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Trying to "buy the seller" for 38mm vintage Omega - opinions
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dave steele
·What's the upper end of your budget?
would like to stay around $1k
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dave steele
·38mm vintage really makes it quite difficult to find but not impossible. You shouldn't rush it since what you're going to buy is going to cost quite a bit of money.
Are you dead set on the 50s ? If you want higher chances of finding larger watches and you want them to be a bit more "durable" in various conditions you could try looking for a 70s Omega dress watch. Much higher chances of getting a watch with a screw down case back. I still wouldn't go in the rain with a vintage Omega unless it had a screw down crown and case back.
Out of the 2 I'd get the 1st one although it's a bit bothersome that you have to get the correct crown for it. Also I think the crystal is not Omega as it doesn't state that it is...
I'm not dead set on the '50's, but I do like the look of the 50/60's era watches. The 70's watches I've looked at haven't really done it for me, but that doesn't mean there isn't one out there that speaks to me that I haven't found.
As for rushing it, I don't really plan to, but I don't want to miss a chance at a 38mm if they don't come around that often.
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dsio
··Ash @ ΩFwould like to stay around $1k
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dialstatic
·What a well thought-through first post. It makes for a nice change from the more typical "what's my uncle's gold capped ladies' watch worth?" request.
As for the size, I did a little research into the evolution of case sizes a while ago and while many of us tend to think of 36mm as fairly small for a gents' watch, this is clearly a recent development. The popularity of the size actually increases up to and including the 1980s, and only from the 1990s onward do we see a drop in favour of larger watches. Of course, the influence of the DateJust is enormous (almost 70% of 36mm wacthes in my dataset were Rolexes and almost 45% were Datejusts).
Judging from your avatar (what a refreshing idea to actually use a picture of yourself!) you don't strike me as a particularly heavyset fellow, so I highly doubt a 36mm watch would appear comically small on your wrist - it may well just be a matter of getting used to it. As has been stated above, it'll be somewhat tricky to find a 38mm watch from that era. It's actually not a very popular diameter in general: as you can see in my first graph, there's a conspicuous 'size gap' at 37-38-39mm in any decade.
I can't tell from your posts precisely how committed you are to the 1950s or 1960s watch style. If I infer from your first link that your budget is around $1250, then there are surely very nice 36mm Omega Seamsters from that era to be had (a bumper movement comes to mind - should be of some interest to an engineer such as yourself). The same cautions as above apply: any waterproof claims are to be taken with a grain of salt (or two), and one must be weary of redialled specimens.
If indeed you are not wedded to the idea of a 50s-60s dress watch, there are nice chronographs out there that do measure 38mm or thereabouts - a Speedmaster Reduced comes to mind, or possibly the dressier Ebel 1911 Chronograph (an in my opinion underrated watch with a decidedly eighties look that has the legendary Zenith El Primero movement) or if you want a more vintage-looking model, a nice gold-capped Chronograph Suisse or Titus Chronograph.
Good luck hunting!
As for the size, I did a little research into the evolution of case sizes a while ago and while many of us tend to think of 36mm as fairly small for a gents' watch, this is clearly a recent development. The popularity of the size actually increases up to and including the 1980s, and only from the 1990s onward do we see a drop in favour of larger watches. Of course, the influence of the DateJust is enormous (almost 70% of 36mm wacthes in my dataset were Rolexes and almost 45% were Datejusts).
Judging from your avatar (what a refreshing idea to actually use a picture of yourself!) you don't strike me as a particularly heavyset fellow, so I highly doubt a 36mm watch would appear comically small on your wrist - it may well just be a matter of getting used to it. As has been stated above, it'll be somewhat tricky to find a 38mm watch from that era. It's actually not a very popular diameter in general: as you can see in my first graph, there's a conspicuous 'size gap' at 37-38-39mm in any decade.
