There is a watch I love that has been widely faked, and has seeped into the watch community so pervasively that there are probably more replica watches than originals. Which one? The clue is in my avatar. Now this will not be news to many of the Omega community and there have been useful threads about it on TZUK. But as this was over 7 years ago and the community grows and changes quickly I thought it would be worth some repetition. The Omega Seamaster SM1000 has been a personal Grail of mine, and probably the Omega most described as such after the Speedmaster(Holy Grail). It was always rare, unobtainable almost, and very expensive. An Original SM1000m ref166.093 Then around 2010 they started to appear on the market in excellent, almost New Old Stock condition. They continued to trickle on to the market at the rate of about one per month, mostly from the same supplier, Yvonne at SwissTimeArts in Winterthur, Switzerland. This lady was a notorius seller of Franken watches and fake Heuer boxes intermingled with some quite rare and desirable pieces. She also had a reputation of angry customer service typed in ALLCAPS! So if you have seen an SM1000 166.093 for sale, likely as not it will be one of these watches. They are made up of Omega service parts (bezel,dial,hands and bracelet), a doner 1012 movement and a case most likely from China. I am almost certain that they have never been anywhere near Omega. A Replica SM1000m (note incorrect radial brush finish) The tell tale signs are easy to spot and I will attach some pictures now to illustrate the difference between original cases and the dubious replicas. The following pictures are of a genuine watch case and are annotated to highlight the genuine watchcases features The fake case as shown below is of a much lower quality of finish and has a few differences in manufacturing. The brush finish is Radial and not Circular as it is on the original watch. What seals the case for these watches being fake for me, apart from the obvious quality issues, is the case manufacturing marks and the Omega symbol inside the case. The diving bell symbol for EPSA is used on both watches but on the fakes it is unlike any other example I have seen. The 'diving bell' has changed into something that looks closer to Bod, a favourite TV animation from my youth. The circle does not even join up! If the case maker cannot get its own logo stamped correctly, the writing is on the wall. The Omega symbol, always surrounded by a triangle with rounded corners is found in a triangle with sharp edges. An original case below A fake interior case picture. I hope this will help to stop people making a mistake purchasing what is a very rare and special watch, that has had its value and perception of availability compromised by these clever replicas.
Thanks for the detailed Article, learned something new. Is this the same Shop that you mentioned? I was trying to buy an Omega Centenary there.
Good work. Also worth mentioning one of the easy tells for me, the crown cut out from the underside. Original has bullet type cut out and fakes have a squarer one.
I bought one in 2011(believing if to be genuine) and took it to STS who dismantled it. I took photos and then returned it for a refund.
I intended to post in this thread when I first saw it but things got inbetween. There has been quite a lot of "new" watches floating around for a while and therefore this thread has great value. I bought mine from a trusted friend and he declared it to have (as is obvious) service dial, hands and bezel. The case I identified as being original (and unrestored) and when I got an extract of the archives everything was as it should be regarding the movement. Mine having the service parts make it a really nice user watch. It is seviced and pressure tested - I enjoy it immensely and it gets to go to and into the sea from time to time. If it would have its original bezel I would have hesitated... Rare is a term often used and abused. I will therefore not call it rare. It is a very uncommon watch though. Expensive when new and not that many made. Even less has survived.