Vintage Ladies Cocktail Watch

[blanketgremlin]

Hi all! I know vintage ladies watches aren't much, but my grandmother recently gifted me a watch. The crystal had a chip and subsequently cracked, and the band has a small kink. Before I go in to get it serviced blind, is there anyone who has a rough date on the watch and/or if this is authentic? 14K stamped, presumably solid gold. Fully mechanical.

Grandfather worked in jewelry years ago, so I'm inclined to believe it's real or custom with an omega mechanism.

It's a sentimental piece, but I have no clue if I should get it insured before handing it off to a watch place (the crystal is non-standard and may take a while to replace, I suspect that the mechanism needs some love, and I've never owned a nice piece of jewelry before). If the cost of getting it insured/repaired outweighs the value of the thing, then arguably I should just get the sucker fixed now.

Thank you!!!

Edited: Apr 24, 2023

 

[Canuck]

You’ve asked several questions. As to insuring it? Ask your insurance agent if your household policy covers the watch without your having to schedule it. If yes, ask for details of the coverage under your household insurance. If no, then ask what your deductible would be if you have it appraised, then take out a rider on it. Ask the agent about the liability of the insurance company if the watch shop loses your watch. They may or may not cover you if the shop loses it. You really need to talk to your insurance company for answers to those types of questions.

You asked if it would be perhaps more than the watch is worth to insure it and have it serviced. If a $20.00 Wal-Mart quartz watch would fill your need for a watch, then the Omega isn’t worth it! You say it is a sentimental piece. What is sentiment worth? Sentimentally, it may be worth your expense. Only you can answer that. If it would please you to have it to enjoy, I suggest get it done. You’ll have to learn how to live with a mechanical watch, perhaps after years of wearing quartz watches.

Date? Late 1970s, early 1980s. I suggest that it is real.

 

[blanketgremlin]

Thanks for the speedy reply!

I've never worn a watch, quartz or mechanical, aside from this before the crystal went, so this being dear to my heart + not a Walmart quartz watch is anxiety inducing! I also have no clue what I'm dealing with and feel kind of like a kid when going to shops for quotes, so having a vague date range and sanity check helps.

Having insurance is more of a way to tell myself it'll be fine if I leave the watch with someone for a month--if this vanishes, I could, but wouldn't, go out and purchase a new Omega. I have other jewelry of my grandmother's to wear and/or have redone. The advice there is useful--I'll check my policy and give my agent a call.

I've gone into shops that have quoted repairs between 90-300 bucks (reasonable by my standards) and even bucked up and went into the NY flagship (over 1k, I frame this watch at that point), so the tradeoff of insurance vs. repair vs. just hiding it away in a closet has been tugging me around. This is useful. Thank you!

 

[Dan S]

Likely a few hundred dollars of gold, mostly in the band. The financial value isn't much beyond that, so most likely it doesn't need special insurance, IMO. And the sentimental value can't be insured. Watch repair shops are handling watches worth thousands of dollars every day, so I don't think you need to be concerned about it disappearing. If you can see yourself using it, then by all means get it repaired and enjoy it.

Edited: Apr 24, 2023