A week or two back we had an interesting discussion about an early automatic, here. It turned out to be a 1946 28.10 RA SC case ref 2445, as near as we could tell, although the OVD lists it as a steel case (and illustrates it with a gold one!) - here. Yesterday this package arrived in deepest Cornwall, all the way from Austria - And containing, of course, the watch we had been discussing. My first superficial impression was that the watch looked nice but the strap was horrible, which of course did not bother me as I will always choose my own strap. The second impression was that the case of the watch seemed to have seen very little use at all, certainly not in recent years, as it is all quite heavily tarnished. The other thing which I noticed immediately was that the movement was ticking away quite happily, having wound itself up during its six days in transit from Austria (and it continued to run for a further 24 hours). So there is not too much wrong with the autowinder, anyhow. As usual, there were puzzles and questions. The dial is not in quite as good a condition as I had hoped for - As you can see, there is quite a lot of tarnishing on the applied numerals. Strangely, the seconds hand, although the correct type, seems to be too long. Can it have been replaced? And the chapter ring (minute track) has faded away quite badly between 8 and 11 o'clock. You can see this better in the picture below - The back of the watch is in very good condition, with what I assume is an original brushed finish, the same as on the outside of the lugs. The little crown seems to be original, although it has no Omega symbol, and it matches the other examples I could find on the internet (and the OVD). There is absolutely no sign of any wear-through of plating on it - is it possible that some crowns might be solid gold? For once the case back popped off very easily, and as we discussed before there is only a serial number, no case reference. I don't know if you can just see it, but there are two watchmaker's marks so it has been serviced in the past at some point. One of them looks like 5-4-13K so it may have been done just before sale. It's a Swiss case, of course, and seems to have all the correct ID. And so to the movement - Which is indeed a 28.10 RA SC (you can just see it with a loupe, stamped under the balance). And to my admittedly inexperienced eye it looks superb, astonishingly so for a 67 year old movement from a non-waterproof case. It ran all night as I say and seemed to be keeping excellent time. Anyhow, you guys have a look at all this and let me know what you think. John
Amazing how on some of these snap back cases as we see here, the movement is still pristine. Very nice.
So the dial isn't mint, but it looks fantastic. If it looked new-old-stock, naturally there would be much to appreciate about it. But in real life, I prefer a watch with looks befitting its age. If it were museum-perfect, I would be scared to wear it. What you have shared with us is collector-perfect. Enjoy that beauty!
The strap is going . . . straight into the bin Dennis, you've got a really nice 2445 I think - a bit later? But your dial is in better shape as I remember, and with the dauphine hands.
That's a superb find, the movement look like new?! It's lovely when they have some tarnish too, I would leave that, it's really nice!