Omega

Attended the monthly meeting of my local NAWCC (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors) today. Nice group of real enthusiasts. Had a fun time with the mart beforehand, where I befriended a woman who happened to be selling her dearly departed h...  

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A good find and an enjoyable restoration project. Cheers Andrew

... so I should have to do too much to it.

I love to see an old watch when it lands on the proper hands. Congratulations

...that I planned to get it back into shape and keep it.

Doesn't need much for it to look great, it should clean up nicely. Congrats!

but has a few, but deeper scratches on the lug, bezel and caseback side that need more than a buffing wheel. The crystal buffed out nicely, but it may not be an Omega (no logo imprinted), and since it has a couple deep scratches, I may get myself another.... 

Hi Snak. They measure the hands from tip to center hole and looks like you need a 11mm sweep second hand for your Seamaster. Hard to find, I guess. Best.

Ofrei has them - hands, too. But 11mm seems short. That's what's on the watch now... Genuine Omega Silver Tone Sweep Second Hand 12.7 mm HAN-501

...mine is 10, just a tad short. :-( You're right about the 11s being rare...

I really like it and am starting to think that I should be hunting for Omega's morenoften. Best regards, George

...but this was the luck of the moment. Another seller had a fabulous 1950s large gold Tissot that I might have bought had I not seen and committed to this one first. The good thing is that I know that seller, and he'd hold it for me if I wanted. I'm more... 

One of my favourite dials. What a great score!

...in my country. Congratulations on this chance acquisition. Ruckdee

The NAWCC is a pretty vibrant national group here in the US. Probably more hobbiest watchmakers than collectors (a lot of retired guys with clocks), but very active in education and preservation. This message has been edited by mrsnak on 2012-02-21 08:23:... 

. . . this week when we meet up for lunch! I'll wear one of mine, too . . .

you've also given me another calibre to look out for as i didnt realise the 501 was available for that period. i thought it was much older than that. if it was made for 65 then it must be available for 64. the hunt will be on once i've sorted some other t... 

...the caseback is on pretty tight, but will be visiting my watchmaker today. I was surprised to hear this was from '65, too. It appears to be an earlier CK 2921.

A late 501 should be in 16 mil range which dates the movement @ 1958.

Had the back off at my watchmaker's. 2846-2848 ISC from 1955 or so (145xxxxxx). Dr. No was there with me and we figured that my seller probably remembered her husband getting the watch then....  

thats good as i havent got another one to find...  

I am quite pleased that this is an earlier 501. While Dr. No & and chatted him, the watchmaker put the watch on his scope and determined that there were some lubrication issues, which he fixed on the spot. Probably should do a real service on it, but very... 

Yes, it's general rules that Omega Crystal has embossed logo on it, (even the ones from China   with split tension ring. I have an older Seamaster which has a logo on it, Hope you can see....  

... on the crystals sometime around 1950. Some of the very early bumper movement watches might still have original crystals without a logo. Also, I'm not sure if the US-cased gold-filled and 14K models would have originally come with logo crystals, since ... 

and here is the logo on Made in China crystal the real thing...  

Knew the logo crystals went back to the 50s, just didn't know if all were done this way. Also was not aware of the Chinese fakes, but I guess it was inevitable with Omega not making genuine parts easy to get these day.