Omega globe clock - real or fake?

[HectorLooi]

I first came across these clocks when a buddy of mine ask me to service 2 of them five years ago. They were so badly corroded inside that they were unsalvagable.

The thing that really intrigued me was why would Omega use a Chinese movement?

About 10 - 15 years ago, these clocks were easily available in Chinatown and were going for $10 - $30. I recently came across a few sellers on eBay asking for hundreds of dollars for one of these.

So, what do you guys think? Real or Fake?

[Nucejoe]

Poor fake.

 

[HectorLooi]

I reached out to the seller, informing him that the item he's selling might be a fake. He claims it's original, but admits that he's no expert.

I told him that everything that I've read about this "Omega 19 zuan" clock says that it's a fake. I've even read that Omega has never produced a clock in this design.

Then he sends me a Chat gpt reply.

I wish @oldhippy and @watchweasol would read this post and weigh in on it. Have they ever seen a genuine Omega clock in this design in their long and illustrious career?

[JohnR725]

15 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

The thing that really intrigued me was why would Omega use a Chinese movement?

It's really amazing to new lows the Swiss watch companies do when they need cash fast they go with cheap Chinese garbage and?

It reminds me of something I saw on eBay the other day. I was looking for something Elgin and look its Elgin? If you read the fine print it's handmade brand from India and it has a quartz movement. It's not quite is well worded like yours but it's hinted that it could be Elgin when it's definitely not.

 

33 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

"Omega 19 zuan"

I did find a reference to Omega pocket watches And 19 but just not Quite of the same low-quality.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/omega-19-ligne-pocket-watch-caliber-125th-anniversary-edition

 

Oh and your chat is quite interesting. How to lie without actually lying? Plus you didn't ask the right question. So if we translate your question your question is did Omega ever make a 19 jewel watch? Then he proceeds to tell you yes the dead and their wonderful and the nice and all of that.

But is the piece of garbage he's selling with the word Omega on the dial authorized and sanctioned and blessed by Omega in Switzerland definitely not. I wonder if he has any cheap Rolex watches? I bet she could work you really good deal on nice Rolex watch.

[HectorLooi]

Looks like chatgpt takes certain keywords and snips out passages that contain them and strings them up to create a paragraph, which could be totally out of context.

It's exactly the way we did Chinese comprehension passages back in secondary school. We couldn't read half of any complete sentence. So we just pick sequences of words in the question that appear in the paragraph and copy sentence before and after just to be safe. 

[oldhippy]

It's a fake and it is a very poor movement.  China or India I expect are the rip off countries. 

[HectorLooi]

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

It's a fake and it is a very poor movement.  China or India I expect are the rip off countries. 

Thanks for clearing that up.

So, are there any genuine Omega ball clocks in existence or are they all fakes? I saw one website asking for $2600.

[watchweasol]

Hi the last ball clock I did was total crap but the owner wanted it fixed. It had worn the ratchet wheel teeth on the edge. The movement was one of the undetermined origin and was  eight and three quarters by six, big dial magnified by the lens front. It screwed together. In essence rubbish, but looked the part.

[oldhippy]

Omega never made ball clocks. If you look up Omega clocks you will see what they made. I think they made a few desk clocks some time in the 60's and a few wall clocks and advertising clocks before the 60's 

[HectorLooi]

I just discovered that Aliexpress still sells them.

 China/Retro Brass Glass Pocket Watch Ball Clock
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrcZkde

But I admit that it looks pretty cool. It'll make a pretty nice paperweight. I'll probably scour the backlanes of Chinatown and see if there are any more $10 gems. But the covid lockdown took it's toll on all of these tourist traps. 

[oldhippy]

I'm not surprised its bloody China. Put together by child labour in some sweat shop with no fire escape. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by oldhippy

[HectorLooi]

Just a few days ago I watched a video that claimed that fusee chains were made using child labor. I just googled it and found this article.

https://collections.hampshireculture.org.uk/topic/fusee-chain-industry-christchurch

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

Put together by child labour in some sweet shop with no fire escape. 

Actually kids in China are really pampered these days due to China's "One Child Policy". They now suffer from "little emperor syndrome". I think the days of child labor in China are a thing of the past.

[JohnR725]

8 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

So, are there any genuine Omega ball clocks in existence or are they all fakes?

A ball clock is basically just a pocket watch movement in a glass ball case. So did anyone ever make generic ball clock cases? Like for instance today you can purchase wristwatch cases for pocket watch movements. So if any time between then and now somebody took an Omega movement and put it in a ball case you have a ball clock with the name Omega on the dial. So can Omega ball clocks exist yes based on that. Did a Omega make ball clocks that were aware of no.

Then I vaguely recall servicing one of these a long time ago and I don't remember exactly but I don't remember it being of high quality at all. It's like a lot of the novelty things that exist than not necessarily made to be high-quality they're just a interesting item.

5 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

I think the days of child labor in China are a thing of the past.

If the child labor is gone we probably don't really want to know but who is making all the really cheap items in China?

5 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

claimed that fusee chains were made using child labor.

Somewhere around lurking in the houses a small book I have on history of the fusee chain's. It even has a little sample taped inside the book. My understanding from when I looked at it was not so much child slave laborer but people with really good eyesight who happen to be children and had the manual skill sets to work on little tiny chain.

[HectorLooi]

Just saw this eBay.

https://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/204553048236?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=3423-175132-2357-0&ssspo=rl1eimqoTem&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=v36TsHWBSw-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Any chance that this is genuine?

[oldhippy]

Yes that is genuine all right. There is nothing that tells me its a fake. If you look closely it all fits. 

[HectorLooi]

But I still have doubts. It might be a franken clock.

The movement might be genuine Seikosha but the dial and case are suspicious. 

Would Seikosha use an European looking sailing ship instead of a Japanese ship?

An image search on Google didn't find another similar piece. And the Seiko museum website also doesn't show a similar clock.

It's either extremely rare or a franken clock.

 

[oldhippy]

SEIKOSHA have been making clocks for years. I have already said it is genuine. Because the ship is not Japanese,  it was made for the western world. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by oldhippy

[HectorLooi]

Thanks OH. That explains a lot of things.

What era would a clock like this be from?

[oldhippy]

About 1930's