Hello all in this thread. I’m new to this forum and signed up after purchasing my Oceanographer Snorkel and finding this great site full of thorough information. Well just today my Snorkel arrived and I got a much better look at it after buying it on an auction site that’s not the one that starts with an “e”. Photos there are few and of poor quality, but I’ve ended up with some awesome finds from there.
I’ll be honest, this watch was not on my radar, but after it popped up in my feed for that auction site it immediately received my attention. I collect mostly vintage divers and chronographs so this fits right in that ballpark.
Here are some of my observations. The watch is from 1970, it has an incorrect crown (Caravelle), and an incorrect end link on what I presume to be an original bracelet. It has at least one service mark on the case back, which if I were to guess is when the crown replacement happened and maybe a new case back gasket installed. I say this because from what I’ve seen so far, the original rubber gaskets broke down into their old petroleum form and virtually melted onto the movement ring and case back.
I’m curious as what the likelihood of finding an original crown and single end link would be?
One note on the following photos. These were taken for my before “as received” pics, to focus on certain aspects, not the watch as a whole, and certainly not as glamour shots.
