Dear Forumites, I'm interested in this watch: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/1964-OMEGA-...-Excellent-condition-/232037436189?nav=SEARCHPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network It would nice if some knowledgeable members would chime in to give their opinion on originality and condition. Thanks a lot!
Here's a pic from the auction. I'm interested in the military Seamaster 30 as well. That looks to be an actual service watch. I had just assumed that style dial was always a redial. Curious to what others will say. I would love to find one of these.
I don't think the watch is worth that much. I've read that the black dial ones like posted (from Omega) fetch twice as much as the regular dials. That's about $1,000 if it's in good condition. Of course that's if you can find one.. The watch in question is a Pakistani service watch. From what I've read these are redials of civilian models. I'm not sure if Omega did the dials or not. There is some collectibility here but there are also questions unanswered. I've never seen that style of hands on any Seamaster 30 so I have no idea if they're original. The questions, price, and case condition make it a pass for me.
I believe that the dial and handset were copasetic. I can't speak about the price, but given where other PAF Omegas have been trading, it was probably reasonable.
if you google omega seamaster 30 PAF you will see pics of other examples with similar hands. Little info on these readily available, but I would think these would have been sourced directly from Omega and not redialled by a third party. Regarding value, not sure, but assuming the watch is authentic and original, then given the PAF provenance and rarity, I would think that GBP 950 was not excessive. I of course stand to be corrected!
Interesting. Now I kind of want one of these. Since they are service watches they shouldn't be that rare right? Most likely just not many for sale because of sentimental reasons?
Yes, service watches, but how many of them still reside in Pakistan where their value may be less appreciated possibly. Here you go: https://meridianaeshop.com/products...-air-force-manual-winding-railmaster-graphics The sister watch to the ebay watch referenced here with consecutive serial numbers..............what are the odds????
I've done some digging online. Interestingly there are 34mm Seamaster 600s that have a 601 movement and the PAF dial labeled "Seamaster 30". Why would Omega do this? I've read that the extracts prove authenticity by showing that these watches were delivered to the Pakistani Air Force. That just proves the movement was delivered. These watches are no doubt authentic service watches but the dials could have been commissioned by the Pakistani Air Force after the fact and this makes more sense to me given the mislabeled names. They certainly had the means. The PAF etchings on the case-backs look a little too inconsistent for Omega. So far I've seen 3 variations of PAF service watches. 1. 35mm Seamaster 30 case with Cal. 286 (no PAF marking on movement) 2. 34mm Seamaster 600 case with Cal. 601 (no PAF marking on movement) 3. Railmaster Case with a dial labeled "Seamaster" with a PAF marked Cal. 286 (I've seen 1 with an unmarked movement) Is this really something Omega would have done? It would make more sense for these to be unbranded dials similar to the WWW watches.
I agree it is somewhat confusing and lacks clear logic when viewed 50 yrs later. I just cannot imagine the PAF having the inclination to order a bunch of watches and then to get a third party to fiddle with them. Makes more sense that they would sign a contract with Omega specifying the watch design they were after. Apparently the Railmaster brand was not liked (I guess understandable), but Seamaster seems no more palatable for an air force to me (would have thought Speedmaster would have been the logical choice). No, the Extract describes model, caliber, movement #, dial type, production date and delivery location, so an extract for one of these PAF 30's should authenticate the whole watch, not just the movement (see example below). I have read in two places that The '30' refers to depth of waterprrof-ness, or watch diameter. Can you confirm which is correct based on your research? Yes, I have noticed inconsistency in the PAF engravings. Some are much more pronounced than others. Wear and tear?, Polished case? Omega back then seems to have been a bit haphazard in its operations in some regards, so could just be that they farmed the engraving out to a different contractor (if not done in house), or possibly the engraving was done in Pakistan?
Good points. The extract for the Railmaster even mentions the PAF engraving. It would be interesting to see an extract from the Seamaster 30. 30mm refers to the diameter of the movement which is also true for the Cal. 601. It just doesn't make sense to me why the PAF would have requested that branding.
Look what just popped up. http://m.ebay.com/itm/1960s-Vintage...%3A75554a751560a6a8eeee6f8dfff3d9f7%7Ciid%3A1Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
Interesting article - but the article implies that odd parts may have been cobbled together to repair the watches 'during times of emergency' (was Pakistan at war with India in the 1960's), as opposed to cobbled together from spare parts in the Omega factory. Watchmakers repairing the watches with whatever parts that were available in Pakistan kinda makes sense re. the variety of different hands observed.
This seems like a good deal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-P-A-F...706590?hash=item3f6869d79e:g:2g0AAOSw9NdXqJxZPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
There is certainly commonality across batches of these seamaster 30s. Having recently acquired a few and looking at others on the net, I will try to classify them according to case and hand variations. As for the seamaster/railmasters and ranchero/seamasters, these were done officially by Omega for the PAF.