hi guys, apologies if this is in the wrong section, i hope the mods keep me right.

I'm a fairly new poster and still getting into Omega having a few other brands already in the collection. I recently purchased a CK2998 and its spiked my interest further.

I must add that whilst I love some vintage watches getting in to deep and making a purchase scares me as the risk is so high. With that said I've started looking at the WatchCo SM300s which appear to be fairly widespread but would welcome the thoughts of the forummers as to how this sits within the community. The eternal question will always be is it a franken watch but in anything I've heard thus far I have yet to hear a convincing argument either way.

I've read about a few on here, i like the look for Photo500 and the LWC - are they better or worse than anyone else WatchCo included and would anyone recommend either buying or steering clear of any derivative of this model

 

There is Watchco and ""Watchco".

One is a company that fully serviced movements and put them in brand new cases with brand new parts. The other is ???? With sometimes questionable movements and normally but not always new old stock parts. Basically it's a a brand name that became synonymous with Seamasters rebuilt from other parts.

Pictures mean a lot on these, with a movement picture needed. There is simply no way to comment on these without seeing the watch. They will never be worth as much as an all original piece, but a good one is not cheap and a great daily wear watch.

 

There are also a number of fake SM300 cases being used, some sellers are stating they are not genuine Omega cases but I'm sure these cases will make their way around the market so you should be aware of this when looking at any SM300.

I have a SM300 which was built by Watchco in 2012, I guess you could call it a genuine Watchco

 

There may be a high risk associated with a vintage SM300, but with a little patience and research you should be able to find a good one. The results are worth it.

 

I've read a fair bit on WatchCo and the plethora of "NOS" SM300s now available on the watch market. It does seem to me that calling something NOS, when it's very questionable that you can actually possess enough original spares to put together these watches as genuine Omegas, is a very grey area. These have been available for 8-9 years now, so surely most of any spares stockpile will be long gone, and therefore these watches are effectively produced from new parts made to the original specs. To my noob mind, that makes it a replica and not an authentic Omega, and that they should be sold as such. This may an be an oversimplification on my part, so if any of the great and good of this esteemed forum would like to put me straight, I'm all ears.

 

This is why when someone approaches me with all the parts they have bought and asks me to assemble one, I won't do it. I'll only do this is I know where the parts come from - too many dodgy parts out there these days.

That company is very loose (misleading at best in my view) with the use of the term "NOS" as the cases, dials, and hands are just simply new parts - there's nothing "old" about them. Omega still makes all these parts, so as long as they come from Omega, it's a real Omega.

As I've mentioned before, Omega does allow the conversion of one watch to another, so if you have an old DeVille with the same movement used in an SM300, they are fine with you having a watch that you own converted from one model completely to another. What they are not fine with is people buying up old movements, buying new cases, dials, and hands, doing the conversion on a whole bunch of these, and selling completed watches. If you have a parts account with Omega and do this, you risk losing it as a result. I have discussed this issue at length with Omega and was told that doing what Watchco and some others do would be grounds for having a parts account pulled. I can't say if that's why Watchco lost theirs though...

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks for clarifying that, makes it less of a grey area if proper Omega supplied parts are used. The "NOS" thing really needs to go though, as it's nigh-on impossible to verify, and it's certainly misleading people into thinking they're buying a vintage watch when large quantities of parts are of new manufacture.

 

But clearly not all buyers know - I see many references to these being built from an "old stash of parts" when people describe the watches they have bought - it's misleading...

 

Have anyone of you ever seen a watchco build with a Big Triangle dial?
I mean, for no-date models the 3/6/9/12 dials are pretty common, for date models 6/9/12 dials are popular.
I am wondering it is because people just prefer 12 arabic marker over the BT marker, or it is just impossible to buy BT NOS/service dial?

 

No such dial is available - the two you see are all there is...

 

Sorry, can I approach him via general mail ([email protected]), or there is a specific mail for watchco builds? Thanks

 

it's not "illegal"

inaccurately describing something on ebay is not a crime. no need to be dramatic.

 

You don't happen to sell used cars for a living do you?

 

oh, are you in the market? I may know where you can acquire an absolutely *ahem* barely used, *cough* beauty. It's a real steal if yaknowwhatImean....

 

There are better Watchco's than "Watchco's" out there. There is one in the OF sales section, I will not say any more as last time the mods pulled me up for advertising. I wish you well on your quest, it is worth it.

 

plain wrong. kind regards. achim

 

It's a frankenwatch. If it didn't leave the factory as a complete watch (s/n on movement matched to case ref. #). It's not original.

Just seems odd that Omega continued to make the cases, dial and hands, but never sold them as a complete watch later on. I'n guessing that was due to the calibers that were no longer being made to fit the case and not possible to redesign the inside for later calibers.

Again odd that they have/had the dies to make the matching movements, but didn't

Even today they still produce the cases (I think), but added an extra number to the last case I bought in 2009 over the previous one I bought from Watchco in 2003.

Didn't even complete the last one. Sold it off in parts to another person to do.

DON

 

There have often been questions about whether or not they serviced the movements... a few have show up here over the years with... well worn... not obviously maintained movements fitted... allegedly.

 

Not sure why it's odd that Omega makes replacement cases, dials, and hands for their products. That's all these are - replacement parts meant to support the service/repair of watches. They still make many cases for watches that are no longer in production. Omega does commit to having parts available for a watch at least 20 years after the production of that specific model stops, but they often carry on making parts long after that. This is not unique to Omega either...

Cheers, Al

 

I feel what can make a "Watchco" SM300 reasonably genuine is when the serial number verifies the movement started life in a SM300. If it did, then the rest is replacing the worn parts around it.