The C-Cased Constellation Thread

[JGreenman]

Congrats! A 168.027 is missing from my C-case collection. I have a 168.029 though, with linen/meteor dial that I adore. Can you take a comparison photo of 564 and 751 dials? I'm interested in the 3D effect you mentioned.
I have a Meister dial 168.017 cal 561 c-shape and it too looks flatter than my other 168.017 cal 564 for example. The Meister dial one is of earlier series and I suspect that it's got a slightly flatter crystal and that causes the effect.

 

[kaplan]

I was referring to the groove around the edge, sometimes aftermarket crystals skew the looks quite a bit too, the original crystals were well designed, for example sometimes you can't see the SWISS MADE on listings if the crystal is aftermarket

751 movement, dials, crystals are all around 1mm higher compared to 560's, the dials have inner spacers too

Also as far as I observed dials clear the cases but they can touch the crystal armor ring, so if they are not well seated a bad crystal could damage a dial, I believe it might be why some spider dials are cracked around the edges

TL;DR: Crystal armor ring geometry matters a lot

@noless I also checked the suspicious crystal I got, the ring is one piece metal and the geometry matches, so if the ones from UK are plastic, most probably different crystals

 

[noless]

@kaplan the ebay seller responded to me saying that they have "sold hundreds worldwide with out a single problem"

I had a closer look and the tension ring is metal, but the really soft finishing on it made me think it was chromed plastic.
I am under the understanding that all omega tension rings should be a split ring?
If there are indeed some that come with a single piece ring I will simply apologise to the seller and keep it, but if not I will take them up on their offer to return it.

 

[JGreenman]

kaplan

I was referring to the groove around the edge, sometimes aftermarket crystals skew the looks quite a bit too, the original crystals were well designed, for example sometimes you can't see the SWISS MADE on listings if the crystal is aftermarket

751 movement, dials, crystals are all around 1mm higher compared to 560's, the dials have inner spacers too

Thanks! Now I noticed the difference in the dials, it's the groove as you said. 👍

 

[kaplan]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-Cons...pid=5338899135&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

This is the cheapest 168.029 I have ever seen - could be a nice beater - watches like this always remind me of Laco and their "Erbstück" process where you pay double the price for a watch that's professionally gone through hell

The case looks unpolished, the caseback and crown is a goner, the dial is at "patina" levels, it's gone 360 degrees and now it looks great, hands look original, If there were no customs and hassle I'd want this bad to be honest, even now I'm sharing this so someone buys this and saves me 😀

Edit: If you need forwarding from US just let me know, always happy to help another enthusiast

 

[malilis]

gone already ..!

 

[kaplan]

Arrived today, really love this watch, became one of my favourites

 

[redhed18]

Wow that is a beautiful piece... (lol who came up with these emojis!)

 

[redhed18]

I just read all 36 pages. Keep it up! 👍
Maybe have to join the club at some point. 😗

 

[Hasey]

Hello from Seattle!

 

[noless]

Just finished servicing the 682 in this C-case i picked up for the missus.

Got temporary hands on it right now as I wait for some replacement hands to arrive.

The ones that came with it had a loose minute hand.

 

[kaplan]

Small photoshoot today in the dry gloomy weather - recently discovered the endlinks for the 1068 - genuine Omega I've seen used on 1970+ Constellations a couple of times, but I regret getting 2 of them before trying them on, the 7-row BOR didn't grow on me, the second one is my favourite combo

 

[noless]

imagine my surprise when I was pulling apart the 561 inside my blue dial c-case when i discovered that the date guard was from a 565...

Evidence that something strange has happened inside of this watch in the past makes me wonder if the dial really is the correct dial that this watch shipped with, hell, or even if its the right movement... what other gremlins will I discover as i continue to strip this one down...

 

[kaplan]

I had a watch very early in the thread that I thought was a redial, turned out some idiot just painted the indices and hands white and it was actually a rare gray sunburst dial with thin indices, regular gray sunburst isn't rare, but this thin indice version is pretty rare, lately 2 of them surfaced but very expensive

 

[kaplan]

This arrived recently, with my first solid bracelet

Bought the watch from the owner’s wife, learned that this was his favorite watch

The afterlife for the watch is a resort for only C-Case’s with all the care

 

[dsio]

kaplan

This arrived recently, with my first solid bracelet

Bought the watch from the owner’s wife, learned that this was his favorite watch

The afterlife for the watch is a resort for only C-Case’s with all the care

It’s interesting how the design of that clasp actually looks very similar to the new Speedmaster Pro clasp design released with the Calibre 3861 movement, same engraved lines down the body of it

 

[gmmy775]

I have been so close to pulling the trigger on one of those. Then something like a new Carl F. Bucherer automatic on a bracelet comes across my vision for $600 (this just happened) and the Genta Constellation get's pushed one notch down the list. Must re-arrange my priorities...Omegas are special.

 

[noless]

Tightened up the hands and cleaned up the case and crystal for this tiny little C-case for the missus finally.

She loves the white gold bezel, and its inspired me to hunt out a WG bezel of my own.
Nothing like the thrill of a late night auction purchase... but what gremlins will I find once I start to disassemble the movement... Find out next time as I continue to spiral deeper down the hole of C-case collecting!

Edit: damn, why am I only noticing now after I put the camera away that the particular C-case I used for this pic had stopped... Too many C-cases to rotate problems 😗

 

[MrFriday*]

The time has come to join this club!

Finally I was able to pick up my new and freshly serviced C-case 168.029 in steel with WG bezel and silver linen dial. Special thanks to @kaplan and @MtV for all of your support!

I just loved this watch from the first moment! For the future I might need to hunt for a new crystal (PZ 5118).

I am pleased to share some pictures of this beauty:

 

[noless]

Congratulations, thats a really lovely piece, I am currently in the process of trying to get myself a WG bezel linen dial myself, and that my one is currently with a watchmaker is killing me more to see a nice one like yours.

I thought I had really lucked out but when I was starting to disassemble for servicing I immediately hit a problem, one of the dial foot screws had sheared off inside the main plate and lacking the tools to remove that one I had to admit defeat... waiting to hear back from the watchmaker is a painful time...