Hello OF! I am interested in acquiring my first Constellation, and I've been looking for gold capped pieces with piepan dial. I've found this 167.005 for sale and it appears to be in reasonably good condition, but I have some concerns about the MOY test. I would greatly appreciate if anyone can offer some advice on the condition of this piece and please let me know if I'm missing anything in my analysis. Here's my novice analysis: Movement: Cal. 551 is correct for this 167.005 with dog leg lugs and yellow gold cap. Serial number 20.6 mil places it around 1963--one year after initial release. Photo quality not the best, but the movement looks reasonably clean. Case: There appears to have been some polishing, judging from the medallion on the back. That said, the 8 stars are still visible. The dog leg lugs look a bit soft on the top surface as well. The crown is not decagonal, so likely not original. Crystal: Omega signed, looks clean. Dial: Piepan dial looks to be in very good condition. From the best I can tell given these photos, the font looks correct, including the "R"s and "F"s. The dial fails the MOY test, but could this be similar to the cases noted by Desmond? Notice the oval "O" in "Chronometer" likely accounts for this discrepancy. (Source: http://omega-constellation-collecto...02/its-all-about-moy-except-when-it-isnt.html ) Thanks for reading!
Well I was too late, this watch is sold now. That said, I am still really interested in hearing others' thoughts on my analysis. Since I am new to this, I'd like to know if I missed anything and/or what other people think of this dial with respect to the MOY test.
The MOY test is a good indicator of an original dial except when it doesn’t comply. - see Desmond’s blog on MOY variations. Here’s mine which shares the same font configuration as the one you show. Imo you did the right thing letting this go as the lugs and medallion look well worn/polished.
Thanks for your feedback! Yes, the dial on yours looks almost identical to the one from Desmond's blog (below). This was his example of a genuine early 60s Connie, with the oval "O" in Chronometer.
The MOY test is very useful in many cases. Some other things to look at (I use @Noddyman s picture): The letters have serifs (its quite difficult to reproduce them when repaining a dial) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif Between the minute markers and the edge of the pie pan there is a small gap
Unfortunately, like the MOY test, that’s generally correct except when it isn’t. As an example my .004 pie pan. Definitely correct but no gap.