I bought this Ranchero ~ 8 years ago on eBay. Back then it was clearly an ugly stepsister to some of the other vintage Omega lines, and not particularly sought after by collectors. I paid $900. The original sticker was still on the case back, it was in superb condition, and I assumed it was all original. I have since learned otherwise.


Here is what I think:
1) Case, movement, and dial are clearly correct.
2) Crown and sub-second hand are clearly not correct.
3) Hour and minutes hands?? Aging of lume matches the hour markers perfectly. I think they are correct, but others are not so sure and think they could be new reproductions.
My question: how did we get here? If this watch were listed today, I would assume it was a kind of "WatchCo Put Together" being sold by a shady seller to make some real bucks. But eight years ago, and with the price I paid, was it really worth the effort? In addition, were "repro hands" available back then? I am truly puzzled.

Opinions please.

 

Repo hands have been made for awhile. I think out of Germany, but luminous always looked new and sold as NOS hands. If someone was selling and needed to match the luminous. I'm sure there are ways to age new to look old.

Example is ivory. To make new look old. Dip it in tea (so I read in the Lovejoy mystery books)

Take a new hand and dip it tea could give a quick age to it once dry

Do the hands have any marks to show they may have been handled a number of times or clean of any marks?

Only way to find out if it was put together is to email Omega with s/n and ref. number to see if they match

DON

 

If original, thoose hands would be radioactive from radium, as would the markers. Have the hands removed, and away from the dial, you would be able to confirm that with a geigermeter.

 

I agree with your assessment about the sub seconds and and the crown.
Do you have a frontal picture of the watch?

 

Not surprisingly, I don't have a geigermeter handy.
Should they luminesce after a bit under high beam light?

 

No, the lume would be long gone from those hands and dial, burned away by the radiation from the radium.
Old tritium watches should light up briefly after exposure to light.

 

Any idea if the reproduction hands would lume?

 

And I get that you COULD artificially "age" the repro hands, and I can see what one would do that for a Speedie 2915, but why do it on a $900 watch??

 

It's not a $900 watch anymore (though I get that it was when you bought it)

 

Yes replacement/servuce hands could glow briefly if they're tritium and thus not original.

 

These hands look more “fat” and flat than the correct ones to me, and the center pin is different.

 

Hands, not dial, glows for ~ 10 minutes after exposing to bright light. I would assume this means hands are NOT original to watch?

 

Ten minutes?! I would say they were replaced within the last 20 years or so. Certainly not original.