Ref. 2648 Constellations - different case styles?

Hello, fellow nerds 😀

I was scrolling though OF pictures for some inspiration regarding strap choices for my 2648, when I noticed different cases (or rather lug) styles. Why I haven’t before is beyond me…
While most examples have rounded, tapering lugs, mine has much more defined ones, which can’t be due to polishing, obviously. Here’s a comparison of my example vs the lug of the picture in the Omega vintage archives:


And a full picture of both:


There’s another noticeable difference on the lugs - a picture of the stunning example @cristos71 sold here earlier this year, I hope you don’t mind the comparison:


Nevermind the crown, but there are no spring bar holes in my example.

Searching through google it took me a while to find another example with those fatter, hole-less lugs, but I did, albeit in much smaller quantities. Was there a change in case style at some point that we know about? The other watches I found with the same style were not that close in serial, ~500.000 apart. Serial starts with 1319…


I was also wondering if this might be something like a service / replacement case or, lord behold, a case from a different ref combined with the correct case back? I hope it’s legit, but is it “original”, eg the case this watch might have left the factory in in ~1953/4?

Thanks in advance, looking forward to hearing from our resident Connie experts!

Yours is obviously damaged. You should give it to me. I'll take up the lug issue with Omega on your behalf. 😀

This rings a bell... I think that this subject has been up to debate here before, a fairly long time ago.

Difference in case shapes is not too controversial a subject, for many references it is the norm with a range of shapes.

Coffee mug is filled to the brim, weather is miserable anyway - perfect time to do some more digging here, thanks for the hint. Worst case scenario I'll look at nice 2648s for an hour or two, could be worse.

Yeah, I know - I'm not outright worried, but I'm nerdy enough to feel a desire to know - and where to ask if not here.

Always helpful, Greg. Always helpful. 😁

@MtV I support @gbesq - that watch should be sent for closer examination. I can help for a modest fee 😁

This is my steel 2648 - I am traveling so I cannot take a lateral photo.

Hehe, cheers @felsby - I saw that, should've mentioned that I saw SS examples in those cases, which seem closer to 2652s in terms of shape of the lugs. It's a different story for 18k solid gold ones, though. Still, interesting that there was such a variety.

As shown by my avatar, I live to serve others. 😀

The 2648 was the first connie reference and IMO omega was trying things out - a huge variety of dial styles and so it’s not surprising that there was some subtle case differences as well. As an example ref. 2648 featured 14k rose gold cases which to my knowledge was not seen again in the constellation line.