I can't tell from your posts precisely how committed you are to the 1950s or 1960s watch style. If I infer from your first link that your budget is around $1250, then there are surely very nice 36mm Omega Seamsters from that era to be had (a bumper movement comes to mind - should be of some interest to an engineer such as yourself). The same cautions as above apply: any waterproof claims are to be taken with a grain of salt (or two), and one must be weary of redialled specimens.
If indeed you are not wedded to the idea of a 50s-60s dress watch, there are nice chronographs out there that do measure 38mm or thereabouts - a Speedmaster Reduced comes to mind, or possibly the dressier Ebel 1911 Chronograph (an in my opinion underrated watch with a decidedly eighties look that has the legendary Zenith El Primero movement) or if you want a more vintage-looking model, a nice gold-capped Chronograph Suisse or Titus Chronograph.
Good luck hunting!
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dave steele
·Search for a 166.0032 or 168.0023 (Chronometer version), that is the watch for you.
I kinda like the gold watch, not sure about the silver...
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jurisevac@
·Omega seamstress 168.035/Cal.564.
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cicindela
··Steve @ ΩFI kinda like the gold watch, not sure about the silver...
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dave steele
·As for the size, I did a little research into the evolution of case sizes a while ago and while many of us tend to think of 36mm as fairly small for a gents' watch, this is clearly a recent development. The popularity of the size actually increases up to and including the 1980s, and only from the 1990s onward do we see a drop in favour of larger watches... ...I highly doubt a 36mm watch would appear comically small on your wrist - it may well just be a matter of getting used to it. As has been stated above, it'll be somewhat tricky to find a 38mm watch from that era. It's actually not a very popular diameter in general: as you can see in my first graph, there's a conspicuous 'size gap' at 37-38-39mm in any decade.
I see I have some reading when I get home tonight... My wrist is 7.5"... 36mm isn't comically small, but I had a bunch of quartz watches in various sizes (I went through a Skagen fashion watch period that I'm not exactly proud of). I had 34mm/36mm/38mm & 40mm. The 38 size always looked "right" to me.
I can't tell from your posts precisely how committed you are to the 1950s or 1960s watch style. If I infer from your first link that your budget is around $1250, then there are surely very nice 36mm Omega Seamsters from that era to be had (a bumper movement comes to mind - should be of some interest to an engineer such as yourself). The same cautions as above apply: any waterproof claims are to be taken with a grain of salt (or two), and one must be weary of redialled specimens.
I guess I should try a few vintage 36mm on... just to compare. I've recently read that the smaller bezel sizes make the vintage watches wear bigger vs present day cases.
If indeed you are not wedded to the idea of a 50s-60s dress watch, there are nice chronographs out there that do measure 38mm or thereabouts - a Speedmaster Reduced comes to mind, or possibly the dressier Ebel 1911 Chronograph (an in my opinion underrated watch with a decidedly eighties look that has the legendary Zenith El Primero movement) or if you want a more vintage-looking model, a nice gold-capped Chronograph Suisse or Titus Chronograph.
Not wedded to the era, but am wedded to a light faced dress watch. I have a 15yr old 38mm gold plate/black dial DuBois chrono and a toolish SKX beater watch. I'm looking for a light face dress watch to fill in the "gap"
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kingsrider
·I have a little experience with Omega Addict. He bought one of my watches off Ebay. He advertised the he serviced it. A new non Omega crystal and turned it around and sold it for a tidy profit. I'm not saying I have a problem with it (I made a tidy profit too) but he is sourcing at least some of his watches from Ebay. My advice is be patient and cut out the middle man.
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Andy K
·
Had not seen that before. Great stuff, from one watch nerd that enjoys research and graphs to another! 👍
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cicindela
··Steve @ ΩFHere is one on eBay that meets you criteria.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AWESOME-VIN...587928?hash=item25c6b5b858:g:5JsAAOSwal5YCO-5
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AWESOME-VIN...587928?hash=item25c6b5b858:g:5JsAAOSwal5YCO-5
This website may earn commission from Ebay sales.
