Story of 1943: Konstantinos got an Ωmega!

Hello!
My name is Konstantinos, i am a Greek expat living in Paris and i recently joined your beautiful forum.
I have a love for Omega watches that comes from my Grandpa (of whom i got my name) and his stories that he used to tell me when i was a small kid. Ever since i remember myself, i have been listening stories about this watch. I don't even know if they are 100% true or there is a bit of exaggeration in them but still, every time i was listening to these stories, i was enjoying them like it was the first time.

One of these stories i am going to share with you below (hope i wont make you bored!).

According to this story, my Grandpa's father was an owner of a very successful food store in Athens back in 1930. He used to have 30 employees working for him and delivering all kind of food. Of course, his son (my Grandpa) was working there from the age of 15. When he turned 18 (around 1943), his father wanted to please him so he gave him one paper-money of that age. The value was 1.000 Drachmas. In order to be able to make the comparison, by that time, with 5.000 Drachmas you could buy a small apartment.
My Grandpa got extremely happy from the money that he got and he ran to the nearest watch center to buy a watch. He had no idea of brands - values - models, he just asked for a very good watch. 10 minutes later and 850 Drachmas less, my Grandpa was holding on his had his first Omega watch. He was so happy that started showing it to everyone and people started talking about it. Please note that Athens back then was like a village so there were very few good watches. People knew the owners by name. So my Grandpa joined this "small elite community".
According to him, this turned to the big thing of the place he was living and everyone knew that he was wearing an Omega.

Years went by, he got his 2 children (my uncle and my mother), more years went by and then i came to this world in 1984. All these years he never took this watch off his hand. Ever since i remember him and his figure, i remember the watch being always on his wrist. Also, i remember that every night he was removing his watch to do something strange (i dint know what winding is)... For me it was like a game, but for the watch apparently it was something essential. Every now and then he used to tell me that one day i will get this watch. I couldn't say that i was able to appreciate it or that i like it at that time (i was a fan of the G-SHOCKs!!!) but i was looking at it with great admiration since i knew all its stories!!!

So we reached December 2017 were i got informed that his state of alzheimers is going from bad to worse and that i need to go to see him cause maybe its gonna be the last time. And there i was, talking to him once again and listening from his mouth once again the same stories about this wonderful watch (he remembers them even with alzheimers). That was the moment that he removed the watch from his wrist and tried to pass it to mine. I can say that i was a bit shocked... not because of the value of the watch (recently i learned that it is nothing special) but from the emotions that i felt. It was like passing to me his legacy, his treasure, his precious watch that he was keeping all these years for me.

Believe it or not, i couldn't take it. And i couldn't take it because my Grandpa's figure exists in my mind as an image with this Omega on his wrist. And as long as he is with us, i will not take it from his wrist.

Till the day that this watch comes to me, i would like to make an investigation in order to find its model, its markings, its date of production and other useful information because i am planning to restore it to the max possible. I know that my Grandpa has been repairing it to a local watchsmith but i have no idea what this guy had been doing to the watch. He could even have changed its mechanism - dial - hands with another one...

So here i am, trying to find every possible detail about this masterpiece. It would be much appreciated if anyone could help me with my request for this jewel!

P.S. You will have to excuse me for the quality, In March i am traveling to Greece again and i will have better pics.

Hello Kostas

Warm welcome to the Forum !!

Fascinating story……the sadness of Alzheimer’s is that the sufferers frequently, & clearly remember 70 years ago…but 30 seconds ago is just a void…it is so tragic

To my eyes…The Dial looks a little strange ?……I am sure we would all very much like to see the movement itself ?

Can you get a local watchmaker to ‘pop’ the back off & you take some images for evaluation ?

I bet on an oversize 38mm 2505 case probably cal 265 ...

Well said for the Alzheimer...Its unbelievable. One moment he remembers this stories and 30 seconds after he forgets my face...

I am planning to take it to a watchmaker to open it but i want to be there with him to make the pictures. It will take place around 10 / 04 were i am going to Greece again for the Easter.

As you said though, it looks a bit strange to me as well. It is like it is tilted. That is why i am afraid that his x repair guy might have changed original parts with fake ones...

Thank you! Looks it belongs to that family you said.

The dial may well have deteriorated over time, & have been re painted, perhaps 50 years,… by the local ‘jobbing’ watchmaker

It could well be a very honest history, driven by functionality rather than aesthetics / originality

Look forward to see the images

I really hope so...

One more question, Is there any possibility to find original parts of old watches?
I have been searching in eBay mostly but it seems way to difficult for me to separate fakes from originals.

I sent an email to Omega headquarters but their advice was to take the watch to their premises in Paris, then they will sent it to Swiss and after about two months i will get it back "serviced and lubricated". They said nothing about changing parts or so.

