Dear forum, I am hoping to purchase my very first vintage seamaster as excited as I am, I am also cautious and have learned a lot through reading threads on here and asking you kind bunch for advise! I have been messaging someone via this forum and am hoping to meet in London on Tuesday. They have been informative and responsive so I am hoping to purchase the below seamaster and just wanted to reach out for any thoughts; https://omegaforums.net/threads/fs-...l-watch-in-mint-condition-ref-166-003.106335/ Many thanks in advance as always Dave
The case has been polished and if it was recently serviced the regulator shouldn't be missing it's adjustment screw (really not a good thing). Far from mint, maybe a $450-$500 watch.
I would look further. As mentioned (very good observation) the adjustment screw is missing. And the condition "mint" is a false declaration of the watch. The price in that condition is way to high.
The dial is nice, but personally, the condition of the case would put me off. If you don't care so much about an over-polished case, you should still only consider this watch at a substantially reduced price, and as mentioned above, it will need repairs. If it has truly been serviced recently, perhaps it is still under warranty, and the seller can have it repaired and tested. Without the regulator screw, it seems extremely unlikely that it has been adjusted to keep good time.
Hi all, As always thanks so much for your thoughts and comments. It is so valuable being able to reach out to you guys and get your expert opinions. Looks like I have had a lucky escape here. Phew. Best wishes Dave
The good news is that: (1) an excellent vintage Seamaster is well within your ~$900 budget, and (2) similar watches come up on the private sales forum quite often.
Even when accurate, they are not always very appealing, such as this absolutely hideous "professional" redial. https://omegaforums.net/threads/pri...r-automatic-18k-gold-watch-ref-2627-sc.96246/
I will admit I do not look at that seller's FS ads. The descriptions and claims abut condition are somewhat mystical in my mind. I sent a note once about an obviously glaring issue, and the response was his watchmaker told him it was all original so he was sticking with that. The phrase 'tarted up' pops into my head whenever I stumble across one on Watchrecon.
If one pays to have a dial refinished, I guess you could legally say "professionally refinished". If mint is claimed, it had better damn well be in an unopened box (at least he didn't say "minty").
The biggest mystery to me is why he deals via the Private subforum. It gives the impression of a vetted collector who occasionally sells, which does not appear to be the case.
Morning all, I wanted to reach out to thank all of you on here that gave me sterling advice! If it wasn't for this Forum and you kind people I probably would have bought something that wasn't right for what I was looking for! I am thrilled to say I have purchased a Seamaster that I am over the moon with from someone on the forum that was brillliant, full of advice and got me to reach out to others on here to validate the watch was sound, un-polished and a good price! This Forum really is excellent! Cheers, Dave