Seamaster 300 165.024 still being advertised by dealers in December 1972

bigtriangle68 · Feb 9, 2026

I found some vintage Seamaster 300 ads run by multiple jewelers in different cities which show this model was still being advertised by authorized dealers as late as December 1972.

When did production of this model stop? The latest dealer ad I found was published in a newspaper on December 14, 1972. I'm wondering how long it took dealers to deplete Omega's inventory.

Advertised price in the USA in December 1972 was $150. Adjusted for inflation, that's only $1,155 in 2025 USD!

sheepdoll · Feb 9, 2026

Did it ever really stop?

If only I knew back in the day. (although I probably would have been just as interested in the shoe on the left. I still like that style when I can find it.)

ErichKeane · Feb 9, 2026

I don't think "being advertised" means "still in production". ADs often end up with stock significantly after the ref has stopped being made. Heck, before it lost their AD status (~2 years ago!), the local AD here was advertising they had 1861 Speedmasters for sale. I could totally see this Jeweler having invested in quite a few of these, and advertising them years afterwards.

Heck, I bought my railmaster advertised as brand-new (with a newly filled out warranty card!) ~5 years after it stopped being produced.

masteroftime · Feb 9, 2026

ErichKeane
I don't think "being advertised" means "still in production". ADs often end up with stock significantly after the ref has stopped being made. Heck, before it lost their AD status (~2 years ago!), the local AD here was advertising they had 1861 Speedmasters for sale. I could totally see this Jeweler having invested in quite a few of these, and advertising them years afterwards.

Heck, I bought my railmaster advertised as brand-new (with a newly filled out warranty card!) ~5 years after it stopped being produced.

Agree with the above. It isn’t unheard of for stores to close down and NOS excess inventory to also sit in a retired jeweler’s basement.

It wasn’t until recently that ADs became more intentional about making sure that warranty cards were filled out. I have a few watches from the early 2000s that were bought from ADs and have blank cards.

Knudsen1971 · Feb 10, 2026

Based on my db, last civil batch of 165.024 was made in Aug1969.
So I can imagite, that those watches were regularly sold in boutiques for few more years, till the empty the stock...

bigtriangle68 · Feb 11, 2026

This image purports to be from a 1972 catalog. It shows the Rolex Submariner 5513 priced at $146.

So in 1972, the Omega 165.024 and Rolex 5513 were apparently priced about the same.

G___ · Feb 14, 2026

So, the short story is that if any of us invent time travel we're going back to buy watches. Great ads, thanks for sharing.