Seamaster Dial Color Change - Late 90's Early 2000's - Looking for Help

[bret.miller]

Hello,

I am new to the Omega Forum and have a Omega Seamaster Professional 300M from between 1998-2001 and was hoping to find some help understanding the value of the watch and what the model reference number may be. I am not sure if this qualifies as vintage being about 20~ years old, but thought this would be a good place to start.

For background, I received this piece as a gift from my grandfather a little more than a year ago. Before then, it had sat fairly untouched for about 10 years in a safe in a non-tropical environment (Pennsylvania). The watch was originally purchased between 1998-2001, but the I haven't been able to confirm the exact purchase date or model year, but my father is confident it was purchased during that time period. I am currently in the process of trying to acquire the box and papers from my grandfather but have not had luck yet, making this process of understanding what this watch is even more difficult. I am unsure of the last time it was serviced, but it was likely not within the last 5-6 years.

I took the watch to a Omega boutique in Boston, MA hoping to get some more answers on the dial color, because I had not been able to find anything similar to this color online. They informed me that this was most likely originally a blue waved dial that had faded over the past 20 years into a bright purple. Per the Omega specialist, usually watch dials do not drastically change color like this unless there is constant sun exposure over prolonged periods of time, however, according to my grandfather, he rarely wore in the last decade and considering the fact that Pennsylvania is not Florida or Hawaii, constant sun exposure does not check out. Although the pictures may not do it justice, the dial is a pinkish purple in the middle and a deeper purple at the edges. They weren't able to give me a ton of information but told me that if I sent it in to Omega I would be able to find out... but in the end, the watch works perfectly and I didn't want to spend the money to send it in, but may in the future.

My hope is to be able to locate a possible model reference number, any information or experience anyone has with dial color changes (and potential reasons), possible value and any other information you may have. I do own this watch and am currently not planning on selling any time soon. I love the watch and it is currently my daily driver. It runs perfectly and I have not had a single issue. My sole goal is to learn more about the watch that I have grown to love.

Truly, I am looking for any information that anyone could provide on the watch and I more than happy to provide more specific photos or field any questions anyone may have.

I appreciate any help in advance immensely!

Cheers.

 

[efauser]

It looks like an Electric Blue. https://www.omegawatches.com/en-us/watch-omega-seamaster-300-2255-80-00
As the OB told you, it looks like there has been a lot of sun exposure and possible heat, causing the fading.
This is what it should look like

 

[Sa Calobra]

That's very interesting. Indeed, most of them stand the test of time, even in the sun.
But to be honest - I think it looks really cool!

 

[padders]

I've seen that effect only once before, it was on a titanium SMP model that started life as electric blue, and faded to metallic purple-grey. This is not common at all, I've seen and handled hundreds of these dials and as I say your is only the second I've seen do it. I quite like it in fact.

Be aware that your watch has seen some modification, either the bezel or dial is not original to the piece as they are mismatched. The bezel is that seen on the mid 90s skeleton hands models such as the 2532.80. The dial is as noted above by @efauser seen fitted to the steel 2055.80 (and 2255.80 which is the same watch with a different bracelet) but also various titanium and precious metal models too. The way to be sure is to remove the caseback and check the case number stamped within. If your watch was indeed purchased in the timeframe you suggest, then it is most likely a 2055.80 with a swapped bezel, or a 2255.80 with swapped bezel and bracelet. The case number for the swords hands models such as the 2255 is 168.1640, numbers vary for the skeleton hands models but the late 2531.80 model has 168.1623.

As to value? Well the bottom line is that to make that a straight 2055.80, some parts need replacing, so subtract maybe $300-500 from what you see 2055s (and 2255s) selling for.

Edited: Jul 21, 2023

 

[kaplan]

My grandmother regularly pranks people and my mother plays along, so OP don't take anything at face value either, they might've got you a watch and decided to play it as an heirloom