Redial or Franken? Seamaster De Ville

Hi OF Family!

I’ve been a longtime Omega enthusiast but couldn’t add any of those beauties to my watch collection. I’ve finally begun doing so.

To cut to the chase, I’m now in a bargain for an 18k solid gold case Omega Seamaster De Ville manual winding watch, for which the seller asks USD 1100. I’m wondering, considering my concerns below, do you think that this would be a good deal?

To begin with, please find the photos of the watch here.


I believe that the watch is overall in pretty good condition and has original parts including the case, the crown, the calibre, the crystal glass (incl. little Omega sign in the centre); however, I’m worried about the following matters:

1. I’m 99% sure that it’s a redial (see pictures). The sans serif font used for “Omega” on top and the way “Seamaster” and “De Ville” are written under the centre are typically “unique” to this one. Note the lack of any space between “S” and “eamaster” and the steep angle of the italic Seamaster writing. Plus, never saw a De Ville written as simple as this one. And I don’t even mention “Swiss Made” being over the Seconds circle. The way the Omega logo, hour bezels and seconds look didn’t bother me that much, though.

2. Other than that the watch has a little rounded edges compared with its peers in the market.

3. Last but not least, do you think that it could actually be a Frankenwatch, given that it has a case number of 135.020 and a 600 cal with a serial number of 18xxxxxx (pointing to 1961)?

According to this informative thread on the forum, considering the case number and 600 cal, the watch should be an Omega Seamaster De Ville and not a Seamaster (with cliffhanger S). And Ranfft suggests that 600 was used between 1960-1964. I was suspicious because Omega website only matches Seamaster De Ville model that doesn’t look like the one I’m considering but as written in the thread I mentioned above, it may be the case that Seamaster watch has later on been produced with De Ville sign.


All in all, I believe that the watch is a redial rather than Franken. What do you guys think?

And what are your thoughts on the bargain I got? What about buying it for this price and changing the dial with an original one?

Do let me know if you need any further clarification or encounter any issues with hyperlinks!

I'm amazed by your quick verdict guys, thanks! Oh man, I knew I belonged in this forum all along 😀


So I assume that you don't see this as a good deal, despite the watch being authentic except for the dial? Is a redial almost always a no-go?

Thank you so much @redpcar and @JwRosenthal ! I'm not planning to buy it to resell afterwards, just looking to buy one to collect for myself but your statement perfectly stands for my demand, too. I don't want to look at my wrist with a regret each time so I will skip this one. I'll stick to rather fully genuine timepieces. Let's hope for better bargains in the future!

You mean the way it's pretty round and worn out?

In the future, help us help you by posting photos rather than links. You're fortunate that @redpcar was in a generous mood today.

Oh dear, I do want my first genuine Omega so bad! But at the same time, I think I'm familiar with the basics of collecting so, yes, absolutely, I will be patient and watching out. My motto with buying vintage watches is that "don't get on the train unless you're not sure that it's the right one" so I'd rather missing this one and wait 😀

Sure, I know the engagement rules on pics 😀 but I wanted to be discreet as the seller sent those pics to me in private and didn't publish them online. I just didn't want our little conversation to affect the bargaining but I'm glad to learn the customs here so I will surely post the pics through the forum next time. Btw some links had more content than pics in them so I deliberately sent them as hyperlinks.

@Winston_Smith I just want to say I appreciate the research you've done in advance as well as your passion for Omegas, which is very evident in this thread. They made so many of these watches that you will find a good one soon enough, and I think more watches will be coming to market shortly with the economy the way it is.
I'd like to ask if this is the type of Omega you're specifically seeking for your first, or what's your preferred watch(es)? If we know what you'd really like to have maybe somebody can help point you in the right direction. We love helping people become Omega owners.

@OmegaP99 thank you for your encouraging words! I don't simply want to be a sparking enthusiast asking for one-time advice from experienced collectors like you guys. I think it's always good to dig in and give back to the community while learning from it at the same time 😉

Re watch preferences, as I'm quite a novice, I'm currently looking for interesting deals up to $1500. By interesting, I mean good value for money and watches I can wear but also can see as good investments. Personally, I'd rather round deal gold or gold plated watches than rectangular or other shapes; but can't exclude all or partly stainless steel models either. For all these reasons, I've been chasing some of the 1960s-,70s Seamasters, and find Seamaster De Ville collection quite delightful. Also, Geneve's from 60s are appealing to me, too. As a notable exception, I must surely mention round-gold types in the Constellation line, but they are likely to be in excess of my current budget. I'm looking at watches with both automatic and mechanical movements.

Always open to suggestions!