A Real Compliment Getter
Sometimes we discuss here in WC that you have to buy watches essentially for yourself. Never ever buy a watch with the expectation of getting compliments on it, because you won’t, no matter how expensive it was. Normies will sit next to a Glashütte Original Panomatic Inverse all afternoon long being blinded by the light reflections on it and not give it a second thought.
There’s very rare exceptions and these exceptions happen far in between. My 1977 Omega Constellation Quartz 191.0010 represents perhaps the most affordable way of putting a big boy brand logo on your wrist for the price of a Seiko 5 GMT. It is not an expensive watch and it was not an expensive watch when it was designed almost 50 years ago. It represented, together with many other quartz pieces of that era, a desperate attempt from a Swiss watchmaker to try and compete with Seiko and the other Japanese manufacturers flooding the market with affordable quartz pieces. It sits right in between the expensive and affordable ends of my collection.
And it really is the watch in my collection that gets the most compliments, by far. It has even gotten earlier today the rarest kind of them, which is a random interaction from watch aficionado to watch aficionado. Having lunch in the outside area of a café in Budapest, the guest next to us has briefly asked about my watch being an Omega and what model is it, as he found it very cool. I gave him the compliment back as I had already observed during lunch that he was wearing a Frederic Constant.
This is adding to the usual compliments this Omega receives from friends and family, most of them women highlighting its simplicity and slender profile, and in our very own WRUW section. A real compliment getter!
My collection: - Omega Constellation Quartz Cal. 1330 (1977) - Grand Seiko SBGX261 - Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 - Seiko Prospex SRPA21K1 “PADI Turtle” - Straton Competition Driver Automatic - Casio A-50...
The part about "light reflections" reminded me of the time I was riding shotgun as my friend drove us through the Columbia Gorge.
We had been driving along in silence for quite some time when he suddenly blurted out "Your watch!". I was thrilled because I had just bought it a few days earlier so I exclaimed "It's a Rolex Submariner!" to which he dryly responded "Can you move it please? It's reflecting the sun into my eyes."
Whomp Whomp
The part about "light reflections" reminded me of the time I was riding shotgun as my friend drove us through the Columbia Gorge.
We had been driving along in silence for quite some time when he suddenly blurted out "Your watch!". I was thrilled because I had just bought it a few days earlier so I exclaimed "It's a Rolex Submariner!" to which he dryly responded "Can you move it please? It's reflecting the sun into my eyes."
Whomp Whomp
…username checks out
Hey Daniel,
Gorgeous Omega Quartz. I actually have a vintage black dial Seamaster 120 in my eBay cart. They’re quite affordable probably because of their quartz movement, which is great. And they’re super clean which fits my tastes.
The only thing holding me back at the moment is that the current watch on eBay is no box and no papers. Not sure but that seems like a good way for me to get screwed as I haven’t bought vintage yet. Did you insist on papers when you picked up your Omega Constellation?
Vintage Omega are excellent value 👏🏻👏🏻
Fantastic looking watch and incredible value. I've been looking at getting one of these for a while. 👌
Lovely Omega, no wonder it gets all of those compliments. There is something about quality slim watch bearing this name.
Hey Daniel,
Gorgeous Omega Quartz. I actually have a vintage black dial Seamaster 120 in my eBay cart. They’re quite affordable probably because of their quartz movement, which is great. And they’re super clean which fits my tastes.
The only thing holding me back at the moment is that the current watch on eBay is no box and no papers. Not sure but that seems like a good way for me to get screwed as I haven’t bought vintage yet. Did you insist on papers when you picked up your Omega Constellation?
It was listed as no box and papers. They showed a picture of the movement and the model number for watch and integrated bracelet in the case back, so that made the research easier to avoid frankenwatches.
I was also afraid of being fleeced, that’s why I set a very strict budget over it wouldn’t be worth it to run that risk. I’ve only bought vintage quartz so far, as that’s a “safer” entry way into the minefield, in my opinion. I guess it’s more difficult to fake a quartz movement?
It was listed as no box and papers. They showed a picture of the movement and the model number for watch and integrated bracelet in the case back, so that made the research easier to avoid frankenwatches.
I was also afraid of being fleeced, that’s why I set a very strict budget over it wouldn’t be worth it to run that risk. I’ve only bought vintage quartz so far, as that’s a “safer” entry way into the minefield, in my opinion. I guess it’s more difficult to fake a quartz movement?
Hey Daniel,
Oh I didn’t realize your Omega Constellation comes with an integrated bracelet. That’s really handy, I was gonna say you have a great eye for bracelets!
Smart move asking for a picture of the movement and model number. I will do that next time I come across a vintage piece that catches my eye. The black dial Omega I was eyeing is a little beyond what I’m comfortable rolling the dice on for a potential frankenwatch.
I agree on vintage quartz being a safer entry point because most people don’t like quartz so it’s a much smaller market which makes faking stuff likely not as lucrative.