Hey, I am looking to buy my first vintage omega, and have come across this quartz seamaster. It seems to be in fairly good condition (at least cosmetically). I asked if all the parts were original, but the seller didn't know. He didn't know whether the movement is original, so I asked for pictures of it. If he sends me any I'll post them here. The seller says the watch was recently "adjusted" (don't know what he means by this), and he has changed the battery. My question is what a fair price for this watch is? It is listed for 400 USD (in Norway). I find this way too expensive for a quartz, but then again I am completely new to this and have no clue what a fair price would be... All the pictures are taken from the listing on the Norwegian ebay, Finn.no. This is my first post on the forum, so let any help is much appreciated.
Additional info from the seller: Cal 1342 with date Diameter; 35mm, Thickness; 9.5mm, Lug to lug: 41.4mm, Lug; 20mm
Hi Maghara, First, movement seems to be legit for a quartz Seamaster from that era (late 70th). It's a Cal 134xx and reference hereto is made here: http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?00&ranfft&&2uswk&Omega_1343 Whether the watch is worse buying - i don't know. I am sure, on the long run, seller will find someone to buy it but why should you be the one? It's goldplated and looks a bit old-fashioned but this only depends on individual taste (and could hinder you to flip the watch later on). More important for me is the watch being a quartzer and so you might run fifty-fifty to get lucky with it (in terms of durability/reliability). If the movements breaks down - and to my experience it will do so one day - for beeing exposed to the maturity of its electronical components, the only way will be to get another movement from a donation watch since Omega assumingly haven't stored that old movements for servicing old quartz watches. And even if so, Omega consequently swaps quartz movements rather to repair them during a Service session. Question at the end of the day is pricewise (imho) because costs for overhaul then can quickly exceed purchase price by far. My Suggestion (out of my own painful experience) would be to look after some Omegas with mechanical movements such as the Geneve series, 70th and 80th Seamasters (Cosmic 2000) or even some of the Constellation pieces. And first of all, take you time, do proper research on what you really want and can affort and at the end you might be happier with your new watch than doing it the quartz way. Just my 2 ct, Good hunting!! Winny
Winny, Thanks for your response. I agree with your points, and I guess at least in the longer run I want to get myself a nice automatic or manual watch. I have been reading up on the Seamasters from the 60s, and really like the look of these watches. So far, the nice examples of these watches I have come across are out of my price range. It is probably worth waiting until I can afford one of those instead of just buying something I can afford now. I was considering making a bid for 200 USD, but he would probably reject that anyway. Thanks for the input! Magnus
Hi Magnus, Wise decision to me. If you are going to stick to Omegas so google the following references, they all should be doable in your price range (more or minder) and after you know what modell could enter the inner circle you can focus on the outer and inner condition of each (such as condition of the case, dial, hands etc.) here some automatic examples (all out of the 70th/80th since to me the 60th Seamasters are too small on my wrist with its 35mm without crown): 166.0138 SM Big Square 166.087 / 166.089 / 166.110 Seamaster 166.090 SM Flightmaster Case 166.0264 Seamaster 166.135 SM Cosmic 2000 etc etc Handwinders used to start with 135.xxx and there are some pretty nice Geneves in. And not to forget the handwinding single action chronos: 145.009 Geneve Chronostop 145.007 Seamaster Chronostop Best, Winny btw: another good place for doing some research on the Omegas that come into question is here: http://www.old-omegas.com/ catalogues from the very early 50th up to the late 80th for your reading pleasure