Omega

Off late Ive been surprised to see several vintage Omega watches with the 30mm chronometer rated caliber 30 T2 with special regulation equipped movements selling for really high prices. A few stainless steel examples at over $1000, and even one mint new old stock ss example for a whopping $7100 on eBay.
Can anyone explain why these particular pieces fetch such high prices relative to other similar period ss Omega watches? And what exactly it is that makes them so highly sought after today?
Thank you.

chronometer movements.

Produced in the early 1940s, the *rg* (fine regulator) movements share the architecture
of the ordinary 30T2s but most of the moving parts are different, much more highly finished
(polish, beveling) and generally rather more elegant and fragile looking.  The rg movements were designed for
submission to the Chronometer Trials at Geneva and Neuchatel, but a few thousand(?) were sold commercially.
Omegas with these particular movements are considered among the absolute elite of mid-twentieth-century
simple wristwatches, and thus hold historical as well as aesthetic appeal.

A web search on the calibers above will yield quite a bit of information, but you might start with my brief posting
on watches with both the regular 30T2 and rg movements at




Here is an example of an Omega with 30T2SCrg movement:

The 30 T2 rg and SC rg is exactly what I was talking about. Ok. So its all the extra finishing and attention to the smallest detail that went into them which sends the value so very much higher than the rest then. Still, $7100 for an example very similar to yours on eBay seemed way over the top and quite blew my mind and made me wonder if there was something else.
Steve, actually Ive gone through your page in detail long ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed them, learnt a lot and marvelled at your amazing and unrivalled watch snaps.
I have another question. Where can I get a dial redone to the same standard as the watch pictured above and in your story?
Also attaching pictures of my ss 30T2SCrg which was very kindly gifted to me by my cousin recently. I have an extra dial for it which I had redone, but that has come out poorly.

Hi rishad771


Omega made about 3 million 30 mm movements from 1939 to 1962.  Omega's records are not organized to the point of giving us numbers of only the  "Rg"  (index regulated 30T2SCRg and 30T2Rg ).  But after years of searching for them and talking with many collectors and people at Omega vintage info a number of about 20,000 seems to be about right. 

The typical 30 mm chronometres were is simple snapback case  in two sizes 33 mm and 35.5mm.  Over the years I have seen about 6 33 mm gold examples for every 35.5 mm gold example.  The steel examples seen less often in comparison to the gold examples.    I guess back in the day ( mid 1940s and 1950s...)  you go and ask for the best Omega had to offer the salesman says "oh the 30 mm chronometres, would you like steel or gold? ".  I could see the buyer saying " I want the best,  I will take a gold one."....

Omega did also make some in screwback cases some in all steel and some steel with 14k pink gold bezel.

here is a 35.5 steel screwback case..





here is an example 35.5 steel screwback case with 14k pink gold bezel



Here is a 33 mm 14k yellow gold with Box




They are great watches....

Heck any of the Omega 30 mm movements hould be capable of keep very accurate time, if they have been properly maintained.


Good Hunting


Bill Sohne

What excellent watch photos you posted. All of them are lovely, and its good to see all using their original and so well detailed dials. 

Hi rishad771


it slipped my mind.  Your dial is FINE !!  I would not swap it out or redial it .  The only time i have redialed a watch was when the dial was so aged it was TOTALLY unreadable!!

But I like the one that is on your watch very much!

Good Hunting

Bill

Yes Bill.
I agree with you 100%, and would never ever redo an original dial even when its completely patinated.
Yet. In this case I screwed up. The story is like so. This particular Omega had a spare dial. Keeping the original two tone dial that I prefered on the watch, I thought Id be a wise guy and redo one to keep as spare and swap as and when required. Ive since had it redone 3 times. And still unhappy. Thats why Im looking for someone still to do a good redo of it. Attached pls find 2 snaps of the original dial Ive mucked up, and the poor redo on the same template.

It's been said that you lose up p 40% of the value of the watch via redialing / refurbishing.
Like the other guy said, unless it unreadalbe on then and still I would not.  Try to keep every bit original and untouched.
regards
CJ

The site with some good information on this is
http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/

bits from there...............
This is the first of a series of three posts I'll devote to dials, cases and movements. Ive have since updated the article as a consequence of some very interesting conversations of the on-line watch forums

Please click here to read the post.

Poscript: Its difficult to put a definitive percentage on the rate of devaluation caused by dial refinishing, and thats why I suggest "up to 40% decline in value" with a re-dial. The oft-quoted figure in watch and collectors magazines is 30 -40 percent.  I thought I'd test that by taking samples from the auction records of antiquorum in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and Milan and comparing like with like. I had a work experience student do the leg work. In some high-end marques where originality is king, it can be more than 40%. In upper-middle end brands the discount ranges from around 20 - 40 percent.

Note that I also specify which markets and leave eBay out of it because eBay is an unregulated and often uninformed buying market, and it's often when buyers go to re-sell a watch that they have difficulty is recouping their investment, particularly if the dial is refinished.
cheers
CJ

Hi!

Few months ago I bought from the local market an "ordinary" Omega. The price was extremely low and the seller assured me that the "heart" is mechanical & the case is signed Omega. I was in doubt because on dial was a fake Omega with "quartz" inscription, but a smart guy erased the q,t & z letters and wanted to sold as a rare Omega "uar"! Nice joke! My surprise came at home, opening the case back and seeing that the movement is the rare 30t2SCRg. Of course I throw out the blasfemic dial and started to surf the web to see if the case is original. It seems not (the ref. is 2750 - 3). So - now I am looking for a case and for a dial. I-ve seen only refinished dials, and I think that if I want I can do this better for less money. With the case, hmmm, it's another problem.