I was wondering which crown is the original style crown for my new Constellation; it is a 14381-7 SC, serial # 17018382 from 1960. It has an Omega crown but I am pretty sure it is a replacement. Thanks in advance.

 

There are two correct crowns, it can use either the decagonal crown, or the one that looks like a sprocket, if you google you will see it in most of the images. I believe the latter one was common for the american market.

 

Mine has an extremely early(17000xxx) serial number with a "skinny" decagonal crown

 

"Correct" is a funny word that implies that there's a rock of truth out there somewhere that can be uncovered to deliver us absolute certainty. Sadly, in the case of Omega, and probably most aspects of life, that kind of certitude is beyond us mere mortals

There are at least a couple of ways in which to determine "correctness" in respect to Omega watches. The first is what the good 'book' says, that is, how was the design story originally documented, and the second, how the design was interpreted by others, such as in-country agents, advertising and marketing types at Omega and elsewhere and indeed retailers.

So, given that rider, I would suggest the book says that the decagonal crown is part of the original design story. However, in some advertising material from the the early Sixties published internationally we see at least three crowns being shown with pre-C-Shape cal 56X models apart from the slim decagonal.

Hence, it depends what reference point against which you wish to establish 'correctness'. For my money, and from conversations with the ever-diminishing group of Omega people who were around at the time, I would argue that the decagonal crown is the most correct, with the clover leaf and other rounded crowns seen in advertising being correct-ish. But, in those instances, they would only ever being correct-ish if the watch originally left the point of sale with that crown. Confused? Join the club, and perhaps we can all then agree that the default is the decagonal.

Cheers

Desmond

 

I believe that the crown on my 14381is “correctish” to quote @mondodec:

 

Yup the default will be the decagonal crown like the other constellations, the other will be the flat “scalloped”? crown like this

 

@mondodec, when you say that a cloverleaf crown would be correct-ish, are you talking Constellations in general and not 14.XXX's? I've only ever seen cloverleaf crowns on 50s references.

Here are three 14.381/393s I own:



I'd say that the slim scalloped crown and the decagonal one are most likely original to the watches they are on.

I'd be interested in learning whether or not we could narrow the definition of "default" down to "default for a serial number range of..." or "default for that dial type" or anything like that. Knowing a bit about Omega, it's probably not possible

 

@merchandiser would you mind sharing the serial number for your Constellation? It has the same dial design as the one I have with the same type of crown which I've always considered a replacement.

 

17,750,xxx, ref 14381 - 9

 

Hmm, no correlation there. 14381-11 / 18,562,XXX here...

 

I've seen a 14381 solid gold with a clover leaf that the original owner claimed came with the watch, but I tend to agree that it's more common on 18k models of the 50s.

Cheers

desmond

 

I guess the original scalloped 14381/93 crown is unavailable from Omega now? I need one, but I guess mounting a decagonal will not amount to heresy, given @ConElPueblo's 14393 above.

 

There are two known correct crowns for the 14381/14393
If you don't know which yours originally came with then using the thin scalloped crown or the thin decagonal crown is neither incorrect nor heresy.

 

Thanks - good to know, especially when I can possibly source a decagonal

 

Definitely the much easier task than sourcing a thin scalloped crown!

 

Wow, I'm a little surprised to see this old thread resurrected. After posting this question, getting the responses I did, then doing a bit of my own research the best answer I found was that either the decagonal or the thin scalloped crown would be the "most" correct for a 14381. I also decided that the replacement crown I had afforded a better purchase to wind and set my watch so I never changed I out. At this point finding a decagonal crown is probably the easiest way to get an appropriate crown.

 

Hi!

Been doing a lot of research myself regarding the correct crown for the 14381/14393.
It turns out I got one of the "correct" crowns for my 14381, the thin scalloped crown.

My watch is in for servicing at the moment, and the crown needs to be replaced, according to my watchmaker it was in to bad shape.
How do you guys feel about the replacement crowns? I don't like them Maybe they will grow on you?

Great forum!

Kind regards,
Johan

 

If you want it to be “waterproof” then have them replace it with a new one, but it won’t be original. If you want it original, unless it’s faulty, ask them to keep it as is, but it won’t be waterproof.

 

Yes that’s what I first told him and he agreed to keep it, but he called me today and told me that he just can’t keep the original crown, it’s just to worn out unfortunately…

Anyone know if it’s just one kind of replacement crown for all the different ref. Connie’s from the 50’s-60’s?

 

No, there are two ‘correct’ original crowns for your watch.
The thin scallop and the thin decagonal.
Earlier Constellations had thicker decagonal crowns.

Unfortunately, you can’t get new thin decagonal crowns and the correct replacement is a simple (waterproof) knurled crown, which is much easier to use but not so attractive.