Well, I’ve done some serious pruning of the collection. I am now down to 3 pieces, and I couldn’t be happier. I have had a number of watches over the years, many were sold to fund new pieces, others simply because they weren’t getting much use. Of the current three, the Seamaster holds a special place in my heart...it was my Dads that he bought in 1971. I just had it fully restored by Omega....that one will eventually go to my son.

 

That's a very good place to be: Dress Watch, Dive Watch, and perhaps the most consequential wristwatch ever made, the Speedmaster. I hope someday to arrive at the same place but I have a lot of work to do [as in selling].

 

A superb trio! I hope you wear them all in good health.

 

Love that Seamaster!!! It is good to let go of things that don't get much use. Applies to everything in life; not just watches.

 

While I like the collection as a whole, I don’t know much about the history of the Cosmic and am curious. 60m is odd to my thinking for a dive watch. What’s the history and intended purpose of the Cosmic?

 

I am very curious about the rating as well. All I know is that my Dad bought the watch specifically to time the start of sailboat races and used it for that purpose for over 15 years. While this specific watch was never used for diving, it was obviously exposed to water and held up well (according to him, he never really took it off- showers, swimming, sailing, etc.) until he retired it in 1984 or 85. The watch literally sat in a drawer until a few years ago when I resurrected it and sent it off to Omega (see before and after pic below). With respect to 60m rating, I really don’t know why it wouldn’t be rated higher. It’s a solid case with screw down crown and even has a some kind of inner case that houses the movement. Would love to know more about the watch rating and reason for the 60m if anyone knows. Omega pressure tested during the restore process and warranties for 2 years, so I am comfortable using the watch around water, but probably won’t dive with it!

 

Nice trio, great selection. The Seamaster is cool, especially so with its provenance

 

Doing some research on another forum and found this tidbit (see below)...given how protected the movement seems to be, strange that the only rated at 60m

“The Cosmic 2000s (most of them) were a strange construction where the movement is held in a drum, sealed at the top by the dial and at the bottom by a caseback. Both of these were pressed in and held very tightly in place by special nylon (?) sealing rings.

The drum was then held in a combined bracelet/watchhead by an Oring seal.

Consequently they were very watertight and even in humid environments they remained fairly unaffected by moisture.

Due to being extremely difficult for the handyman watch fixer to open and work on, the inards are normally in good nick as well.”

 

Great little collection you have. A watch for every occasion.

 

Thats a very good restoration. Looks like they changed the dial, is it still tritium and does it glow?

How much did the restoration/service cost?

 

Thanks. I ended up sending the watch to Omega in Geneva for the repair. A year and $1500 later I essentially got back a brand new watch. Dial, bezel, hands etc. all replaced. The put a service bracelet on, but I am having the original bracelet refinished locally and will have that back in a week. I really debated whether I should keep it as close to the original as possible and keep the vintage parts but I decided to go for a full restoration instead.

Edit: the lume glows bright. I believe they stopped using tritium so it should be luminova but I am not certain

 

I started a thread in the vintage section and got some great responses. Apparently the Cosmic models were more of a sport watch (think early Aqua Terra), designed with some water resistance but not intended for scuba diving. According to some, the “dive” version was more for skin diving at shallower depths. Here’s the link to the other thread:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/why-only-60m-rating-on-the-cosmic-2000-divers.132302/

 

Nice collection! The background story on the Seamaster is fantastic. Hopefully your son appreciates voyage the Seamaster traveled before making its way onto his wrist.

 

Nice! I also got rid of pieces to consolidate my collection to 3. Just like you, it includes a Seamaster, a Speedmaster, and a Rolex, just different models from yours. I think that trio does make a perfect collection for most people. I find if I get more than 3 watches, I only wear 3 most of the time and the others sit. So why have them?

 

Awesome collection.