Two years searching and finally found a decent set of hands. I am happy now and can move on to the next project.
Just got this back from the Omega watch specialist.... Don't know anything about the history, but it looks awesome now!
Ok, here are some of my Constellations. Please forgive the red strap on the solid gold Constellation. My wife hijacked the watch and I wouldn't let her keep the original Omega strap and buckle!
Now that I got my Constellation back from my watchmaker, I can finally post about it! This is my C-case reference 168.029. I bought it on eBay from the second owner of this watch. Apparently, the seller inherited it in 1975 from his grandfather, who purchased it in 1969 from his Omega dealer. It's a little unusual because the knurled bezel, which on stainless steel, non-gold filled C-case Connies is usually white gold, is in this instance yellow gold. I'm quite confident that it isn't "dirty" white gold, or white gold that lost its rhodium coating. It's thus the only two-tone C-case Constellation that I've seen. Does this mean it could be a franken? Maybe. I prefer to think not, of course, and would appreciate if people could help me figure this out either way. I would like to believe the seller who says all of this is original. It initially was sold to me with a different bracelet which had gold plated center links. But I can't really identify it. It is signed Omega, doesn't have a part number on the clasp, and has "77" stamped on the endlinks. I know most Constellations from this era came from Omega with leather straps. But the person who sold this to me said that his grandfather purchased it with a bracelet. I have since replaced it with a 1040 bracelet, which I bought here on OF. Here it is. Yes. I'm super happy with this.
Brought back to life by the one and only Archer earlier this year. I’ve got the crown and stem that came with the watch but figured it made sense to have Archer make sure it was safe to wear in the rain and put on a service crown. If I ever end up selling I’m sure the buyer will be happy to have the original part to go along with the new crown.
Oh man.... Beautiful.... So jelly. So what's with a few 14381 having just 'Chronometer' as opposed to the full 'Chronometer Officially Certified'?
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