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  1. Leviandtommy2006 Jun 13, 2019

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    I am looking for a Seamaster Big Blue to add to my vintage Omega collection.
    I have a private seller who has offered this example to me. No repair history. Looks pretty good. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated - I am not that familiar with the big blue, so I haven’t seen enough models to compare. If anything jumps out as questionable would be helpful to know. Thank you.
     
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  2. JanV Jun 13, 2019

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    Do you have any additional pictures of the watch, especially of the case and it’s condition and of the movement? What numbers do you see on the stamped on the bracelet?

    Just looking at this one picture it looks to be all original, with it’s tritium dial and hands, bezel, inner bezel and bracelet. The original blue dial starts to degrade like in the picture and could continue to degrade further in time. I would want to see the serial and the condition of the movement as usually the dial degradation starts from water entering the movement.

    Here are two pictures for comparison of my all original Big Blues, one in mint condition and one with the dial degradation.
     
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  3. Andy K Dreaming about winning an OFfie one day. Jun 13, 2019

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    +1. I see no obvious red flags but that single photo tells very little about the case and nothing about the movement. The condition and originality of the parts not shown could change the value by several thousand dollars.
     
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  4. chunkythebulldog Jun 13, 2019

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    Dibs on that bad boy, absolute beauty.
     
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  5. Leviandtommy2006 Jun 13, 2019

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    Thank you for the quick comments. Here are more pictures. Serial number on movement seems to be consistent with the production run. Slight marks on the case indicate some normal wear (i like pieces gently used and lived in)...
     
    751AB76F-674D-4B85-B6CA-B9B1E99B0D9D.jpeg 504B92CF-1BAA-46E4-8F93-9D3E7281332D.jpeg 73878483-1A60-40DC-B43C-6B5C11CFD8A3.jpeg D9B68132-A25B-4C4B-A1C6-A9616FC225F0.jpeg 8A6AF7F3-29A7-46E5-9069-5BA1E60D722A.jpeg 9081B0C5-B29E-4D50-84CC-6BCA916AEF1D.jpeg 93B0907C-5D40-484D-9B7E-47F42E79B684.jpeg 7D29D7C2-9E4D-4CBD-B672-3FC5E17333D9.jpeg CD9B47DC-E82E-47F7-9059-50716F83C80C.jpeg
  6. JanV Jun 13, 2019

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    Case looks to be in good order, nothing unexpected with small dings as it’s quite big block and will get hits now and then.

    The rotor on the movement seems to be a service one, with an serial stamped to it afterwards. I post a picture of an original rotor below.

    Bracelet is stamped (11), original reference to the watch and the dial looks better in the last picture, with the known dial degradation, but not in a bad state at all.

    So an all proper watch in my opinion. About the rotor being service with an after stamped serial, if it has any impact on value, someone else can chime in their opinion.
     
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  7. Boss77 Jun 13, 2019

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    [QUOTE="as it’s quite big block and will get hits now and then.[/QUOTE]

    Definitely a big block - I saw one in person last year and the pictures don't do it justice.
     
  8. Andy K Dreaming about winning an OFfie one day. Jun 13, 2019

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    I personally would pay more for an original rotor (and therefore I'd pay less for a service one), but I honestly don't know if the rest of the market feels similarly. From my observations sellers don't seem to feel the same and tend to put high asking prices on these regardless of originality.
     
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  9. Leviandtommy2006 Jun 13, 2019

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    Jan V - great observation and comment. Do you think that the replaced rotor indicates a rebuilt movement? Or not necessarily so?
     
  10. Poday Jun 13, 2019

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    Is anyone else feeling strange about the bezel here? The font seems way too thin and doesn’t look right at all to me.
     
  11. JanV Jun 13, 2019

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    The bezel looks fine to me, have seen them with thin (rarer) and bolder numbers. The ones where the font is different and are way bigger than these are service bezels.
     
  12. JanV Jun 13, 2019

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    Not necessarily, but could indicate it. At least the serial on the rotor should match an Extract of the Archives for me not to be so much worried. A service rotor in my opinion also would affect the value a bit, but how much I can’t say, that is up to the buyer to decide. But as AndyK already mentioned, I would feel safer to buy with a original rotor as long as this is also confirmed with an EoA.
     
  13. Poday Jun 13, 2019

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    Good to know! Thanks for the insight.
     
  14. JanV Jun 14, 2019

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    By the way, the second watch I posted (the one with the small dial degradation) is for sale at my watchmaker, its his now, and its with a confirmed EoA sold new in Finland in 1974.