Just wanted to introduce myself to the forum. My name is Rick and I currently live in sunny AZ. I have always loved watches and have lusted after a Rolex Submariner since I was a teenager (I'm 39 now). I currently own the Bond Seamaster 300 (blue) purchased new in the late 90's, this vintage Constellation, a Longines (need to get more info on that as well) and some other odds and ends. Wish list includes the Submariner, a vintage SM300 and a Planet Ocean.

I have what appears to be an Omega Constellation from the 50's. It was given to me by my wife's aunt when her uncle passed away (her uncle and I shared a fondness for watches especially Omega). Anyway, the story is it was his Brother in law's watch and his company gave it to him as a gift when he was in Costa Rica. When he died my wife's uncle received the watch. This would explain the engraving on the back with with the companies name and San Juan Costa Rica. The inscription is also dated Oct 1955. I'm trying to determine the value of such a piece and find out some more information about it. It appears to be 18K gold but I don't have a case back remover and don't want to damage it so I'm waiting until I can get to a watchmaker or order the correct tool. It does seem to work, when I give it a little shake the second hand starts to move. I suspect it's a bumper movement since you can feel it move around when giving it a shake. could probably use a service though, it's been sitting in a box for the last 13 years or so I've had it.

Right now it has a cheap speidel band on it but the band that came on it was made into a bracelet for my wife's aunt. She gave the bracelet to me also, just need to have it converted back for the watch. I may end up with a nice leather band also, just need to determine the best place to get one.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you,

Rick

 

Wow, that looks like a reference 2699 - the first gold dialed pie pan Omega made. It would have a bumper caliber 354 inside. Nice watch. These are selling for $2.7K and up depending on condition.

Welcome to Omega Forums, by the way.

 

Ulackfocus,

Thank you for the prompt reply! Some of the information shared on this site is incredible, many of you are an encyclopedia for vintage timepieces . I really want to get the back off to check the movement so hopefully I can find someone soon. What would you recommend to clean/polish the case to get rid of some of the dirt that has collected? Also, where do you recommend I go for leather bands?

Awesome forum!

-Rick

 

Don't polish it because that will remove the crispness of the edges. When you have it serviced, the watch will be apart so ask the watchmaker to clean it up. Just make sure to specifiy he doesn't polish it on the wheel and ruin the case edges.

We just had a thread about that:

http://omegaforums.net/threads/straps.725/

 

Great information guys, I really appreciate it! I still want to see inside the back cover but at least I have an idea of what I have so that's a start. When I do get the back off I'll post some pics.

Rick