on the right things,
I had to drop my watch thoughts and call it a day.

But now I have had some time to look in to what the fudge I have done…

So here is questiontime:
The serial nr is in the 24 million range, so that would be a 1966.
565 movement
The hands -
most of the ones I have found on the forum and other websites have "swords hands",
I do hope that the one on my watch are also correct?
Swiss Made at the bottom, correct?
No clue about the crown, is it correct?

There is some "dirt" on the dial at one o'clock,
so hopefully, my watchmaker can adress this during the service??
And the "butterfly" look of the dial should be shadows since the patterns change looking at the different
pictures (hopefully)?

What do you Guys think, and what have I done…?
Please comment, and do share some websites regarding this reference?
I would really appreciate your help here, and its always fun to learn new stuff!

Thanks in advance!

Very nice, the 166.003 is one of my favorite Seamaster references, you’ve got the Cal 565 movement and the case has this detail in the faceted lugs that makes it more interesting than the vast majority of its peers. Dial and hands are identical to those I’ve seen on other 166.003’s and are actually among my favorites being non-luminous. The crown is wrong but not a big deal given the condition of the rest of the watch.

Wow, thanks for the nice comment and a really quick reply!
Much appreciated!

I have had some more time to look at the pictures,
and I found a watchmakers mark, but also that the case has a CB stamp - is this the same company that did the Speedmaster 105.012-66 (CB)?
The stamp looks just the same..

Yea CB made a lot of Omega cases for a broad range of watches including a lot of Seamaster variants like the 166.003 and 166.010

Nice pick up. I also like the 166.003’s and their no date counterparts and the case on this one looks really sharp.

The hands are certainly correct for the non lume version and I also think the crown is correct for the earlier versions of this watch

Hi there mate!

And thanks for your answer, I had a thought about reaching out to you before the auction, since I know your wisdom...😀
But with 4 minutes to decide...🤦??

I will post more pictures once I have the watch in my hands.

Take care!

What did you pay, so we can really give you a good or bad buy thumbs up..

You have 👍 for condition…..

Considering the condition I think it’s fine price wise, it looks great for sure

Well thanks!

Somebody was faster than me regarding the price!!😁

990 € / 1060 $ with the premium.

Hehehe... thanks mate!

Did you follow the auction??

Phweeewww, for I while there, I thought you were the under bidder.😗

But you are darn fast!

These are perfect dress watches. Enjoy

I think the OP likes the action! Very nice watch enjoy

That auction house premium is insane, but even with that you’re still paying a lot less than a lot of dealers will mark up those pieces to. If its a decent watch I don’t mind overpaying by a bit if you enjoy it, this one isn’t criminally overpriced, just a criminal buyer’s premium.