I received from my uncle my grandfather’s gold Omega Seamaster that had been stored in his safe since his death in 1982. I was under strict instructions not to sell this timepiece, but as an avid watch collector, there was no chance of that.

The gold Omega Seamaster Geneve was gifted to my grandfather in 1971 for his 25 years of service to Tubemakers of Australia. At the watchmakers, they popped the caseback off to inspect the automatic movement, it was a Calibre 565 with 25 jewels, an automatic movement. There was some moisture entering around the crown, it was well and truly dry now, the rotor was loose and contacting the case, there were some markings inside the case caused by the contact.

The case was 18k gold plated to a depth of 40 microns, I will have the case refurbished, a new hesalite crystal, new crown, and the case polished. The bracelet was in poor condition, this is a gold-plated link bracelet with an elastic retainer. When I learned this was not an original Omega bracelet, I had an opportunity to ditch it for a black leather strap. I like the black and gold strap/case contrast, this will now be my formal dress watch.

The caseback is inscribed with a reference to my grandfather’s 25 years service to the company. He worked there until 1978 where a hand injury caused by an over-zealous crane operator crushed his hand. He enjoyed his 5 years of retirement, but I feel he probably wanted to work on longer, he was an old style blue collar worker.

So, this vintage Seamaster is being refurbished to a new state. My grandfather, who was incidentally a watchmaker by trade, should be pretty happy with this. The story is the timepiece, it is not mine to sell, I am purely the current custodian of this family history. The reference 166.200 is a 1969 model, my job is to research the timepiece and relate it back to my grandfather. Naturally, I am pretty happy to receive a gold vintage Omega Seamaster, this will mostly stay in my safe but will come out for special occasions.