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Looking to buy my first vintage OMEGA


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I'm not perfectly sure this is the right forum for this post but I don't believe I'm breaking any forum rules or so I hope!?

Anyway, I’m looking to buy my first manual vintage OMEGA (to restore and service) and as I really lack the necessary experience and knowledge, I’d really appreciate your advice on this OMEGA GENÈVE 14k (12 images).

It looks legit to me, and it has the (metal piece) logo on the crown and on the strap. The watch probably needs cleaning up, the movement a service, and the crystal a polish, all of which I’d really enjoy and would be able to do myself.

The current bid is now €113 ($129/£98), but I’d expect it to go for quite a bit more. Auction ends in about 10 days. So basically, I have two questions; legit and what would be a reasonable price?
I’ve looked at “completed listings” on eBay but there are so many variations that it’s very difficult for me to form an opinion.

Here’s what the seller has to say about it (translated through Google Translate from German to English):

“Manual winding. Nice received and running! Should perhaps be cleaned and polished ..

Classic OMEGA Genève men's watch from 14k 585 gold solid cal. 601 from approx. 1972
Manual wind, used, beautifully preserved, the mechanical Omega movement is running.
Original Omega crown, black leather strap, gold-plated omega clasp.

Diameter of the watch without crown about 33 mm.
Private sale without warranty or guarantee, no return.”

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The only thing I would be worried about is that the case back looks like it may have had engraving on and has been ground down the wear is inconsistent to the rest of the watch if you look. The problem would be how far has it been ground down and how thick is the case back now.

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I disapprove on account of the dial paint, it's not shiny, dull, I would pay more for something you can enjoy the admirable glory and radiance of the dial of, The selling hallmark of this era and swiss painted the best.

Dull paint also evidences moisture dammage, says the movement too has undoubtedly suffered.

Apart from the gold, I would appraise the watch aprox at 40% of like new dial and would run where there is one on sale.

Best wishes joe.

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The movement is in extremely good condition. I always look at the screw heads and they are all perfect, no marks on the plates. It probably has never been serviced. The case is a different matter, someone has said the case has had engraving removed and I agree, you do not know how thick or thin that back is and some very nasty marks due to removing the back. Looking at the market price and the damage done I would say around £700

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2 hours ago, oldhippy said:

The movement is in extremely good condition. I always look at the screw heads and they are all perfect, no marks on the plates. It probably has never been serviced. The case is a different matter, someone has said the case has had engraving removed and I agree, you do not know how thick or thin that back is and some very nasty marks due to removing the back. Looking at the market price and the damage done I would say around £700

Well, at that price point, I’m afraid it is pretty much way beyond my budget! As my main purpose is to get an opportunity to dive into an OMEGA movement (but I also would like to wear it), I found this “beauty” (5 pictures) on my local eBay is Sweden (tradera.se).

Again, I'd really appreciate your opinions (legit, reasonable price, etc.)!

This is what the seller has to say about it (translated from Swedish to English by Goole and me):

"OMEGA SEAMASTER mechanical men's watch steel + original strap RUNS WELL."

"Description:
OMEGA SEAMASTER mechanical men's watch in steel with original strap (lizard?)
Large second, date at 3 o’clock.
Calibre 610 
ref. 14384 2 SC.
The watch runs well and has the ORIGINAL CROWN and GLASS with some small cracks.
PLEASE NOTE ... A LITTLE RUST AT THE STEM .... !!

Gasket in poor condition.
Size about 32 mm excluding the crown.
The watch is sold in its current condition. See pictures and description."

 

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I would ask the seller about the health of dial feet, are both feet there? and in good shape,  if dial is glued on the movement or he dosn,t know, I look into the next watch  for sale,  you are not buying glue rather a watch.

The face appears much less questionable on this one, chances are so would the rest turn out to be.

I didn,t get the size, obveously larger size Gents watches are more valuable. 

I buy one I can return.

 

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Don't overlook the fact that the first watch was 14K and with the spot price of gold above $1300USD/ounce, that's a significant part of the expected sales price. It's only a personal preference but I prefer stainless steel over gold. Much more durable and after all, I'm purchasing a watch, not a piece of jewelry.

That said, I like your second selection very much. It's a good example of a watch that's meant to be worn daily. If you're going to service it anyhow, then the gaskets in need of replacement aren't any issue at all. The minor amount of rust on the stem can be cleaned off or the stem replaced, whichever serves your purpose best. 

Set yourself a budget, bid, and either enjoy your new purchase or walk away and wait for another opportunity. Omega watches have been sold by the bazillions and they aren't in the least scarce. At least not the vintage mechanical wind versions. Just my 2 cents worth!

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There are so many aspects of buying a watch that I just had to think through my priorities.

