Hi - I've been trying to find information about this watch my Father gave me as a gift in 2006. I've taken it to a local jeweler to have it cleaned and to see if he could give me any information about it. No joy. I'm hoping others might be able to shine some light on this watch. So far, my searching has turned up somewhat cold...

He received it as a trade from his brother (my uncle) in the early '70s when he went to visit him in Spain. My uncle might have purchased it in the 60's (not sure about that time period though). My uncle liked my Father's watch, so they traded...

From what I can find so far is:

• It's a Omega Constellation and its platinum - at least that's what I was told
• When the jeweler cleaned the watch, I had him take some photos of the movement. One thing I thought was odd was the serial number was scratched out
• The watch back cover is 'blank' - don't know if this is normal

Thanks for any help provided

 

Platinum? That would be a first for me. The back looks like a different metal - like stainless steel. There usually is an observatory medallion on the back of these 168.027's and they have a caliber 564 inside. Something is really weird about your watch. We need photos of the inside of the case back and movement.

 

Normally you would find this case back on this reference, note it is a screw back.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Jeweler stated it was platinum, but I want to take it someplace that does appraisals to make sure.

I have the movement photos somewhere saved when I first took the watch to the jewelers... I'll see if I can find it, otherwise I can take some tonight or this weekend.

A gut feeling is that it was a custom/frankin watch - the back was a giveaway and the serial number being scratched out for some reason.

 

Good news - found the photos of the movement. Bad news - they're on an old CF card and I don't have a reader at home to transfer the photos. I have one at the office and I'll upload them Monday morning (unless I find a reader/adapter or old laptop at home).

Thanks again for for all your help.

 

OK, it's Monday and here are the photos - I had the jeweler take these when he cleaned the watch. My father was a farmer and he sometimes would wear this while working:

 

Any suggestions on what to do next with this watch? From what I can gather looking at other posts, I would want to try to keep this watch as original as possible... Trying to figure out why the SN is scratched out. I would like to see what the number is, so I might be able to find some more info on this watch. I'm assuming the back twists off, but you know what happens when you assume

The crown and back doesn't look original to the watch - should I find a replacement for them? Also, not a real fan of metal bracelets, was thinking of leather.

 

Looks like maybe 18k white gold! very nice....Not sure about nuked out serial number-not good though... am no expert..others will be along....

 

If gold or platinum, why no hallmark stamps

 

inside case back and bracelet are marked 18k...You can have it acid tested to confirm...If it is 18k gold-there looks like a lot of it. You can scrap the gold for a very nice price!

 

removal of ser numbers more likely make one think of stolen items, well being a retired police officer it makes me wonder….

 

no hallmark on watch lugs.
caseback has no Omega stamps
caseback and case metals look different as Dennis pointed out.
bracelet, have no clue, looks weird also

 

I was wondering this too. The watch was originally from Spain and my uncle was in law enforcement. Not sure how my uncle acquired it. But, both my father and uncle have been gone for a while now, so no answers from them... just the story of the trade.

I was going to attempt to take the back off and see if I could figure out the serial number. Do a little CSI - Clock Scene Investigation.

 

It's an aftermarket caseback and it's probably not gold. Have it tested.

 

OK, here's my take:

Stainless steel top case, hence the lack of hallmarks, with custom made gold case back and bracelet.

White gold isn't really that white so it's usually rhodium plated. The outside of OPs case back has had the plating polished off giving it a yellow hue typical of un-plated white gold.

The thing I cant figure out is the snap back on what AFAIK is always a screw back case.

 

WTF? Why not just use rhodium plated yellow gold? Or rhodium plated rhodium?

 

Or rhododendrons?

Maybe the whole case is aftermarket.

 

I don't think the case is not stainless - at least that what I was told and it doesn't feel like any stainless I've seen.

Two sources told me it was platinum, one being the jeweler and another being a security guard at the courthouse When I took it off to walk through the detector, he commented on my watch. I had some time and he wasn't busy, so he showed me the image on his screen and how he could tell the type of metal it was. Now, this isn't proof positive and I feel I need to take it someplace that specializes in this. One of my co-workers has a friend that works for Christie's Auctions House, so he's forwarding my photo to her...

I know one thing - I'm sure learning more about watches and wanted to thank everyone for their patience and help.

 

I was wondering if this was the case too (no pun intended).