Purchase advice - 1966 Constellation 18k

mmurran · Sep 25, 2022

Hi

New to the forum and omegas. Have an opportunity to purchase to this 1966 Constellation for circa €3k and would like to pick the collective brains of the forum members.

Very clean example and serial number checks out. Not 100% on the dial. I see some 18k examples have OM on dail, though maybe only french versions and whether the batons are the correct (Onyx inlaid). Also not sure if the bezel would have been polished or the coin style as I have seen on a lot of Constellations. Also can't seem to confirm whether crown is original to watch though omega stamped.

Thanks I'm advance!

Peemacgee · Sep 25, 2022

Welcome @mmurran

not all 18k constellations are ‘de luxe’ and have gold dials.

IIRC This c-case is called ‘jet line’
The dial looks correct.
The case has seen some polishing - the edge facets are slightly soft and the bezel is rounded.
The case may have been ‘Re-grained’ as the graining looks heavy.

Our resident c-case obsessive @kaplan will no doubt give you some greater insights.

Bruce235 · Sep 25, 2022

Question: how do you know its 18k gold? I can't make out any hallmarks on the back. I'm trying to learn this stuff.

Peemacgee · Sep 25, 2022

Bruce235
Question: how do you know its 18k gold? I can't make out any hallmarks on the back. I'm trying to learn this stuff.

Bruce235 · Sep 25, 2022

Peemacgee

Thanks! Pic was too blurry on my phone

malilis · Sep 25, 2022

Hi ! Seems to be a nice watch .. but so expensive .. no?

Kapka · Sep 25, 2022

Agree with above. 3k is quite steep for C-shaped connie in my opinion.

mahomes · Sep 25, 2022

Not worth 3k, could be bought for 2.4k or even less.

Davidt · Sep 25, 2022

Agree that surely isn’t a 3k watch.

mmurran · Sep 25, 2022

Thanks all for your replies so far. Exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping spark.

Working my way through Desmond's useful essays at the moment (do you know if he or anyone else have compiled these?). They are such a fantastic resource, as is this forum!

On further reflection the observatory on the case back is missing the brick work and given how defined the stars are this would suggest this
hasn't just been polished out over time.

I think this might be a case of back to the drawing board...

kaplan · Sep 25, 2022

I think @Peemacgee covered it all

Only some later/modern solid gold C-Case's have the coin bezels, and it's a different pattern than the fine steel ones, or knurled ones, it's a in between pattern - TL;DR: The bezel is ok, it should be flat for this year

The dial is a special dial, if you look at the Omega logo, it doesn't have flat feet, it rather has curved feet, and I don't recall seeing OM on early dials, they are normally solid gold inside solid gold watches, there's really no consistency though, and no guarantee that someone didn't swap it

Basically anything goes with C-Case's, and 1966 to 1967 was a very hyper paced year, so the crown could be original as well, a side photo would tell whether it's a newer C-Case crown that could make it into the case, or just a regular Omega crown

The only thing you have to worry about is the edges as @Peemacgee pointed out, the watch was probably worn and the edges were naturally rounded, and it looks refinished, not really a bad thing, looks good, but you might want to request a photo of the side edges, they need to be shiny

Caseback looks good as well

The price is high for the current market, you might not find this specific model fast, but it's possible to pay 30% less for a solid gold C-Case, it's a very good time to buy one, good luck

mmurran · Sep 26, 2022

Thanks @kaplan and @Peemacgee for helpful responses.

I actually found the auction listing of the watch in question from a previous seller (https://www.kaplans.se/en/auktioner/3287/vara/1391883), which has some higher res photos including case sides and crown.

Desmond was kind enough to weigh in and said agreed with the your observations on the case @Peemacgee

mmurran · Oct 7, 2022

Hi all

Hoping to reuse this thread and not create more spam on the forums hopefully someone still monitoring.

My search for a mid 1960s early 1970s gold Connie has continued and I have come across better examples for less money than the one I posted about above. To boot they have even been serviced by Omega recently.

Here lies the problem though. There are no photos of the internals for the watch so I cannot check calibre and case numbers to verify authenticity. The jewellers have said that they cannot open the case back without voiding the Omega warranty.

