Looking for advice on verifying steel bracelet for Seamaster 300 heritage

adrichards · Jul 17, 2025

OK so I bought the Hertiage Seamaster 300 last year, on the leather strap, but decided to pick up the metal bracelet now also so i can switch between. I found one sold as OEM, but i would love if someone with more experience in the feild could weigh in and confirm (or not!) the legitimacy. To my eye quality isn't questionable. The only thing I'm seeing is that the Omega logo on the clasp is further down the clasp than i'm seeing on other pictures. I'm thinking it is perhaps a slightly older bracelet? All advice appreciated! Thanks!

Porteroso · Jul 17, 2025

There are a few slight differences from mine, but I also notice that mine might be an earlier version than yours. Particularly in the printing, yours is a little thicker than what I see on mine, though maybe that's just the picture. If it's a fake, it does look quite good.

How many adjustments does it have? I see maybe 5 holes for the push adjust? I have 3, but again, might be a different bracelet. I'm not an expert.

adrichards · Jul 17, 2025

Porteroso
There are a few slight differences from mine, but I also notice that mine might be an earlier version than yours. Particularly in the printing, yours is a little thicker than what I see on mine, though maybe that's just the picture. If it's a fake, it does look quite good.

How many adjustments does it have? I see maybe 5 holes for the push adjust? I have 3, but again, might be a different bracelet. I'm not an expert.

Hi! thanks for the input! There's 6 holes in the adjustment. the clasp itself has ID STZ001159, so i'm wondering if potentially (for whatever reason) its all legit Omega OEM components but the clasp is not the standard for the 300 heritage?

Porteroso · Jul 17, 2025

Mine ends in 58. Other than that, no idea, though I'd love to have 6 adjustments.

Donn Chambers · Jul 17, 2025

I don’t think that is the proper clasp - it looks too long and wide. I suspect someone has put a clasp for another model on there. It should only have three adjustments, not 6. What is the width and length?

ErichPryde · Jul 17, 2025

Afternoon adrichards and welcome to the forum.

The Second generation heritage that you have should have a 3 position clasp (part #STZ014058). I believe the clasp you have there (part #STZ001159, assuming it is genuine) with 6 positions and the slightly lower "OMEGA" placement comes from the current generation Seamaster Professional 300M. Your clasp appears thicker and longer (which is why the lower OMEGA placement most likely)- the current 300 heritage clasp is just over 18mm thick and mated to a bracelet that tapers to 16mm- and the portion of the clasp with the PUSH adjuster is 15mm thick.

You should be able to veritfy quickly with a ruler or calipers, that the clasp does not conform to these dimensions.

The part numbers on your bracelet sides themselves look correct. However, I'd like to see what the underside of the endlink looks like where it meets the case. I'd also like to see what it looks like viewing the endlink from the top, vs. the lug profile.

I ask this because the end links should have notches (visible in the final image I shared), and I cannot see if yours has those.

Last thing- from what I understand the current SMP bracelet is one of the most commonly faked parts. I have no idea if that clasp is genuine, but I also cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone would "replace" the current clasp with a bigger one, which makes me a bit suspicious.

Some images:

ErichPryde · Jul 17, 2025

here are some guesses-

these clasps were unfortunately prone to failure. Mine failed, Omega covered it under warranty. Other members have had these fail. It's a known issue.

1)If the rest of your bracelet is genuine, it's possible someone sourced a clasp from online to replace a failed clasp that wouldn't be covered under warrranty (perhaps they went gray). If they did that, perhaps they sourced "whatever" clasp they could get. This one "fit," so it was good enough.

If this is what happened that clasp could be real or fake. It's a commonly faked omega part, unfortunately.

2) The entire bracelet is fake and instead of making a new clasp, the fakers are just using the older, slightly too big clasp.

If I can ask, what did you pay for that bracelet?

adrichards · Jul 18, 2025

ErichPryde
here are some guesses-

these clasps were unfortunately prone to failure. Mine failed, Omega covered it under warranty. Other members have had these fail. It's a known issue.

1)If the rest of your bracelet is genuine, it's possible someone sourced a clasp from online to replace a failed clasp that wouldn't be covered under warrranty (perhaps they went gray). If they did that, perhaps they sourced "whatever" clasp they could get. This one "fit," so it was good enough.