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dsio
··Ash @ ΩFThese Seamasters wear bigger than their size lets on also, different watches wear bigger or smaller depending on case style, lugs and various other factors.
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dave steele
·Here is one on eBay that meets you criteria.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AWESOME-VIN...587928?hash=item25c6b5b858:g:5JsAAOSwal5YCO-5
Is it "normal" for the casebacks to be stamped "Stainless Steel" around the Seamaster logo?
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TNTwatch
·Search for a 166.0032 or 168.0023 (Chronometer version), that is the watch for you.
Here is one on eBay that meets you criteria.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AWESOME-VIN...587928?hash=item25c6b5b858:g:5JsAAOSwal5YCO-5
PS: The 168.035 that jurisevac showed above is 38mm indeed.
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cicindela
··Steve @ ΩFI believe the case is 36.5 , but it wears big.
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TNTwatch
·I'm new/noob to the horology thing and am worried that the engineer in me is causing me to oversweat my search for a 38mm vintage Omega to wear as a "daily driver" for work (typical attire in avatar). Everything I've read is that I need to "buy the seller", so I've found two watches I like and am trying to do my homework... I would love any opinions on the watches, or the sellers?
Omega_addict - my googling him finds many references to frankenwatch, which scares me. And this particular watch looks so clean it makes me suspicious. I assume the case is polished and the posting mentions a new crystal and crown, but the copper parts of the 265 movement look "off" as well. He hasn't responded to me emailed questions to this point, so I'm not sure what to think.
Derek Dier "Watchestobuy.com" - he mentions sourcing watches for Mad Men, but I'm not sure if I think that's good or bad. I assume the TV show would want watches that LOOK brand new and wouldn't care whether the watch is genuine. This 38mm looks more it's age, but again... I'm looking for expert input.
My goal is something that looks good and isn't fake in case I want to resell it going forward.
Finally, 38mm seems few and far between - what is the going rate for the vintage "oversize" watches? I wish I could wear 36mm, but that size seems to look like a penny on my wrist.
Thanks,
dave
Derek seems to have no concept or awareness of a Frankenwatch. I've seen a lot of frankens on his site over the years, and consequently, I've seen some of his customers who had no idea about Frankenwatch either (but of course had high regard for this dealer). Watch out for what you're looking at on his website.
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heavenscloud
·Walking in the rain is fine. Don't wear it in the shower though.
Walking in the rain with the watch exposed is fine? 🤔
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dialstatic
·Had not seen that before. Great stuff, from one watch nerd that enjoys research and graphs to another! 👍
Thank you! I obvioulsy chose the wrong forum to post it on (I think I had been a member over here for only two weeks when I wrote it). As you'll no doubt find, what I wrote is full of assumptions (some of which I acknowdge and some I wasn't even aware of at the time) and I don't assess the statistical significance of my results, but I still think it shows some mildly interesting trends. The comments over there on 'the other forum' have been quite helpful, and I've always wanted to take another stab at improving it. Obvioulsy I'll post on these boards this time around 😉
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dave steele
·Thank you! I obvioulsy chose the wrong forum to post it on (I think I had been a member over here for only two weeks when I wrote it). As you'll no doubt find, what I wrote is full of assumptions (some of which I acknowdge and some I wasn't even aware of at the time) and I don't assess the statistical significance of my results, but I still think it shows some mildly interesting trends. The comments over there on 'the other forum' have been quite helpful, and I've always wanted to take another stab at improving it. Obvioulsy I'll post on these boards this time around 😉
I'm curious how much average wrist size has changed over the last 50+ years. I know my grandfather was much smaller than me, my father was smaller (but taller than my grandfather), and my son is taller than I am. Also look at football players, basketball players, beds, handrails on staircases, etc
That still doesn't excuse the hockey pucks that some wear as watches these days...
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