Hi All, I am new to this. I was bought this as a gift. They thought it looked different. It was bought from a repeatable jewelers in Manchester - Aruther Kay & Brothers. I assume the face has been changed. Apparently it was bought in an auction. They changed the strap as it was old. They put a bright one on it but it looked a bit much so a brown one one on it. I like that it looks different however i would like to know if its real. I have tried to find the watch on google but i cant even find the same shape/style. All the motions work and the date time work smoothly. Anyway has anyone any idea how old it is and if it looks legitimate.
Hello and welcome here on OF. The Watch looks like a badly Redialed Ref.166.0188 with a Cal.1022 with replaced Hands.
While the watch appears to be genuine the dial has been refinished in a color never offered by Omega. If you like it wear and enjoy it.
Thanks for the comments. I have mixed feelings. I thought the colour must have been changed however that was what I actually liked "different" albeit that might not be a good different. Again forgive me for my naive approach to this so does this make it fake or just over played with and worthless? So is it a 1970's watch? Does it hold any value for being different haha or is that stupid?
It’s genuine but the dials been repainted. kinda like getting a vintage Porsche and crudely spray painting it lime green in your garage.
Thanks for your comments it’s genuinely appreciated. I guess from obvious limited knowledge I wanted to know if it was a fake in the first instance. Positive taken is it isn’t which I thought was the case. Negative being for the purest if that’s a term in watches is that it’s been pissed about with for want of better terms. I guess I knew it had been done to maybe someone’s taste or to make it different. So I guess I’m good with that as it’s a gift it’s different and I like this fact. Yes it’s not an original colour but I can like with that. I am just going to tell people it’s from the 60s 70s and George best got it re-worked because of the colour Thanks guys I know it doesn’t fit into the category or natural collectors beauty however I like it’s one off and it’s original and authentic is it’s own way so all good. I’ll be wearing it as George did thanks for the direct comments and appreciate all the feedback albeit mixed.
Sadly the Value is rather limited. The Reference is from a period that wasn't the best for Omega so there is little demand for it. The redial reduces the Value even more, on eBay you would probably get around 200$. You should just wear the Watch and enjoy it, the 95% of people wouldn't care about those details we collector find so important.
Congratulations, you've just paid your first installment of 'newbie tax'! Most of us have paid more than our fair share as we got into watch collecting. Like you, many people join the forum to ask about their first vintage watch and get some bad news. If you have a real interest in watches, I encourage you to stick around. There's a lot to learn here that can help you make more informed purchases in the future. But, as others have said - don't worry about it too much if you enjoy the watch. That's the most important part.
It was a thoughtful gift, and it’s only useful for you to know the value so that you can make an informed decision when the day comes that it needs a repair. Enjoy the heck out of it until then.
Funnily enough, I came across this yesterday, dial looks a similar colour. The lume pips behind the markers (some not centred, others missing) make this look more like a Vostok Komandierskie than an Omega...