Omega Trench Watches WW1
 

Hi

Odd question. Does anyone in this forum have experience with Vintage watches. I have a WWI omega blackface trench watch that I am trying to get information/value etc on.

Or someone/somewhere to be pointed to

Show it!!!

That's cool! I thought about buying one of these 5+ years ago. Just never pulled the trigger.

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Here are some Pictures

I recently took my Rolex to be appraised. I paid $115 at my local jeweler. With your watch, I might start at a nice antique shop that carries jewelry/military items, and once I had their opinion move to the appraisal. You might even go to an Army Surplus store. If the owner is a collector, he might have a clue about value, or know a collector who could assist you.

I'm not sure if you live in a big town or not, but where I live we also have multiple watch repair shops. I'm sure their knowledge could also help you gain a better starting point on price. When I took my grandma's alarm clock in to be fixed, the repairman told me the work would cost more than the clock. it was sentimental, so I did it anyway. Those repairmen are very knowledgeable even if they aren't official appraisers.

Your watch is in nice shape, was it a family members?

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I have an Elgin railroad pocket watch in a silver case. I forget the number of jewels; stem winder. It worked when I got it, but I took it to a local jeweler who advertised watch repair just for cleaning and lubrication. It came back beautiful! And it didn't cost much, to my surprise, somewhere around $50. The old fellow was able to tell me all about it, what makes it railroad grade, and when it was made. Just look for a real watch repairman or jeweler, not a mall kiosk that only change batteries in new watches.

Very cool watch, BTW!

thanks appreciated everyone.

What is odd most to me is the Logo below the Omega Logo. The set of wings logo I have never seen and cannot seem to find anything on the internet about it.
I have confirmed from the serial # on it that is from the 1915 to 1919 Range. I Like it and the look. And it winds easy and holds it time well

The winged wheel logo is a good match for the one used on Belgian railroad stamps (parcel post)

So maybe a railroad watch? Or a Belgian transport unit?

The German railroads used a similar insignis but with the wheel facing right, And Russia also used a similar one.

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=33463

Interesting, the winged wheel is very similar to a lot of different versions of motorcycle related patches and insignias. It is also considered as a sort of mark or image relating to the Greek god Hermes, the herald. Not sure if either has a direct correlation to the images use on the watch. Great logo nonetheless.

Hey Jeff,
Neat watch. The Omega winged wheel logo leans toward a railway watch, go to watchprosite.com and post your question there, they seem to be the Net54 of watches including Omegas. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

I will and Thanks

just posted on that website let's see what happens. I will update if I hear anything or not

first response on that forum is that it is fake. never hurt to find out from something you do not know about

2nd response is a fun response from know me and joking it was worth less than a baseball card :D

That's a helluva fake if it is, I'm holding out for more responses.

I am hopefully but ok either but I am taking the advise from others and bringing it to a watch place for another opinion

Sadly the forum allowed me to post it but does not allow me to ask what makes it fake. So I do not know the reasons of what made it fake.

I'm with you Phil. That's as you put it, a helluva fake. If indeed it is. How in the heck would you fake a watch like that?

I don't know Omega watches but the movement in yours does not have OMEGA on it any place. Not having that is usually how you tell better fakes from real watches. The better fakes are hard to tell they are fakes till you open them up and see the movement. That could be why it was called a fake.

Watchuseek.com, public forum

Could you add a pic of the inside of the back you took off?

Did not take off a back. The back is clear. So it is either made this way (real or fake) or the back is missing

I like watches so have been looking at a lot of them to compare to yours and I can't find any real ones that are close to yours. Yours also looks very low quality compared to them. The serial number would make it from around 1917 or 1918 if real.

Take it to a jeweler to be sure but I would say fake from what I see. Did you get any more replies on the watch forum?

That’s an interesting looking watch. What size is it? Markings for watches were a bit odd during WWII. Yours looks consistent in quality with the movements I’ve seen from that era but don’t know enough about Omegas to say one way or another. I’d recommend posting in on Rolexforums.com. It’s largely a Rolex site, but there is a wealth of knowledge about vintage watches and they should be able to say one way or another. A few points I will add though is, 1) there is no way a trench watch would be missing a back, so yours would have had at some point; 2) you may want to closely examine the dial as it is possible it was redone, leading the person to think it is fake; and 3) even if real, watches of that era are incredibly under appreciated and values just aren’t there—I got a WWI Rolex Trench watch with decent provenance but crappy markings for 1/8 the price of a new Datejust….

After a closer look at the case and dial, I don’t see any clear indication that the dial was refinished (I.e., crooked lines), but the case looks modern. Compare it with other WWI watches and the metal is a completely different tone.

Here's a possibility about why it could be considered fake, following BNorth's assessment. My uncle owned a Rolex given to him from his uncle. My great uncle was a surveyor with the Corps of Engineers, and made landing strips all over the world. The watch had been introduced to extreme humidity and sweat, and the guts of the watch gummed up, and even the watch face shows signs of heavy use. It could be a similar story with your watch, and if a previous owner still wanted it to work, it's possible he had a watch repairman replace pieces and that those pieces were generic rather than specific to Omega. I think it was about 15 years ago that Rolex started to restrict the ability for outside firms to work on their watches. So using whatever was available many decades ago is not that far out of the ordinary.

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The Omega winged wheel logo is a tell, they started using that about 1911ish, if you look closely it’s an offset railway wheel which would fit with an English railway watch. Only problem is most railway watches were pocket watches in that era.

There is an Omega symbol/logo under the F/S (fast/slow) indicator. But the watch case does not have a back?

Great Catch James

IT does have an Omega Logo under there(see below new pictures added)

As for that forum no other posts or updates except that person that said it was fake with no explanation
As for the backing it is clear/glass or something straight across that protects the insides but allows you to see the movements. I do not see anywhere that a "back cover would have been or would have been attached to. or if (it is real) if overtime a piece came off or if as it was repaired/maintained if it was altered etc

I did see that but it didn't/doesn't look like the Omega symbol to me. In that same place(regulator) the F & S should be a FA & SR. There is just so much weird stuff compared to others I could find on the internet. The second dial is across from the crown like a pocket watch. The crown looks like a pocket watch crown. I don't know, best of luck figuring out what it actually is.

The dial appears original to me...as does the movement and the case. The strap is likely not original. Not sure what to make of the exhibition back????

Nice watch!

Just went to the watch place. They said it is an authentic Frankenstein watch.

Meaning it is real and from that time from. The front and dials and much of the movement is original. When it was fixed/maintained over time they replace parts with newer parts.

They say it was not a pocket watch converted to a trench watch but made in the 1910’s for the purpose of a “trench watch”

They did not know if it was from the trains, from the military etc. but it is definitely from the time period and based on serial # they think the age range is from 1915 to approx 1918

That makes sense.Thanks for the update.

Very cool, Jeff! Best of luck with it. Have to say one of the more interesting things to come across the forum in a while!

Thanks and I find it interesting also.


1. I want to try and get more info on the winged logo
2. I wish I was able to update that forum. But once I joined made the post about the watch they “suspended my account” claiming against rules to post fake watches

Really cool watch. Although the band may not be original it looks great with it.

The band is Definitely not original but I love the look and feel of the watch and it keeps perfect time
I am very happy with this

Beautiful piece Jeff!