For what it's worth it seems like a very clean example and the jewellers appear like a well-run legitimate outfit. However I do not think I can justify a purchase without doing full due diligence and can't seem to think of a way around this.

I asked if Omega would have taken pictures and was told typically they would only take a picture of the full watch before service. Is this correct in your experience?

Thanks in advance

Peemacgee · Oct 7, 2022

mmurran
Hi all

Hoping to reuse this thread and not create more spam on the forums hopefully someone still monitoring.

My search for a mid 1960s early 1970s gold Connie has continued and I have come across better examples for less money than the one I posted about above. To boot they have even been serviced by Omega recently.

Here lies the problem though. There are no photos of the internals for the watch so I cannot check calibre and case numbers to verify authenticity. The jewellers have said that they cannot open the case back without voiding the Omega warranty.

For what it's worth it seems like a very clean example and the jewellers appear like a well-run legitimate outfit. However I do not think I can justify a purchase without doing full due diligence and can't seem to think of a way around this.

I asked if Omega would have taken pictures and was told typically they would only take a picture of the full watch before service. Is this correct in your experience?

Thanks in advance

how about pics and price @mmurran ?

Peemacgee · Oct 7, 2022

What happened to the reply?

Dan S · Oct 7, 2022

mmurran
Hi all

Hoping to reuse this thread and not create more spam on the forums hopefully someone still monitoring.

My search for a mid 1960s early 1970s gold Connie has continued and I have come across better examples for less money than the one I posted about above. To boot they have even been serviced by Omega recently.

Here lies the problem though. There are no photos of the internals for the watch so I cannot check calibre and case numbers to verify authenticity. The jewellers have said that they cannot open the case back without voiding the Omega warranty.

For what it's worth it seems like a very clean example and the jewellers appear like a well-run legitimate outfit. However I do not think I can justify a purchase without doing full due diligence and can't seem to think of a way around this.

I asked if Omega would have taken pictures and was told typically they would only take a picture of the full watch before service. Is this correct in your experience?

Thanks in advance

If there is service paperwork from Omega, the watch should be authentic. Not much risk IMO.

mmurran · Oct 7, 2022

Peemacgee
What happened to the reply?

The photos were very blurry for some reason so delteted. Heres the link. https://www.chrono24.co.uk/omega/constellation-vintage-automatic--id25567017.htm

mmurran · Oct 7, 2022

Dan S
If there is service paperwork from Omega, the watch should be authentic. Not much risk IMO.

Am I correct in saying that Rolex won't service inauthentic movements? Is Omega the same?

kaplan · Oct 7, 2022

mmurran
The photos were very blurry for some reason so delteted. Heres the link. https://www.chrono24.co.uk/omega/constellation-vintage-automatic--id25567017.htm

This is a very pristine example and it's been on my Watchlist for quite some time as well, since it's a rose gold it makes the watch very rare, hard to find them in this condition

But at the same time it's just a collectors watch in my opinion, it's too expensive to wear, it's too expensive even to collect, from a collectors perspective it's better to passively buy watches of this nature from eBay for 1/3 of the price

Take my feedback with a grain of salt as the lower the prices the better and if high price watches sell it lifts the market 😀

mmurran · Oct 7, 2022

kaplan

This is a very pristine example and it's been on my Watchlist for quite some time as well, since it's a rose gold it makes the watch very rare, hard to find them in this condition

But at the same time it's just a collectors watch in my opinion, it's too expensive to wear, it's too expensive even to collect, from a collectors perspective it's better to passively buy watches of this nature from eBay for 1/3 of the price

Take my feedback with a grain of salt as the lower the prices the better and if high price watches sell it lifts the market 😀

She's a beaut all right .

Do you think the dail been refinished though (as it is out of MOY) or do you think this is one of the naturally occurring variations?

And in terms of lume did Omega move away from tritium hence lack of Ts beside Swiss Made?

Thanks

Purchase advice - 1966 Constellation 18k

mmurran

Peemacgee

Bruce235

Peemacgee

Bruce235

malilis

Kapka

mahomes

Davidt

mmurran

kaplan

mmurran

mmurran

Peemacgee

Peemacgee

Dan S

mmurran

mmurran

kaplan

mmurran

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