Vintage Omega - where to start?

[Fiedka]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone here would be able to help.
I have recently decided that I would love to own a simple three handed without a date to compliment my Seamaster 300.
I cannot spend thousands of pounds and would be keen to look at vintage Omegas.
I do not where to start though. While it is easy with Rolex (just think DJ, OP and enter year), I don’t know what is out there from Omega catalogue.
Worry about Frankenstein watches, fakes etc is another consideration but at the moment I don’t even know what and where to look for?
Would love some insight.

[randlemarcus]

I found this a useful "what did they make" type resource.

Fakes and frankensteins are going to be issues with much older watches, so others may have guidance there.

[popeyewhite]

Lots of vintage watch sites. Older Devilles still look lovely and can be found in the under £1k range. As an aside some older Longines are very similar... .

[AMacA]

Whereabouts in the country are you? I was in London during the week and popped in here https://www.somlo.com/collections/omega - they had some in stock within your price range that might be worth looking at? They’re were a bit pricier than some of the other vintage suppliers though.

[Master Bean]

This was my dad's. He bought it in 1969 I think. Probably nowhere near original but I like the way it looks and it's probably only worth about £300.

[Fiedka]

randlemarcus said:

I found this a useful "what did they make" type resource.

Fakes and frankensteins are going to be issues with much older watches, so others may have guidance there.

Thanks. Which resource are you referring to?

[Fiedka]

AMacA said:

Whereabouts in the country are you? I was in London during the week and popped in here https://www.somlo.com/collections/omega - they had some in stock within your price range that might be worth looking at? They’re were a bit pricier than some of the other vintage suppliers though.

I am based in Derby but do travel to London occasionally. Buying in shop always better.

[JEA1K]

Fiedka said:

Hello,

I wonder if anyone here would be able to help.
I have recently decided that I would love to own a simple three handed without a date to compliment my Seamaster 300.
I cannot spend thousands of pounds and would be keen to look at vintage Omegas.
I do not where to start though. While it is easy with Rolex (just think DJ, OP and enter year), I don’t know what is out there from Omega catalogue.
Worry about Frankenstein watches, fakes etc is another consideration but at the moment I don’t even know what and where to look for?
Would love some insight.

When I started looking at vintahe watches, I found loads of useful info on here https://omegaforums.net about the model I was looking for and what to watch out for. You're correct, there are a lot of watches to look for although many did/do have model numbers you can reference.

As above, there are lots of watches that were frankenstien models built from mutiple watches. There are some which are built from new components (NoS) which are fine if this advertised and that's what you're looking for.

[Barchettaman]

I think if you go for a vintage Longines the watch is more likely to be original and less likely to have been messed around with. Cheaper too, probably.

The obvious answer is to get a newish Orient Bambino for that vintage three-hander watch vibe with none of the anxieties about when, not if, the watch is going to break and cough up a bill.

[vixen1700]

Bought this 1969 Seamaster from a dealer in Holland (I think!) via Chrono24 a few years back. He had good reviews and a nice stock of vintage watches at reasonable prices. I'll see if I can find his details.

Thanks to this thread, I've put this on today for the first time in ages.


Vintage Watch Services and here are their Omega listings:

https://vintagewatchservices.eu/omega-1/

Edited by vixen1700 on Saturday 11th November 11:05

[princeperch]

I really like that. It's very simple but also very clean and elegant.

You used to be able to get quartz seamasters similar in style to your one for between 200-400 quid a few years back but I think they've gone up a fair bit since then.

[Quags]

I'd love to do this too.

Whilst my dream watch atm is an Omega Super Racing it's rather out of my price range. But I thought a vintage Omega from my birth year (1977) might be more affordable/interesting one to add to the collection.

[Fiedka]

Longines is a good shout admittedly. Thank you for all your responses - time to start looking.
One of the issues is that I am a bracelet guy and cho or there is much more limited. Bracelets were tiny than popular then and those few are either knackered or just lost.

[BrokenSkunk]

See my last post on the near misses thread for a good quality vendor I found this weekend.

You may also find this resource useful:
https://www.omegawatches.com/vintage-watches

Omega watches should have a case reference number stamped inside the case back. You can look up this reference number in the database to see what the watch should look like. Although be aware that the Omega database is neither complete, nor 100% reliable!

HTH