Hi OF,
as the dots are at more distance from the numerals then i have seen before, is this a correct bezel on ebay ? https://www.ebay.nl/itm/136142893606
If that’s a fake it’s a damn good one. The analogue imperfect look of the numerals is very hard to replicate and this bezel looks very convincing to the eye. Having said that though, there is big money in these little pieces of aluminium so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if someone actually figured out how to make them look convincing enough
That’s brilliant!
Even if it’s real though, I can’t believe they want $1800 for it. Chipped all over and with a massive dent in the side. Your overlay really shows how demolished this one is compared to a good example!
That’s brilliant!
Even if it’s real though, I can’t believe they want $1800 for it. Chipped all over and with a massive dent in the side. Your overlay really shows how demolished this one is compared to a good example!
lots of wishful pricing in the bezel world. not worth it obviously but someone might just bite if they are desperately in search of one.
A dealer in Portabello Rd in London has a never fitted original still in Omega packing £5k !
I mean it’s really cool that such a thing still exists, but £5000 for a tiny little piece of aluminium.. I suppose if you happen to have an utterly mint condition case, dial and hands you could fit this and then keep it as some kind of museum piece.
How come some of the inserts have really big numbers with thin font that extends off the edges of the bezel insert, and others it’s much smaller and all fits on without clipping? I always thought the ones with smaller numbers were fakes.
This is what I meant with my last question - one has numbers extending off the bezel and the other fits within the frame. I have never understood why there is this variation
I just bought an Aftermarket one. Looks the part and I don't try to fool anyone that it's original.
I 'specialise' in Military watch collecting where The British Armed forces either farmed their watches out for repair to Contracted Watchmakers (Via REME Workshops) or to the Hydrographical department at Herstmonceaux in Sussex (for the high value watches and chornometers)
They were sent in batches of ten or so and the watchmakers cobbled together 'repaired' watches from all the bits (and whatever they had suitable in their workshops). Herstmonceuax tended to keep the same parts for each watch, but not always.
Frankenwatches are common in military watch collecting. and as long as there is no attempt at 'fraud' I dont see a problem for civvy watches either.
A good example are watch straps. There are many fine straps out there almost identical to OEM straps for a fraction of the cost, back in 2013 I bought a strap for one of my Omegas, less than a quarter of the cost, looks more or less the same.. and on the wrist no one sees the Omega stamp underneath! I also had to spend over £200 on an IWC strap because those buggers had offset the springbar holes through the strap! £200 in 2013 was not a small sum for a strap!
This is what I meant with my last question - one has numbers extending off the bezel and the other fits within the frame. I have never understood why there is this variation
My recollection is that this is just variation in production. Omega stamped the bezels, with sharper results on the early prints. As the stamps aged, the fonts got fuzzier and fatter. Also, some batches were closer to the edge. They were within acceptable tolerances.
Forgive me for not citing a source. I remember reading threads on this, which probably were written by Spacefruit. You might be able to find them in a search
I wish we had some solid insight into exactly which process they actually used, but even if we did, it likely changed over the decades the DON was produced.
I'm not sure if they were using pad printing, direct screen printing, masking + chemical/electro etching/coloring, or possibly a photo resist (though that seems overly complicated for this task). Either way, a screen or die is used that will wear and can produce variations in clarity over time, or for any other number of reasons during the manufacturing process. Alignment during the manufacturing process would give some variation that we see throughout many examples.
With a very clean '69 bezel under magnification, the process appears to have been to screen print/transfer the negative space of the aluminum blank with black( or anodization and masked erch of positive..), then apply a clear coat.
The thickness of both the black layer and the clear coat seem to have a sizeable deviation through the decades. But this is hard to tell because of time and unknown conditions of wear and tear on the examples I have access to. I think that there was a change made in the process around '68 where the coatings became thicker and more like the bezels we see from DNNs onward.
