Help with a 1956 cal 491 piece

ArnaldoQuintini
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Hi,

I found this piece and I'm really interested in acquiring it but I have some doubts about it. It shows very well but unsure about this combination of dial, case and movement. From the photos you can tell it's a caliber 491 with serial number in the 15,000,000 which places this piece around 1956+. Haven't been able to find anything regarding reference number. The case back shows The Star Case Company which manufactured cases for the US/Canadian market (which makes sense as the seller is in Canada) and the dial shows Swiss instead of Swiss Made which matches what the case back notes. Most of the ones I've been able to find similar to this, would have a Century dial but usually those would come with a cal 250/60 movement. Is there anything else I'm missing?


Thank you all in advance!

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ArnaldoQuintini
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New photo. Closer look of the dial. Any thoughts on legitimacy? Meeting with the seller within the next couple of days.

IMG_1659.webp
 
Dan S
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The printing isn't bad, but I'm skeptical about the dial. Fonts can vary, but looking at OMEGA, the M doesn't look spread enough and the A is more likely to be pointed. Also, it's just incredibly unlikely to find an absolutely flawless black surface like that and the texture doesn't look quite right to me. Also, the gold printing looks painted on, not galvanic, although obviously that can be hard to tell from photos.

Edit: What kind of seller?
Edited:
 
ArnaldoQuintini
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Dan S Dan S
The printing isn't bad, but I'm skeptical about the dial. Fonts can vary, but looking at OMEGA, the M doesn't look spread enough and the A is more likely to be pointed. Also, it's just incredibly unlikely to find an absolutely flawless black surface like that and the texture doesn't look quite right to me. Also, the gold printing looks painted on, not galvanic, although obviously that can be hard to tell from photos.

Edit: What kind of seller?
Those are my concerns too. Not sure what kind of seller. Doesn’t seem to know much about the piece but I’m planning on asking a bunch of provenance questions and see the dial in detail. Any specifics on what to expect/look for on ‘galvanic’ vs ‘painted’ in person?
 
ArnaldoQuintini
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Also I haven’t seen those lugs in any other period Omega pieces, but would love to be wrong.
 
Larry S
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Those indices have been removed before … repaint job imo.
 
gatorcpa
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Respectfully disagree. “Swiss” on dial is consistent with a U.S. national production watch from mid-1950’s. Most rediallers do not get this right.

Black guilloche dials are notoriously difficult to photograph properly. Only way to tell for sure is under a loupe, not on the internet.
gatorcpa
 
MtV
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Dan S Dan S
Also, the gold printing looks painted on, not galvanic, although obviously that can be hard to tell from photos.
Which is correct for those structured "honeycomb" dials (and a few others).

If it was repainted, it was a pretty good job. I'd want close-ups without the plexi or, ideally, a pic from the back of the dial to be completely sure.

I certainly would not dismiss it only because it seems to be in great shape.
 
qazwsx1
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I tend to prefer the original dial; however, we need to see a clearer picture.

Here’s mine for comparison.

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ArnaldoQuintini
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I was able to meet with the seller and check the piece myself. I think at this point my biggest concern is the fact that the seller doesn't seem to know much about the watch and mentioned that he had purchased it just about a month ago from a collector and wanted to sell because he prefers steel over gold. The condition of the watch seemed really good but whoever "serviced" it last did not do a good job of cleaning the dial and left some fibres (tip of hour 5 marker and south of hour 1 marker) as you can tell in the videos which doesn't give me the best feeling. At this point, I'm not feeling confident spending $850 on it.
 
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cristos71
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The dial looks good to me. Not sure about the price though with that funky case.
 
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