Surprise, its not awful! Omega 132.003 pickup

SO, I saw this listed and made an offer. I was about 90% sure I was about to get scammed, between the fuzzy pictures, new seller, and questionable angles.

However, this showed up today!

My first impression: The dial is shockingly nice, with only some markings on the crystal as far as I can tell. The hands are nice, and the case is in reasonably good shape. AND, it isn't out of focus in person, which is about all I was hoping for! AND, its a mens watch, about 35mm! A little winding, and it showed it is a runner.



Looking at the case back, SOMEONE in this watch's history went to TOWN trying to get the case back off. Timegrapher was originally pretty encouraging, ~1.5ms beat error, ~135 degree amplitude (at 52 degrees, though I see I should have done it at 49 degrees), and ~2-2.5 mins/day behind. Not too bad!



I DID notice while trying to get a timegrapher reading, that the crown is CRIMINALLY small. It is an Omega logo and thus probably original, but unbelievably small, unacceptably so for a handwinder! ALSO, someone installed the strap with quick-release strap bars, so I ended up having to cut them to remove the strap, which while worn, is actually quite nice.

I was able to use a knife to get the case back off, and what was revealed to me was an absolute PEACH of a Omega 611, and an unmarked 132.003 case back. SO, I might be the first one inside of it! I put a screwdriver on the barrel and wound it a few times, and amplitude came up near 200 degrees, and it is now ~30s/day behind. A GREAT improvement, and even more encouraging.



Anyway, leaving you with a few photos of the movement, its an absolutely lovely looking movement in great shape that hopefully will only require a little bit of effort to clean up! I'm very excited to get to this one, even though its unfortunately further down my jobs list.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pics!

I paid ~$350 shipped. A little high for a "bunch of fuzzy pictures", but ce-la-vie.

I ordered a mainspring for $20 (actually 2 for $40, I always order in pairs!... except for the LAST time I did a 6xx movement, so I don't have a spare!), so I'll be into this not too much.

I like those 600 series calibers, probably even rate them higher that the 30 calibers, even the 500 series.
And you're right, that crown is TINY! Looks to be original though.
Get yourself a soft jaw crown winder.

Looking at the prices of those... good grief! Either they are metal jaws or absurdly expensive. I might just turn up a piece of delrin for it instead and make my own.