I thought I would share the results of my last hunt, two weeks ago. A few months ago I was fortune to get a really nice black dialed Seamaster 2846 gold capped (pic below) . I have had a few 2846 references (white dialed) through my collectors years but sort of never felt that they were special. But then I landed the one above and all of a sudden I felt love The dial is still very much in 1950s desig range and the entrance of the full rotor caliber is making it more robust, reliable and accurate compared to previous bumper cousins. The case design is also quite specific for this transitional period. A bit smaller at 34 mm, still fat lugs, but wider when looking from above and clearly distinguished from the rest of the case with sharp corners. Anyhow, as many of you know, when you get one you like, you know what the next step is..Find another one ASAP . Two weeks ago I stumbled over something that looked very interesting. The seller had only few reviews and didn't look like a watch dealer but rather antique " mix of everything " money maker. The pictures below were the only ones he had and when asked for more he said he was not at home. Didn't look too promising but I decided to take a shot in the wild and try my luck. Put the top bid in the last second and got it for 650 euro. Not so cheap considering the pictures and no movement pictures at all. Few days later, picked up the package from my mail office and to my surprise it was very heavy . I was specific when describing the way it should be packed but 2 kg felt like overkill for any sorts of protecting material. Opened it and got a shock A bunch of silver spoons.. Got the seller on the phone and it turned out he mixed up my delivery with another guy (who obviously is collecting silver items). About 20 mails, 10 calls, and 5 stressful days later I finally got the right package. Got to work immediately... Movement out..and jackpot.. look at that dial Just stunning... untouched, pink gold arrows, haircross, shiny and beautiful! Popped out the old crystal and gave the case a gentle tooth paste and brush bath. Opened my Omega parts box and was very happy when I found an original nos crystal marked ref 2576 which according to my list was Old Omega nr 6 crystal. Same crystal that is original to ref 2846 and a bunch of other like 2848-2853. Diameter 29,6 mm. Time for my Bergeon 5500. Note, Omega logo properly placed . Snapped perfectly! Now carefully putting the movement back but before that one more shot of that lovely dial . How choosing a perfect nos Omega original strap..which took about 1 minute, cause I only have 2 left .. Heree is a picture of the movement. Looks pretty good to me, works just fine but of course it needs a proper service. I have done what stretches within my watchmakers abilities so the rest is up to my real watchmaker I hope he has the correct crown as the one on the watch is obviously not original. All in all, I feel quite happy with my new gem and together with a golden capped one I have ticked the boxes for black dialed Seamasters 2846 (for now ). I hope you enjoyed my little story and finally here are few nice shots taken in the daylight. Happy hunting, Kapka
Maybe you can rub some of that Sensodyne on your temples the next time you get a box of spoons instead of a watch . Congrats on the Seamaster. It is great to hear these shot-in-the-dark stories working out so well.
Black dials always scare me but nice to hear there’s still legit pieces still out there waiting to be loved! Bravo!
Lol..love you attention for details . Sensodyne is the key part in the process. Luckily, Sensodyne Repair and Protect is a 3-in-1 product that repairs, strengthens, and protects the watch all at once. Colgate would kill it
Good to know Just think of all the money that has been wasted on watchmaking tools when a humble tube of sensodyne would do the trick
Fantastic pick-up! This is what we all hope for when we take a gamble on eBay- and I have found the pickers tend to have the bargain gems, not the watch guys. My best scores have been from estate sale sellers. Oh and since it hasn’t been said- dibs.
Thank you! It's not easy to gamble, bu sometimes you just have to pull the trigger. Ebay is a jungle but as you mentioned there are still good real estate deals available. My main strategy is to make sure that the seller is not only selling watches.. I can tell that he was quite shocked over the final bid. He was expecting much lower
The absolute best way to buy watches. It's like a mini Christmas morning when you open the package, see up close what you've got and start to remove the tears of grime. Great find.
This seems to be the trick- the regular watch sellers are usually either very over priced, or they are selling off their junk (sometimes cobbled watches or beaters dressed up for sale). The pickers just list it as found so they are generally very honest watches. But they don’t know exactly what they have so they could be redials or someone else’s junk. Trying to ask for details or movement shots, or call out a picker on junk or fakes is futile- they generally don’t know Much about it (only a quick look-up on finished eBay auctions), so it’s up to us to do the homework.
My '56 ref 2846 . . . . . . waves hello! Art PS - if you're looking for a clover replacement crown, don't bother contacting Otto Frei. They're out of stock now.
