Vintage Omega Purchasing

Hi all, I have really gotten into the vintage Omegas. I am trying to learn more about them and what to and NOT to purchase. Any advice when it comes to purchasing Vintage Seamasters and Constellations? I really like the Pie pan mondel, as I’m sure a lot do. But the prices seem to be all over for them. What do you look for when purchasing these....thanks for your thoughts and help.....

Also what would help for learning a bit about the prices is a search on the private sales forum for vintage omega models you are interested in (geneve,seamaster,constellation etc.)

Prepare to spend money

Hi and welcome. Apart from the immense source of information people have written here over almost a decade, you can also check a youtube channel called Omega Enthusiast.

He is a watchmaker based in Canada if I am not mistaken and is also very knowledgeable. There is even a series of videos called "Spot the issue" where you can see many bad examples (redial, wrong hands, damaged bezel, etc) compared to good ones so you can train your eye.

Regarding to prices, there is no question the best place to buy a good example using your hard earned money is on the sales section of this forum.

Hi and welcome to the community,

A good place to start would be to learn about the different models and the most common ways to check the legibility of a watch (the dial and hands should match, the Omega logo etched into the crystal, the legit crown, etc.).

Then, try to narrow down to a few characteristics your ideal first Omega watch should have (mine were a manual wound caliber, a date, oversized onyx markers and a simple design for example). Find the models that check these boxes.

Avoid newbie mistakes: decide which references interest you the most and then study them hard, hard, hard. There’s a lot of botched, mismatched stuff out there and all of us have, at one time or another, made bad purchases because we weren’t careful enough. You’ll be surprised at how many valuable resources are available online these days.

Until you’re really up to speed, I suggest no impulse buying, particularly on eBay or the like. You can ask any of us how we know that. On the other hand, the private sales forum here is a pretty reasonable marketplace.

Welcome!