Curious to hear why you think the case has been refinished? Does a case refinish include the dial?
The 166.010 and 168.024 most definitely have vertical brushed sides 😀
I’m also really wondering how it is that so many 166.010/168.024 watches sport the thicker crowns if this isn’t the way they left the factory. If the thicker crown is not correct, why would so many have had to be replaced? Was there a high failure rate for the original thin scalloped crown? As I mentioned before, even watches that have seemingly never seen service have the thicker crown.
I’m getting absorbed in finding a correct thin scalloped donor crown for my 166.010 and 168.024 Seamasters, both of which have thicker crowns. The examples in Tamura-san’s photos look to me like two different crowns.
First, the thin crown was discontinued.
Also, changing crystal and crown at every service has been traditional for a long time.
So, perhaps it was discontinued because it was not sufficiently waterproof. We'll never know.
Just to follow up on this, my watchmaker in Tokyo agreed with @SkunkPrince’s observation. He said Omega routinely changed the crown during service and independent watchmakers with Omega accounts followed suit. The original scalloped crown was discontinued and the thicker crowns were seen as an improvement, so at least in Japan, any properly cared-for 166.010/168.024 likely had the original crown replaced during service, whether anything was wrong with it or not. This explains why 166.010 models with the original crown are so scarce/
