I have been fascinated by the PAF issued Omega's but have rarely found these for sale until recently.

A seller based in Italy claims to have a few of these with the extract of the archives from Omega confirming that they were in fact issued to PAF in the 60's (he has shared images of the Omega extract with me). These look good to me (almost too good???) but I am not an expert and would appreciate any advice or tips before potentially proceeding, if at all. My primary concern is the following:

1 - Are either of these relumed or redialed? They seem to be in great condition for their age. The seamaster 30 is from 69, the Railmaster is from 60.
2 - What would be the price for these? I understand the railmaster is probably more rare but typically what range should these fall under to be considered reasonable and fair?

First the Seamaster 30 (reference 135.011), which is 34.5mm w/o crown.



Then the railmaster (reference CK 2914), which is 36mm w/o crown.

 

I think both dial are not original. Too pristine to have seen military use. Lower dial was originally radium lume. Not anymore I'm guessing.

 

A 2914 Railmaster with snapback case ? Don't think so
Looks like a 2996 "Ranchero" case to me .. but these were also made for the PAF. So what does the extract/inner caseback say?

 

Both Omege archive extracts below:

 

Good point, bottom one looks like a Ranchero case. Any photos of the caseback of the bottom one? I would guess it says 2996 not 2914

 

Railmaster definitely wrong . back engravings as well. i had a few of these over the years. all with extracts. long sold. and the dial does not look to me like it has luminous wells for the lume. ....... if the excerpt is correct, then it might have been for a real one, the watch sold and new one watch made to look like it...... these engravings are not complicated with a Pantograph. anyway, need mvmt. and inner case back pics. to start with. kind regards. achim

 

Yes the second one is a 2996 Ranchero not a 2914 Railmaster, but the serial number matches the extract so something is fishy. Ask the seller why the extract shows the wrong reference and to see a picture of movement and inner caseback.

 

2996 Ranchero for comparison

 

Thanks everyone. The seller refers to it as a Ranchero 2996, but I have been referring to it here as Railmaster because thats what the extract says. The extract also gives a different reference no than the case back but the serial no matches. When i asked the seller about this all he said was that its "all original" and that there was paperwork (i.e. the archive doc from Omega) to state this.

 

Well it’s not a Railmaster so either the extract is wrong or the engraving is fake. Does the serial number on the movement match?

 

Sorry, I don't have open caseback pictures but have asked for them.

 

Archive papaerwork never tells you it is all original.
To me it seems like both dials have been refinished/redone and caseback for the 2996/railmaster is not original.

 

In my quest for the PAF models I've come across Ranchero as well which have a similar look but are more affordable, like the one posted above.

It seems the Ranchero come in different types with some having broad arrow hands while others don't. Further, the dial has variations such as the placement of the Ranchero word and the 30mm, like the one in the picture below:

 

I question the dial on your last one also. Look at Gemini's.
In yours, numbers wrong. The ends of the three curls in too much. The circles inside the 6 and 9 are too round.
The 6 is too high up on the dial. The hashmarks are too short. Many many (did I say many?) fakes out there.

 

This dial is fake. At least the previous ones are only relumed, they are ok at the right price.

You should study these a lot more carefully, unless you are interested in the military connection you don’t need to look for PAF issued ones.

You are looking for one of the most faked models around and you don’t sound very familiar with it, you are going to get burned.

 

For a second I thought P.A.F stood for phony as f$#k.

 

I will second this opinion. These watches are often faked/modified/etc., and you need to have significant experience to avoid these.
If your interest in these models specifically, I would suggest looking at trusted dealers or, although they don't show up often, at the sales forum here. Just recently, a fantastic example was sold here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/original-1958-omega-ranchero-with-archive-extract.63165/#post-790352

 

Gratuitous Ranchero Family Photo

 

I need to get myself one of those bor bracelets. Anyone got a spare?

 

Love that black dial one @micampe!