I wonder if we have good professionals in the forum to perform this kind of job...

I am sorry for my questions... Still noobie on these matters 😀

Hello Kosta,
Yes you can find parts for this watch.
Does your watch still working ? If it works, I wouldn't change anything, even if it has been redial at some point, it is part of it's history, it looks ok like this and you are not going to sell it anyway. Finding a pristine original dial will not be easy and if you do another redial it will look very new (and it will not be perfect), in both cases, you will not recognize it.
If it works, just have it serviced, there is good watchmakers in Paris, and this is a simple movement.
Don't send it to Omega, it will cost you a fortune.
If you want a specialist in old Omega, someone who can repair or just service this watch, you can check Horlogerie Mendel in Vincennes.

Thank you very much for your answer!
Yes the watch is working perfectly, of course it needs the winding every night (at least my Grandpa used to wind it every night, not sure if its necessary) but it is in a perfect working condition.

I would love to see a watchmaker working on it just to see its internal condition and take some photos!

i will try to contact the one you suggested! Thank you once again 😁

Beautiful watch, and what a piece of history!
I wouldn't change anything on it if it works, if it was redialed I would just keep as is and think about it in the future. Part of the sentimental value must be attached to your memory of your GF wearing it, so changing a lot of its parts could take away some of the charm ?
Enjoy it, and enjoy your moments with your grandpa. I can also confirm that Alzheimer is a bitch...

Thank you for the replies guys.

Its true, Changing some parts could take away some of the charm. Therefore i am willing to keep it as it is and service it thoroughly.

Thank you for the suggestions, they are more than welcome!

Good morning to the community!

It has been almost a year and a half that i started this post in order to share a story and also to find information regarding this watch.
My beloved Grandpa left us almost a week ago and the watch was inherited to me.

Since I am so emotionally attached to it, i would like to do some basic things to restore it.
I would better say make a thorough service actually.

The things that i would like to do is:
1) Clean it. The dial has some dust inside and as well as some raspings from the friction i guess. I would like them to be cleaned.
2) Refresh (or repaint?) (or even change) the hands.
3) Refresh (or repaint?) the markings on the dial. I wouldn't like to change it completely since this yellowish color it appears to have is part of its history and i wouldn't like to change it (as someone advised me above)
4) Calibrate the dial, it seems to be a bit moved from its exact position.
5) Service and lubricate the mechanism.
6) Change the crown. It is broken and i would like that to be changed.
7) --- Most important --- I noticed that when i pull out the crown, the whole mechanism of the watch + dial + hands is moving about half - one milimeter. I guess something could be broken inside that was keeping the mechanism still. i would like to fix that.

Having said all the above, could you please propose me some ways forward?
Would you agree with the things i would like to do? Is there something important i am forgetting and you could advise me to do?
Would you know any good professional in Ireland who would be able to do the above things?

Thank you all for your time, Konstantinos

Hey guys!

Anyone here to help me a bit?

Hi,

Very nice story of your grandfather and...... sorry for your loss.

The best option imo is to give the watch an overhaul. Service the movement, clean the dial as much as it can be done.....

Find a good watchmaker. Paris or Athens are good places to find one.

If you wanna go full power on it, you can hv it redialed. A good one is costly though.
It all depends how much you would like to spend on it.

I would say, service it first, have it working as it should.....buy a nice leather strap and wear it. Later on, you can decide if you wanna redial it!

Kostas, sorry to hear about your loss of your grandfather. Can you shows us any new pictures whenever you get a chance? To see if the hands are still good enough to keep.

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would not do anything cosmetic to the watch. I would take it to a competent watchmaker who deals with vintage watches, and preferably Omegas. I would ask them to clean the watch and mechanism, do a service (only replace any broken parts that cannot be used any longer), replace the crown... hopefully they can locate a period correct one.

As to the movement shifting, it can be that either screws or dust cover missing from inside which allows it to shift around. I would get that looked at the time of the service.

Thank you guys for the response 😀

@ilayd here are some pictures i got today.
I just cleaned the best i could the bezel and the glass with some microfibers so that i get the real state of the watch. Polishing the bezel would be an option too i guess...

I think it looks just fine as is.... hands, dial, and bezel. Especially considering that this is your grandfather's watch and its what he wore. Why hide away all the years of wear he invested in it. I would try and swap the crown though, since that piece is broken. Just take it to a qualified watchmaker, and have them clean and lube the mechanism. If there are is any loose dust or chipped pieces near the dial, have that removed. You can have them polish up the crystal so you can see the watch better. I would also not do much with the hands, dial, and case. Leave it as is for now... and see how you like the watch. You can always go back and get things repainted, or polished. BUT you cannot un-paint or un-polish it back.