Hi OF fam,

A friend of mine in Italy is part of a special unit for the Italian police. He was offered a Planet Ocean LE at 77 pieces to commemorate 40 years of that unit.

He's not part of the forum so asked if I could ask the experts.

He's curious to know how this watch is perceived by collectors? Is it something that would be sought after or is it a niche collector from Italy or Europe that would be into collecting this type of watch?
He's also curious about the value. This isn't a sales advert so please don't DM any offers. He's simply trying to get a better understanding of what he has.

The watch is a classic PO with a few cool details such as sedna gold second hand and marker at 8.


Here are a few photos of when he picked it up.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!

 

No real bump.

Omega had a program that allowed police and military units to do these with custom backs.
Normally it’s UK military. Program was around for years and I’ve seen SMP’s and PO’s back to the first generation done like this.


There are a few styles of custom casebacks.

 

Congrats to your friend on that acquisition! ringrazialo da parte mia, for his service in the NOCS.

I'm not versed on the market value of these special edition watches be-spoke for military or police units. But I would purchase 1 from that batch in a heartbeat if one ever came up for sale.

Planet Oceans look great in that black & red colorway! Matches the color of my Giulia Quadrifoglio (black exterior with red stitching, red brake calipers), and that of the Carabinieri at large.

Too bad Omega stopped making black Planet Oceans with red text, and replaced in favor of Halloween orange...

 

If it can be or has been purchased at list price and he will hold onto it for the next 5 years he might make a small amount of money if that is his motive.
Normal watch is available with 20% discount and he would probably have to sell via a grey dealer who need to make their 30% so that gives an idea of numbers. For the moment in history as he’s lucky enough to be offered it due to his role then buy it and enjoy if he doesn’t already have a nice watch but it will never hold military levels of interest or monetary value. IMHO

 

Is the Seamaster font on the dial red?

 

Pretty neat, but the only real value bumps I've ever seen in the Omega world for these special units were those issued to either the SBS operators or Royal Navy Clearance Divers.

 

Yes it is.

 

Grazie Alfista, trasmettero il messaggio.

Love the quadrifoglio!! but I hope to add a Fulvia to the garage one day. My father had the Giulietta Sprint Veloce from '61, (una bellezza!!), but got rid of it before I was old enough to buy it or convince him otherwise.

 

Thanks for your feedback, if anyone else wants to chime in, the more the merrier.

 

That is cool.