Vintage timepieces are staging somewhat of a renaissance in the horological community. Omega is an excellent manufacturer of quality timepieces and I constantly desired their products. As Omega has been around for so long, they have a multitude of watches for sale on online sites so there is plenty of choices for collectors.

The Seamaster Diver 300 is a wristwatch I craved, along with the Speedmaster and the Planet Ocean. I haven’t actually worked out the point when Omega timepieces became such an obsession for me, but I knew I wanted a current model to enhance my collection. My old man had an Omega Chronostop as his starting countdown timer when he was competitively racing yachts, after some research, I believe his watch is 1967 vintage. I sailed with him in the early 1980s and I recall him using the watch to set his start sequence.

Due to my age and inexperience, we were well off the pace back then so precision timing wasn’t really required. This is now my first vintage Omega timepiece and I am an interested in expanding my vintage collection. Further strengthening my exposure to Omega, a good friend purchased a secondhand Omega Seamaster more than twenty years ago. This watch still serves him well, so I guess I have had plenty of interaction with Omega products from an early age.

What I do know now is Omega is a premium product, this is a luxury brand and is now priced accordingly. I am seeing with watch dealers and online trading forums that vintage Omega timepieces are fetching very good prices. Omega’s range is fairly extensive with 60 years of the Speedmaster in its current forms; yet you are still able to purchase a hand-wound timepiece that was official NASA issue to astronauts in the space program used in lunar exploration.

Likewise, the Seamaster was first released back in 1948 when scuba diving was back in its infancy. The Seamaster has some serious history behind the line with many options to choose from. With recent editions of the Planet Ocean, Aqua Terra, Diver 300 and Seamaster 300, the range has expanded greatly yet is still true to its heritage. A Seamaster of 1960s vintage may not make a great dive watch anymore due to the risks of flooding a fifty to sixty year old timepiece, but this makes a great collector’s item.

The Railmaster has been re-released with a three box set containing a Seamaster, Speedmaster and Railmaster limited edition timepiece. Whilst I won’t be racing out and remortgaging my house to purchase this collection, this will definitely raise the values of vintage Railmaster timepieces still held by individuals. To pick up a vintage Railmaster would be a pretty special find, they are out there, I just need to search.

Just like my old man’s Chronostop; he was still wearing the watch as a daily timepiece until he damaged the movement by flooding the case and throwing the now lifeless watch into a box on his dresser until I resurrected this fifty year old hand-wound mechanical watch. The vintage Omega market is generating more interest and prices are holding up well which is unfortunate as I would like to pick them up cheaply.