I guess Omega doesn't mind sitting on them for years
Or a decade+!
😉 Adding some data points around a limited edition precious metal Omega that I've come very close to purchasing several times since its debut at
BaselWorld 2013.
Reference 123.53.38.21.02.001
The Sedna gold Pie Pan dial and Arrowhead hour marker Constellation was limited to 1952 pieces. 10 years later, this limited edition PM piece is still available for purchase directly from Omega's website. I'd contacted an A.D. just this past month, who confirmed they can order it directly from the Swatch Group's U.S. warehouse. Would only offer 15% off retail though.
Each time I've looked into getting a gold watch over the past 10 years, my eyes and heart were drawn to this 1 and only modern incarnation of a Pie Pan with arrowhead hour markers. It's perfectly proportioned hands that are elongated to match the modern-size dial radius... those minute track lines running on the interior of the raised pie-pan, rather than on the outer perimeter like the Globemaster. It's silent-running 8500 series rotor... the muted resiliency of that brushed bezel with Roman numerals contrasting the sparkling glow of the high-polish claws and dial features. And the captivating beauty of the curves all around its sculpted case... each time I hold that watch in person, I fall back in love with it.
Back in
2016, the Beverly Center OB had this on display. LE # 83[x] of 1952, if I recall correctly. They would only offer 10% off.
In
2018. the San Francisco Tourbillon had it on display. The maximum discount they offered was 12%
In
2020, the Costa Mesa OB insisted on 0% discount. The Sales Associate there (whom I've purchased from in the past for other SS pieces) informed me Swatch was mandating a 0% discount policies at OB's toward the end of 2020. The most they can offer was around 1,500 USD worth of "accomodations". I could chose between watch boxes, straps, bracelets, clasps, etc. I asked if I could get 5 sets of spare straps for Pie Pan Connie, as I was worried Omega would stop making leather straps in this integrated case shape that appears bespoke to this specific LE model. Unfortunately, they had only 1 set of spare straps in their U.S. inventory, and would've had to order the rest from Swiss HQ. I ended up purchasing a Lange Saxonia manual wind instead while in Europe, at ~30% off the model's US MSRP after VAT refund.
In February
2023, I was looking to trade the Saxonia for a gold watch with a larger case diameter. A California AD confirmed the Sedna Pie Pan Constellation from Baselworld 2013 is
still available for sale. Would only take a couple days for U.S. HQ to ship it out to them, as it's currently stashed away in a warehouse and not on display at any boutiques. But the maximum discount offered was only 15% on this 10-year old LE Omega. I ended up purchasing a Breguet Classique 5177 instead, at ~20% off MSRP.
Each time I've come very close to purchasing, I ultimately
went another direction primarily because of the lack of discounts in recent years on Omega's precious metal watches. If any of the OB's or AD's discounted the LE Sedna Gold Pie Pan Connie at the standard discount rates of 25 - 35% that was customary on stainless steel Omegas a decade ago, I'd have purchased LE Constellation years ago.
But at 90% its MSRP, and hovering around 20k USD, I start scrutinizing some of its flaws. Like the slow date change on Omega movements, the usage of 4 different fonts on the dial (with an especially peculiar squished loop on the letter 'R' in chronometer), the so-so finishing... and ended up purchasing from another manufacturer instead. In the 20k - 30k USD price range, we have so many intriguing options from Lange, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Parmigiani, Moser, Blancpain, etc... that I found it difficult to rationalize spending that much money on a precious metal Omega which houses the same movement & levels of finishing that can be accessed on Omega's lower-priced stainless steel pieces.