If this is what happened that clasp could be real or fake. It's a commonly faked omega part, unfortunately.

2) The entire bracelet is fake and instead of making a new clasp, the fakers are just using the older, slightly too big clasp.

If I can ask, what did you pay for that bracelet?

Hi, thanks! the clasp is 22mm wide (using a ruler, as i dont have a micrometer). I payed £550 on ebay, a seller with a seemingly good record of reviews selling OEM bracelets as well as a few watches. They are based in Israel it turns out - not sure if that factors into the non-regularity (best case scenario!) of the item.

adrichards · Jul 18, 2025

ErichPryde
Afternoon adrichards and welcome to the forum.

The Second generation heritage that you have should have a 3 position clasp (part #STZ014058). I believe the clasp you have there (part #STZ001159, assuming it is genuine) with 6 positions and the slightly lower "OMEGA" placement comes from the current generation Seamaster Professional 300M. Your clasp appears thicker and longer (which is why the lower OMEGA placement most likely)- the current 300 heritage clasp is just over 18mm thick and mated to a bracelet that tapers to 16mm- and the portion of the clasp with the PUSH adjuster is 15mm thick.

You should be able to veritfy quickly with a ruler or calipers, that the clasp does not conform to these dimensions.

The part numbers on your bracelet sides themselves look correct. However, I'd like to see what the underside of the endlink looks like where it meets the case. I'd also like to see what it looks like viewing the endlink from the top, vs. the lug profile.

I ask this because the end links should have notches (visible in the final image I shared), and I cannot see if yours has those.

Last thing- from what I understand the current SMP bracelet is one of the most commonly faked parts. I have no idea if that clasp is genuine, but I also cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone would "replace" the current clasp with a bigger one, which makes me a bit suspicious.

Some images:

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this, firstly! I've attached a few photos that i think look at some of the points you mention - do they help you with forming an opinion on it?

adrichards · Jul 18, 2025

Donn Chambers
I don’t think that is the proper clasp - it looks too long and wide. I suspect someone has put a clasp for another model on there. It should only have three adjustments, not 6. What is the width and length?

Hi Donn! Agreed, thats where my thinking is with this now, its definitely not the standard clasp for the 300 heritage, at 22mm wide. I'm ok with it to be fair so long as it is a legit part!

adrichards · Jul 18, 2025

ErichPryde
Afternoon adrichards and welcome to the forum.

The Second generation heritage that you have should have a 3 position clasp (part #STZ014058). I believe the clasp you have there (part #STZ001159, assuming it is genuine) with 6 positions and the slightly lower "OMEGA" placement comes from the current generation Seamaster Professional 300M. Your clasp appears thicker and longer (which is why the lower OMEGA placement most likely)- the current 300 heritage clasp is just over 18mm thick and mated to a bracelet that tapers to 16mm- and the portion of the clasp with the PUSH adjuster is 15mm thick.

You should be able to veritfy quickly with a ruler or calipers, that the clasp does not conform to these dimensions.

The part numbers on your bracelet sides themselves look correct. However, I'd like to see what the underside of the endlink looks like where it meets the case. I'd also like to see what it looks like viewing the endlink from the top, vs. the lug profile.

I ask this because the end links should have notches (visible in the final image I shared), and I cannot see if yours has those.

Last thing- from what I understand the current SMP bracelet is one of the most commonly faked parts. I have no idea if that clasp is genuine, but I also cannot, for the life of me, understand why someone would "replace" the current clasp with a bigger one, which makes me a bit suspicious.

Also: a few more of the clasp & end link & profile there:

fiberguy · Jul 18, 2025

A adrichards
Also: a few more of the clasp & end link & profile there:

All of the scratches around the latching mechanism would give me pause. Some of these clasps have some issues with the mechanism getting stuck open or closed, looks like someone tried to do some prying to "unstuck" the latch.

Donn Chambers · Jul 18, 2025

Bracelet looks good to me, but having that bulky, too wide clasp on it would bother me. I’d order a new clasp from an AD. And once you do that, you’ll find out you probably didn’t save any money and should have just ordered the bracelet from an AD originally.

But if you don’t mind the extra bulky clasp, you probably saved a little money.

ErichPryde · Jul 18, 2025

The end links should absolutely, positively, have these notches to mate to the case like this:

Your bracelet does not appear to have those notches:

Can you confirm their presence or absence?

