I have an inherited Seamaster, but because of its sentimental value want something else to where, and this black dial looking interesting.

Having read about Omegas for the last few months, my opinion is that it is legitimate. However I do not have enough experience with black dials to know if the dial is a re-dial or not. Can anyone here offer an opinion on:

Whether this is a redial or original?
It is worth the asking price of USD $850?

Cheers.

 

The dial is original. Looks okay for the price, but you'll need to factor in a service so expect to outlay at least $1000 in total for this watch.

Why not just save your money and wear your heirloom piece?

 

I thought about it, but as a daily wearer, I am a bit worried about something happening to it (I often travel to 3rd world countries).

 

Understandable! I probably wouldn't wear an heirloom in situations like that either. Is the price firm or are they open to haggling?

 

Looks nice. Lovely dial. I'm not crazy about the looks of the movement (discoloration), but presumably it can be sorted out with a good service.

 

I suppose what made me wonder is the presence, to my untrained eye, of lume on the dial, but no T in the 'swiss made'. Am I imagining things?

 

Are you sure something like this will be durable enough?

 

This question seems to be asked every day; it's not necessarily a problem. However, the reverse would be an issue, i.e., if the dial said "T" at the bottom, but neither hands nor dial had lume.

 

Excellent point; it might be more of a on-the-shelf kind of watch rather than a wearer.

 

Maybe instead buy the new Seamaster 1948 reissue, Hamilton khaki military manual reissue, the Longines Supercompresser reissue, or the Oris retro diver collection

 

That new Seamaster is gorgeous (dashing off now to investigate!)

 

I'm not so sure the dial is original to the watch. It's certainly an Omega dial of some kind, but might be a service replacement that's aged because of moisture in the watch (as evidenced by the discolored copper plating). Not saying it definitely is, but it would make me wonder.

Anyway, if you want a beater to wear to places you want durability, a vintage bumper is probably not the best bet. Get a Seiko, Citizen, or something more shock resistant and water proof.

 

Well since this is from about 1954 and tritium wasn’t used until 1962, they would have had to have been clairvoyant to think to use T marks. Nice looking watch though, not sure the hand lume fully matches the beige radium dial lume but that is tough to judge on those photos.

 

Good catch. I just got caught out by that on another 50's model I am investigating. Good check to immediately eliminate fakes. That would be a great tool/checklist to have, like the chopped A rule-of-thumb for certain models.