First, a little about myself. I work in technology, and have always been into the latest devices. One of my first watches as a kid was a Casio calculator watch in the early 1980s. I spent a lot of hard earned allowance on it at Sears. Later in life I inherited my Grandfather's Omega. My dad had picked it up for him in 1968 in Hong Kong. He says grandpa was very specific about the model. It still works, but doesn't keep time. I am not sure if I want to get it repaired or just keep it as it is. After my starter marriage, I went out and bought that Omega I had always wanted, an Omega 300m with the electric blue wavy dial. I've worn that watch regularly for more than a decade. I suppose I should get it serviced. I had a brief affair with a TAG Carrera 1. It magnetized, I didn't know what was wrong and neither did the jeweler, so they took it back. While I make decent pay for my line of work, I am by no means wealthy, but a few years ago I invested in a highly speculative technology. At the end of the year I was able to cash out and put a sizable amount away for a rainy day. With the remainder, I told my wife I wanted to buy a really nice watch. At first I looked at the Rolex Sub two tone. I loved the bezel in gold, but not the bracelet. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so its not Miami or Vegas. Besides, I wanted something unique. I once read Ayn Rand and in the Fountainhead they talked a lot about the aesthetics of form and materials that may not be traditional, but are highly functional for that which they are designed. That concept stuck (if the politics did not), and so I looked back to Omega. I read about the process for creating the ceramics in the case and the bezel. Having liked the gold bezel on the Rolex but thinking it too flashy, I looked at Omega's Sedna gold and Ceragold. I liked the Moon watch's connection to spaceflight, even if I'm not into vintage a whole lot. When I saw that they made a variation with a meteorite bezel, I was hooked. None of my local ADs had any variation of the GSotM in stock, so I could only look at pictures. Watchworks in Portland really took a lot of time with me, and I found it to be the sort of place you can go and talk about watches rather than a stuffy jeweler. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and we ordered the watch because it offered the following: - Advanced materials - Spaceflight heritage - Fantastic 9300 movement - A bit of gold - Its understated for everyone except those who know I have to admit I am feeling a little sick about spending this much on a watch, but I feel better when I remind myself that I bought it with what most wall street investment houses call funny money. I will update this thread as time goes on with how this watch wears. I have already marred the soft edges of the strap trying to adjust the deployment, even though I was really careful. I have worn a bracelet for years, so a leather strap feels different. I look forward to dressing it down in a NATO or other unusual straps. Below are some pictures.
Great story! Beautiful watch! You should definitely get grandpa’s up and running though - it’s a nice alternative if you need to dress up and want something very understated under your cuff!
Fantastic watch and awesome story. Watchworks in PDX is fantastic and my go to for Omega. Congratulations and enjoy the amazing timepiece!!
Casio...cool watch GSotM...nice watch Omega seamaster..nice watch Tag...nice watch Grandfather's Omega...GREAT memory. Get it going and wear it...a lot. Have fun kfw
Get someone GOOD at repairing vintage watches to look at your grandpa's. Make it clear that you only want the movement serviced.
Thanks guys, I will go ahead and have them service the movement on my Grandpa's watch. The hands appear to have a bit of damage, replace them or leave them?
So I don't know if anyone on these forums will relate to this, but I have decided to name my GSotM "Vault of Glass." First of all, when you look at the sapphires on both sides, that is pretty much what it is. But here is the other thing. A popular game came out a few years ago called Destiny. One of the great challenges of the game was called the Vault of Glass where you go up against an alien mechanical species that manipulates the flow of time. If you success, and it took my team more than 12 hours to do so the first time, you "make your own fate." Now I have noticed that the Widdmanstatten pattern on the dial of my watch makes a kind of triangle and happens to look very much like the Vault of Glass where we worked so hard to straighten the course of time.
Great choice of a watch! Love the way the gold works with the dark dial and how the Widmanstetter pattern becomes visible in the right light. Have to say that Speedys with a bit of gold are growing on me, the Apollo XI 45th being an example. Wear in good health.
Allow me to add a high-res image of that.... In the flesh this watch is stunning! Click on the image to enlarge.
I love that GSOM model, thanks for sharing. I have the same SM 300M in Titanium for 19 years now. Serviced last year.
Great watch! Congratulations! Yes, after 10 years of daily wear the 300m is definitely due for a service. And your grandfather's Seamaster would make a nice dress watch complement to the GSOM so I'd recommend getting it working too. You're in the Pacific Northwest so I'll recommend Nesbit's in Seattle. They service lots of vintage Omegas, have a parts account, and have friendly service.
Had I been in the UK I would have purchased one of these from DLT222 no question. He has some beautiful examples and was very responsive to my questions.
I’ve barely taken this thing off, and therefore have noticed one complaint so far. There is not enough lume to count, and so I can’t read the time at night.
You got sucked into a necro-thread from 2 yr ago by the new guy who couldn't PM the OP with his questions...