There are no official aftermarket endlinks for this watch that I am aware of from anyone like US or Forstner, and if this bracelet was purchased from Omega it would have come with these end links. I can't imagine a scenario in which a legit bracelet has aftermarket end links made by some unknown company and also has the incorrect clasp unless it was intentionally created from parts to be sold as OEM.

EDIT: It also appears that the bracelet you have has little to no taper, is that correct? It should taper from 21mm at the case/end link down to 16mm. It doesn't look like your bracelet does.

Donn Chambers · Jul 18, 2025

ErichPryde
The end links should absolutely, positively, have these notches to mate to the case like this:

Your bracelet does not appear to have those notches:

Can you confirm their presence or absence?

There are no official aftermarket endlinks for this watch that I am aware of from anyone like US or Forstner, and if this bracelet was purchased from Omega it would have come with these end links. I can't imagine a scenario in which a legit bracelet has aftermarket end links made by some unknown company and also has the incorrect clasp unless it was intentionally created from parts to be sold as OEM.

EDIT: It also appears that the bracelet you have has little to no taper, is that correct? It should taper from 21mm at the case/end link down to 16mm. It doesn't look like your bracelet does.

Great observations and all ones I missed. The more I look at this, this bracelet is a mess and not right. I stopped buying OEM bracelets/clasps off eBay and other sites years ago because of this. Now, I’ll only get them from the AD originally someone here on the Sales Forum.

ErichPryde · Jul 18, 2025

Donn Chambers
Great observations and all ones I missed. The more I look at this, this bracelet is a mess and not right. I stopped buying OEM bracelets/clasps off eBay and other sites years ago because of this. Now, I’ll only get them from the AD originally someone here on the Sales Forum.

Yeah, I don't think it's real either, unfortunately. Some of the finishing visually also looks funny to me, but it's always hard to tell in pictures

I was talking to @Meme-Dweller recently and he mentioned that the SMP bracelets on eBay are almost all fakes and that they are good enough that at a glance, they're almost indistinguishable from the real thing (until you start using them presumably). His input might be interesting

adrichards · Jul 19, 2025

Thanks for all the input and knowledge everyone! I've been in contact with the seller and they can't provide any proof of legitimacy, but are happy to accept a return for a refund. Given the sellers apparent history of good reviews and the fact that they're willing to refund with no argument I'm erring on the side of this is either 1) unknowingly a fake or 2) some bastardised combination of legitimate parts and 'unkonwn origin' parts.

Meme-Dweller · Jul 22, 2025

Ahhh, I just got back from Summer vacation. I missed some fun here!

@ErichPryde is correct in noticing the missing ridges on the underside of the endlinks-- you were indeed sold a fake.

It's easy to research the fakes that are being sold online-- all the "replica" SM300 Heritages all happen to have the ridge-less same endlink and are mated incorrectly with the 20mm STZ001159 clasp. You're the second person in the last 2 months that I've talked to on here that got scammed by an eBay seller (which is quick to accept a return to protect his reputation to continue scamming) with multiple fake bracelets being sold at real prices, as well as other fake straps/bracelets from brands like AP and Patek.

Who'd you get it from on eBay? There's one guy from Germany and another from Israel that is known to be doing this en masse.

Fake SM300 Heritage with the same smooth endlink as yours. Same GIJ factory code on the bracelet and HJE on clasp:

The STZ001159, though irrelevant because it's not the correct clasp for this bracelet, is easy to spot as fake since the factories in China haven't adjusted their fonts yet. I think the very early genuine models had the "9" in STZ001159 with the curved tail (don't quote me on this), but every genuine example I've seen for years has the straight "9" tail.

Fake (look at the 9 and the bad Omega anti-counterfeit logo touching the triangle):

Genuine:

AVOID EBAY FOR OMEGA BRACELETS/STRAPS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!

ErichPryde · Jul 22, 2025

Meme-Dweller

How did the dial on this one look? I have only seen one other summer blue fake and it was pretty poorly executed.

Meme-Dweller · Jul 22, 2025

ErichPryde
How did the dial on this one look? I have only seen one other summer blue fake and it was pretty poorly executed.

No idea how the Summer Blue looks in real life as I've only seen the Diver 300M Summer Blue in person, but these were the photos posted with captions added by me.