I've noticed there seems to be a lot of 1940s Omegas with pristine silver/mirror finish dials. Some of these are obvious redials but I've seen many described as authentic dials as they show minor signs of wear. Just curious if anyone has any information or history on the source of these dials? A while ago I purchased one off ebay and can attest to the quality of the dial. I've since decided not to use it but I'm still curious as I've seen quite a few in different styles. Knowing these dials are out there how is it possible to tell if a watch is original or if it's had a dial replacement some 20-30 years ago? Has anyone sent a 1940s Omega to Bienne? I'd love to compare an authentic NOS dial.
Short answer is that it really isn't possible to know all the variations on these dials. Spare watch parts from the 1940's through the 1960's are a lot more plentiful today than parts for later models. Many of these dials could be spares made under contract to Omega, or they could be very good redials. The skill of the redialing firms back then were a lot better than you think. gatorcpa
Pictures #1 and #5 are redials. I will not comment on the others except to say that the second to last picture is mine and I am very confident the dials are original. Here is the center one.