Hi,

I am trying to buying a vintage Omega. I have attached the pics of the watch.
I Need help with the following:
(1) Originality of the watch
(2) I don't see an omega on the crown, I'm not sure if this version comes with one
(3) There isn't much service history but its working. Is it worth buying without that assurance?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

It’s an authentic Omega that dates back to ~1970 based on the serial number on the movement. It should have a signed crown. Gold plating appears worn but overall the watch seems to be in decent shape. You can likely buy a watch like this on eBay for around $250 USD.

 

Would the lack of the signed crown suggested recrowning or is it possible that it might not be genuine?

 

It's most likely just a replacement crown. For vintage pieces the crystal and crowns are usually the first to go as they receive the most wear and can be easily swapped out.

 

okay, thanks a lot

 

It's a nice example of it's era. The cal 601 movement is a real omega vintage workhorse and it looks like the watch has been very well maintained over its life. These are not particularly valuable watches (especially in gold plate) but yours has fared much better than most. These are pretty common watches. I've seen them go for as low as 150 USD in the last 12 months. You can go to ebay and check what these have been selling for , but I personally wouldn't pay much more than 300 USD for it.

 

Just to reinforce the good sense posted above, my take:

It’s one of the multitude of 041 cased Geneve models from the turn of the 1970s. The gold plate makes it a not particularly desirable variant of a not hugely desirable model in unknown condition. Unless you have a cheap watchmaker on stand by I would give it a miss. There is every chance it will cost you at least £150/$200 to get it working properly and then you will have a watch worth about £150/$200. Any plating damage or deep case scratches can’t be repaired or improved by any means. See the problem?

I like the 041 design and have had a few but they aren’t a beginner level choice, unless purchased for peanuts or mint and already serviced.

 

The watchmaker's marks indicate it's had at least some service, sometime during its life, and that's better than if it never had any. It probably needs a service now, but at least might not have been run with dry lubrication for years and years. If you don't mind the plating partially showing through, it could be a satisfactory daily beater sort of watch for not very much money.

Ask your watchmaker how much a service would cost.

 

All of the above. It is not hard to find one of these in excellent original condition for not much money. Forget finding a bargain, focus on finding a beauty.