As I'm getting into wristwatch collecting I thought I'd post some info on my favourite watch, my every-day Omega Seamaster. My Dad gave it to me in 2006 after buying it on ebay a couple of years earlier. I've found a photo of what seems to be it, in a 1964 sales brochure at the excellent Old Omegas site :
That scan identifies it as a 166.010 model. I've also seen it referred to as a No. 44 model in a 1965 catalogue. I've been digging around and I now suspect that my watch is a bit of a frankenwatch - some of its story doesn't ring true:
- The inside of the caseback says 165.010.
- The movement is a caliber 565 with serial number starting 257xxxx, which dates it at 1967.
- The crown seems a little too chunky compared to old catalogue pictures.
- The endpieces on the bracelet don't seem to sit flush to the case.
So it seems we have a 1967 watch - but 1967 brochures don't feature a Seamaster with this case design - by then they'd moved onto thinner, more angular lugs. So perhaps a 1967 movement in a 1964 case?
Well, whatever it is, I still love it. I think the curves on the case are beautiful, the face and hands are really classy, and the original 1036 "beads of rice" bracelet is stunning. I can't believe a 45-year-old watch can still look so good and work so well.