1. OMEGA vintage (a "luxury" Swiss brand, known to most people).
2. Ticking decently.
3. In need of cleaning, crystal polishing (or crystal replacement), a service, and perhaps some minor repair.
4. Looking good enough that I'd be happy to wear it after my overhaul.
5. Being able to sell it (after my overhaul) with a decent prospect of earning a bit on the deal. Although, I so far I haven't been able to sell any of my (I don't know how many) watches (read "children"). ;)

So what would be a decent price for this watch in its current condition? The one mentioned in my previous post.

I'm not that many years from retirement, and I'm trying to figure out a way to make some extra money on top of my pension by combining benefit with pleasure. I absolutely love "tinkering" with watches. I've built a watch by sourcing parts on eBay for approx. $250, and lots and lots of work on the movement (4 pictures here), but I sort of doubt any or very little profit could be made if I were to try to sell it on eBay. I'm now building another watch (very Paneri like with a California dial, no seconds hand) based on the Unitas 6498. After all, when you can buy a watch looking just as good from China for less than $100, I think the prospects of getting, say near or around $500 or thereabout is very slim.

 

Edited by VWatchie
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So, I found myself another vintage OMEGA candidate (early 70-ties), this time housing a cal. 1030. Five pictures of it here. It meets all my priorities (previous post) and I think I can get it for a decent price. Here's what the seller has to say about it:

"Men's watch Omega Geneva, 14 carats, calibre 1030, diameter 36 mm with crown, is working, crack in the crystal.
Note: not serviced!"

However, two things bother me, and I'd really appreciate your advice.

Firstly, the gold colour of the hands doesn't seem to match the gold colour on the 5-minute indices. The hands look darker.

Secondly, I read that all legit OMEGAs have the OMEGA-logo on the dial as a separate piece of metal, but in this case, it looks printed. I'm pretty sure the info I got only applies to newer or more exclusive OMEGAs, or perhaps just to OMEGA Seamaster, but I'm not sure. Perhaps this is a legit "budget" OMEGA and therefore has a printed logo on the dial?

 

 

 

Edited by VWatchie
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The Omega in those pictures is all original, it's a typical "25 years of service watch". These often had a printed Omega logo in the 70:s at least in Sweden while the ordinary Omega Geneva sometimes had a pearl shine and a golden embossed logo. 

Another thing with the 1030 you might encounter is that Omega tried out a couple of plates to cover the spot where the automatic winder  from the 102X used to be, so that also is OK. I attach a photo of the variants.
Since these versions were engraved on the back they don't have the right back cover. Personally I would avoid the ones with engraved backs.


 

Different bridgeplates.jpg

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When purchasing a watch I always look at the movement and look for tell tale signs of previous servicing. This movement looks to be in very good condition as they say mint. However the case has some bad dings that will be difficult to remove as the case back has already been ground down. Bottom line as always is price.

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Thank you watch friends, extremely valuable information! I hope that I'll win it and I look forward to giving it a solid overhaul, not just the movement but the entire watch. It's going to be especially interesting to see if I can get the 14K gold case really clean and shining. I also hope I'll be able to restore the crystal, it really depends on how deep those cracks go. Speaking of, I've read that all (?) genuine crystals have the OMEGA logo engraved in the centre. I don't know if this watch has the original crystal, although it seems likely. Anyway, is this engraving made on the inside or the outside of the crystal? It should make sense if it's on the inside!

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/29/2019 at 8:11 PM, VWatchie said:

There are so many aspects of buying a watch that I just had to think through my priorities.

1. OMEGA vintage (a "luxury" Swiss brand, known to most people).
2. Ticking decently.
3. In need of cleaning, crystal polishing (or crystal replacement), a service, and perhaps some minor repair.
4. Looking good enough that I'd be happy to wear it after my overhaul.
5. Being able to sell it (after my overhaul) with a decent prospect of earning a bit on the deal. Although, I so far I haven't been able to sell any of my (I don't know how many) watches (read "children"). ;)

So what would be a decent price for this watch in its current condition? The one mentioned in my previous post.

I'm not that many years from retirement, and I'm trying to figure out a way to make some extra money on top of my pension by combining benefit with pleasure. I absolutely love "tinkering" with watches. I've built a watch by sourcing parts on eBay for approx. $250, and lots and lots of work on the movement (4 pictures here), but I sort of doubt any or very little profit could be made if I were to try to sell it on eBay. I'm now building another watch (very Paneri like with a California dial, no seconds hand) based on the Unitas 6498. After all, when you can buy a watch looking just as good from China for less than $100, I think the prospects of getting, say near or around $500 or thereabout is very slim.

 

Hi VWatchie,

 

Great to hear how you're getting on, well done.  I'm doing just about exactly what you're doing (close to retirement etc and loving Omegas!) very new to it all but have done Mark's repair course so looking for something to practice on, also struggling a bit to find the 'right' watch to fix up wear for a while then sell, hopefully not at a loss!

 

Graham

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