Hello Everybody, I am new to the forum and was hoping for a little advice.
I am looking to buy my first vintage Omega wristwatch, the model I have in mind is the seamaster with the black dial, produced I believe in the 50's and 60's. I am afraid I do not know the model number, but mostly automatic It seems and there is a chronometer version obviously more expensive.
I really think this is a beautiful watch, I can find several for sale at widely varying prices across ebay and the various dealers but without the knowledge to spot a fake or "re-manufactured" watch I am a liitle stumped. I have read a little and done as much research as I can from helpful websites but are there any sure ways of buying a genuine article? I am prepared to pay the value of the watch I am not looking for a bargain I am looking for a good genuine watch. Any tips on websites, dealers or publications would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much, Steve Heaney

 

Hi Steve. Are you talking about the Seamaster 300m dive watch? Please ask the Google to give you images and post one here so we know.

 

This is the 'kind' of watch I am looking at and I am sure there are many variants. I would just like to be more informed

 

I really like them too, very classy, with a touch of sinister thrown in... like cold war international man of mystery

 

Be very wary of black dialed vintage Omegas because most of them are refinished dials. We'll help you on a case by case basis. Post links to the watches you find and we'll vet them. Most of us absolutely hate to see anyone make a bad purchase, and there are a lot of shenanigans going on with the brand because it's so popular.

 

Thank you both for the reply, I wonder then why so many black dial seamasters are redialled is it because the original deteriorates or are we really surrounded by people determined to deceive us. Is there a dealer or resource that will admit the changes made to a watch and charge a fair price for it ?
I mean if 99% of black dials are replaced I really dont see that I have a choice! I must focus on at least getting a good example of a re-dialled seamaster. Your guidance will be a great help here , thanks Steve

 

You can find original ones. Omega made a lot of watches so there isn't just 3 or 4 black dialed pieces out there. It just takes a little longer to find them and a keen eye for what's correct to get a decent one. Personally, I prefer a black dial and have owned a few.








Mike, here's an interesting SM chronometer that Kyle and I watched sell for over $3K last year:

 

Do you still have the constellation with the white gold markers?

 

The one with the white gold chevron hour markers