Omega

G99
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a new aquisition. relatively uncommon yet cheap as chips

i did promise myself that i wouldnt look on the big auction site and wouldnt consider buying anything else, but i have a lot of time on my hands so temptation got the better of me. whilst browsing the site i came across this watch. the sellers pics were pretty bad and it looked a bit rough sitting on a Speidel non original stretch bracelet. i'm a great believer in supporting the underdog and took pity on this poor neglected auction lot, took a punt on it and won.

it has several redeeming features. it has a 560 calibre auto movement so is one of only 3000 pieces ever made, it is a Norman Morris cased model reference KL6312 with the 10kt gold filled case made in the US by the Jonell case company (i'd like to thank Hans_Jorgen_1968 for a lot of this information, the rest i took from a blog on the interweb). it also has a dial with numerals at 12, 6 and 9, that Hans has not seen before on a 560 calibre. in the world of vintage Omega we learn never to say never so this could be an original, but scarce variation, a replacement dial or a special order for a customer. we'll probably never know.

it finally arrived this morning after spending several days in customs and once i'd unpacked 2 boxes and 20 metres of bubble wrap i was very pleased with what i had bought. this is the point where i discovered how bad the sellers pics were as the case is in far better condition than i expected with just a few scratches as you would expect of a 46 year old watch ( i forgot to mention that it dates from 1964, but most of you who know me would have guessed that) and no wearing of the thick gold fill. after a quick polish it looks great. it has an original crown which is recessed slightly into the case. the case is 33mm and has very nice horned lugs. the plexi glass is in pretty poor condition so i'll get the polywatch out in a bit and see what i can do to improve it. if that doesnt work its only a 10 minute job to replace it.

the dial is superb. the silvery base has a light tapestry effect, the lovely markers are i think, gold as are the numerals and the date aperture at 3 oclock. behind every marker is what looks to be the original blob of lume. the text on the dial just says 'Omega Automatic', but according to the blog i read, this case reference is that of a dress watch which doesnt fit into any model catagory. the same blog also states that this reference is one of the least common of the 10 identified case references. whether this is in fact true i really dont know. the text and the minute track also appear to be original under a 10x loupe. the stick hands are gold with a thin lume fill to the centre. i'll let you know if any of the lume still glows.

once the stainless steel caseback is off it reveals a movement that looks to be in excellent condition. the calibre 560 is a 17 jewel movement made specifically for and imported into the US uncased (mostly) to avoid all sorts of taxation problems the US government were trying to cause at the time. some of them are adjusted to 2 positions, but this one is unadjusted. it has a swan neck micrometer regulater so will be impossible for me to adjust, but does indicate a certain quality. the jewels look great, especially the one at the top of the balance which looks different to the others so may be a replacement. there is a lot of information about this movement on both this forum and the rest of the web.

what started off as an ugly duckling has turned into a pretty nice swan. i'm very pleased, especially as it only cost me £110 with a total price of only £160 (inclusive of shipping and customs charges). as many of us have said in the past, if you have the time and know where to look there are plenty of bargains out there.

here's some pics for you to enjoy

if you havent got into vintage Omegas yet then do it before the prices rocket out of control.

Graham