Seamaster 168.022 / 166.028 Orange Seconds Hand - A Thread

No need to apologize, thanks for sharing it. I saw this as well and thought about creating a place for a discussion on it. Rather than creating another thread, this is as good a place as any. Posting the photo from the listing for others to see it. Also, thanks to @dsio for finding this one and for posting all the others that you post in the Recommended Vintage Omega Watches on eBay Thread!


DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with the seller or the watch, nor am I interested in purchasing it myself, I just have a soft spot for these Concentric Circles Dial with orange seconds and black hour/minute hands Seamaster references and thought it could be a fun discussion. I've only thought of sharing my observations in the hopes of providing assistance to any would be interested buyer.

I'm in no way an expert on these Seamaster ref. 166.028 but after adding two of these Concentric Circles Dial with orange seconds Seamasters to my collection and spending a significant amount of time scavenging the internet for these, I noticed a couple things on the example that was posted over in the above linked thread and after @b-lilja posted, I thought I'd share some thoughts / open it up for discussion.

Let's start off with as they say, the good. Case appears to be in a well worn conditioned, agreed that the watch has definitely had a life with some small knicks here and there but over all pretty decent. Brushing on the side of the case appears to still be visible. Correct crown looks to be there as well just again in well enjoyed condition.


From the style of the signed Omega symbol in the crystal, it looks to be a replacement at some point but it appears to be in good condition, so no red flags there. See last image regarding the arrow. The dial and markings appear to be in really good condition as well as the applied Omega logo adjacent to the 12 o'clock position.


The movement is definitely in need of a servicing but apart from some rotor rub, there isn't anything there that would hold me back if I was in search for one of these.


While the watch appears to be in a well enjoyed, honest condition what made me pause was the lume plots and the hour minute hand lume. I couldn't say with certainty that the dial and hands have been relumed, but I also wouldn't say I'm sure it's original . With the Magenta arrows, I've pointed out a few plots that are the most irregular in shape/size/placement compared to what I've seen in the past. The size is usually uniform other than 12 o'clock position lume and the plots are typically centered on the indexes. Additionally the lume at the both the minute and the hour hands looks to have an uneven application. Lastly, the color of the tritium lume appears more on the white side which differs significantly to the other examples I have seen with original lume that tend to patina to a more rich creamy yellow (this could just be due to the lighting of the photos). It should be noted that the seller makes to statement to or against the watch being relumed.

That said, from what I've seen on many references and true of one of mine, the lume on these hands and even the lume plots on the dial have a knack for falling off / out of placement. So a relumed watch may not uncommon for this reference and that also may be a deal breaker for a potential buyer but I figured it was worth noting.

I wonder though, what do you all think of this example? Did anyone notice anything else?

Congrats on the purchase! There is a list somewhere here on a thread that lists out all the vintage case references and the correct crown replacement part number. I think it’s a crown, gasket, crystal list. I have the link bookmarked on my personal laptop but I’m abroad for work now so don’t have it easy to reach. A quick google search associated to the forum will find it pretty quickly.

Chronometre and Non-Chronometre share absolutely the same case... so no worry

Maybe because those were the endlinks provided with those references. But as noted above, they are interchangeable.