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Seamaster with Scratched Out Movement Serial

Archer
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Out of TIME! Out of TIME!
Rolex wants the old briges back too, they refubish them when possible.
When I sent bridges back for exchage, the jewels seemed to disappear.
Not sure how or why that happened.....馃檨

Are you referring to all bridges, or those with serial numbers specifically? Not sure why they would want a bridge back that wasn't serialized, because I really doubt that they refurbish them - would be more trouble than it's worth.

Rolex policies with regards to spare parts (like not giving them back to the watch owner when they service the watches) are designed to further the idea that their watches are somehow particularly robust (to the point of being magically indestructible), and that plan has worked well.

When returning any serialized bridges to Omega, if you remove parts from it, they will not accept it - I know this first hand...
 
Archer
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N nicky77
I purchased a 2541.80 off of eBay and it had the serial number scratched off, I sent it back. I was in an Omega boutique a few months later and I asked if they would service a watch without a serial number and they said that they would not. That made me glad I sent it back.

Quartz movements of this era were not serialized, so the only serial number on those watches is on the case. If that is removed, they will not service it as you found out.

Something to consider for those who may want to purchase a fairly modern quartz Omega.
 
mthomas
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Realize this is four years later! But, I just encountered a similar situation. OP, curious how you decided to proceed.
 
YY77
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mthomas mthomas
Realize this is four years later! But, I just encountered a similar situation. OP, curious how you decided to proceed.
Don't expect an answer, he only managed to visit the first 4 days from signing up;

Screenshot_20250423-205017.webp
 
mthomas
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YY77 YY77
Don't expect an answer, he only managed to visit the first 4 days from signing up;

Screenshot_20250423-205017.webp
Thanks for the reply! Figured it was a long shot!
 
OmegaOwner2019
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I remember hearing years ago that some Costcos would sell Omegas with serial numbers scratched out.
 
502 to right
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I don't know the exact reason some 1120 movements are out there with the serial number removed. But I own one. I bought it knowing of the condition and the watch was priced accordingly. This was for a Bond Seamaster Professional 300m from the mid to late 90's.

My Omega qualified independent watchmaker has inspected the movement and said it's legitimate. It had been serviced by an independent watchmaker just before I received the watch two years ago and it's an excellent runner.
Edited:
 
E
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mthomas mthomas
Realize this is four years later! But, I just encountered a similar situation. OP, curious how you decided to proceed.
The only way is to have the paperwork that came with it, like proof of purchase or a serial number that matches the watch, send it to omega and they鈥檒l add in the serial number.

This happens with grey market dealers frequently, most of them want you to service the watch through them, others don鈥檛 have the luxury of having an Omega repair center nearby and rather than fix stuff they just swap out parts between watches. I鈥檓 stuck with one, but my stepmom threw away the box.

I have a history with Omega about that watch, managed to get it serviced only one time officially, but that was it.
 
K
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N nicky77
I purchased a 2541.80 off of eBay and it had the serial number scratched off, I sent it back. I was in an Omega boutique a few months later and I asked if they would service a watch without a serial number and they said that they would not. That made me glad I sent it back.

I bought a 2598.20 from Ebay (UK). A few years later, decided I had to sell it and sent it to a popular online watch retailer. They confirmed a price which was DOUBLE what I paid for it.

I waited eagerly for the confirmation that the watch was good and the money was due to be sent. No such luck.

Phone call 2 weeks later. The serial was scraped off and was told I was fortunate since if there was a heads up by police for any stolen watches (as weak as that explanation was), then the watch would be seized.

The call was polite, but she gave the impression she was not obliged to not send it back and she was seemingly in two minds. I ended up giving out more information that I was comfortable with, in an effort to try and prove innocence, which I fortunately achieved.

They sent it back at cost to me.

A cautionary tale for those who are going to put their watch with no serial in the hands of someone else.
 
502 to right
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502 to right 502 to right
I don't know the exact reason some 1120 movements are out there with the serial number removed. But I own one. I bought it knowing of the condition and the watch was priced accordingly. This was for a Bond Seamaster Professional 300m from the mid to late 90's.

My Omega qualified independent watchmaker has inspected the movement and said it's legitimate. It had been serviced by an independent watchmaker just before I received the watch two years ago and it's an excellent runner.

I decided to do a Google AI search of this question today (as I was wearing the watch in question and the issue popped into my head again).

Here's what they say:

The primary reason for removed serial numbers on Omega watch movements from the 1990s and early 2000s relates to the grey market. The numbers were removed by unauthorized dealers to prevent Omega from tracing the watches back to the original authorized distributor, who was selling excess stock outside of the official network for a lower price.

Grey Market Practices
  • Circumventing Rules: Authorized dealers (ADs) were often required to sell a minimum number of watches per year to maintain their AD status. To meet these quotas or offload excess inventory, they would sometimes sell watches to unauthorized or "grey market" dealers at a discount, sometimes at a small loss, rather than risk losing their AD contract.
  • Anonymity: The serial numbers, which act as a unique identifier and production fingerprint, were deliberately removed from both the case and movement to make the watches "anonymous". This protected the original authorized distributor from being identified and penalized by Omega for violating their distribution agreements.
  • Lower Prices, No Warranty: These grey market watches were often sold at significant discounts (sometimes 25-40% off retail). The trade-off for the consumer was that Omega would not honor the manufacturer's warranty or perform factory service on watches with altered or removed serial numbers. The grey market dealers would often provide their own, separate warranty.
  • Resale Value and Authenticity: The practice significantly degrades the watch's future resale potential. While a removed serial number doesn't automatically mean the watch is a fake or stolen (though that is a potential concern), it does indicate it was part of this unofficial distribution channel.
This practice is less common today, and most grey market watches now have intact serial numbers, though they typically still lack a manufacturer's warranty.
 
Lug
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502 to right 502 to right
I decided to do a Google AI search of this question today (as I was wearing the watch in question and the issue popped into my head again).

Here's what they say:

The primary reason for removed serial numbers on Omega watch movements from the 1990s and early 2000s relates to the grey market. The numbers were removed by unauthorized dealers to prevent Omega from tracing the watches back to the original authorized distributor, who was selling excess stock outside of the official network for a lower price.
The AI probably got that from this thread!
 
Dan S
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Lug Lug
The AI probably got that from this thread!
Yep, and other threads. And other AI responses in other threads. Pretty soon, 99% of LLM training data will be LLM-created.
 
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