Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

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tempus fugit
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Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by tempus fugit »

Well I'm delighted to have come back from a trip away to find this large envelope waiting for me. I've heard a lot about these but this will be my first time receiving one.

Was purchased around 6 weeks ago on the Extract part of Omega's website. Details duly entered and monies paid (120CHF, or about £97, EUR110 or US$125), I sat back and (im)patiently waited until now.

Well it was worth the wait, and also a bit surprising in terms of what I learnt. Let's take you through the unpacking, but first a few pics of the watch and the serial numbers. More pictures on this thread.

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You can see the movement is a 286 calibre (seen at 2 'o' clock), with movement number 20798360 (at 4 'o'clock).
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Note the 135.007-63. This indicates a caseback from 1963, which is when I thought the watch was produced. Well, let's see...
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I'm holding the envelope (address hidden to protect the guilty)...
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Nice heavyweight paper, and embossed front and back.
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Inside the letter it's signed by the museum curator, Petros Protopapas.
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Now let's turn to the extract itself. A beautiful card folder, sealed with wax embossed with the Omega logo
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Inside the first flap, a museum card. Not sure when I'll use that, but hey.
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Now the exciting bit, the extract itself. All the info they have on my watch, and signed by the President and CEO of Omega to boot (yes, his actual signature - must be quite time-consuming to sign all the extract requests but a nice touch by Omega). Oh, and yes I am enjoying a bottle of Corona Extra as I write this, although not intended to be in shot. :)
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And in more detail. So, looks like I have a genuine, authentic and original watch! Yeah! The calibre, movement and watch case ref all match their archives (otherwise, no extract and Omega give you your money back). But wait...my caseback says 63 - meaning the caseback was made in 1963. Yet my movement has a February 1964 production date. So this means my case was machined in 1963 but then sat around until the new year until the movement was produced - and presumably mated some time after February 26th. Not unusual when you think about it - but just shows that you can't assume exact years with almost any watch without archives to confirm exact production dates of the component parts.
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And here is the little beauty laid alongside her archive extract certificate. Now I know her a little better, and I feel more 'connected' as a result when she sits on my wrist, beating away. A little piece of history, some years older than me but still stunning.
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

A tad expensive, but fantastic that you now know all about your watch. :thumbup:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by footycrazy »

Well worth the wait time and expense i,d say.

:clap:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Winnie Bloo »

Well worth it to prove the heritage and authenticity :thumbup:

A fantastic presentation from Omega, you must be well chuffed ?

Congratulations :clap:
The Ultimate Postman has delivered his last package.

Dave :wave:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by gaf1958 »

I think they keep the price up to keep the volume of requests down.

It seems to me that in this case, the price has been well worth it. It's removed any lingering doubts about authenticity and, to paraphrase your own words, made you more connected to your watch. In my view that's worth it. I'm guessing it's probably moved from a potential flip to a keeper.

Congrats on your genuine Omega. :thumbup:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Caller »

That was very interesting - much appreciated - and a great watch! :thumbup:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Dancematt »

Wow that's very pricey. These used to be like £30 I recall? Puts the mind to rest I gues.
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by nbg »

Interesting post. :thumbup:

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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Kip »

Price notwithstanding, a terrific documentation to have. :thumbup:
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by MiniMpi »

A lovely thing to have and cherish along with your very cool Seamaster.
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tempus fugit
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by tempus fugit »

Thank you all for your very kind feedback, and I'm glad this was of interest for you.

I wasn't worried about the watch not being bone fide, as the seller was very genuine and had purchased from Austin Kaye (who are very reputable), but you never know so I do confess there was some peace of mind...

For me, it was more about gaining knowledge of the history of a watch I have very much come to like, more than when I bought it.

The winding mechanism is superb, with really great feedback as you wind (feels solid as you turn the crown with every click distinct and a clear stop when you have fully wound it). It doesn't hack, but the mechanism can be easily held with some gentle backward pressure on the crown, meaning setting to atomic time is easy (a bit sad I know with a watch I don't wear every day).

For anyone into vintage, I can thoroughly recommend an SM30.

Thanks
Alex
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by Stuart1 »

Good post, I always wanted to see what the extract looked like when compared to the watch.
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by magicman »

Hello there

I have just registered with Omega and Ordered one of these for my Speedmaster.

I have had enquiries as to the age of the watch.
Unfortunately there's no warranty card, to assertain the date it was originally bought.
So that little nugget of information was proving impossible for me to give, I got it 2nd hand, and didn't even ask the simplest of questions, of the seller.
The serial number tables were if no use.
So for peace of mind, I decided to go for this, fingers crossed it arrives in the 15 days stated and I get some decent info.
Expensive, but at least they haven't, hiked the price since 2017.

Regards Steve
Selling Tudor Pelagos 39
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by jkbarnes »

magicman wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:36 pm Hello there

I have just registered with Omega and Ordered one of these for my Speedmaster.

I have had enquiries as to the age of the watch.
Unfortunately there's no warranty card, to assertain the date it was originally bought.
So that little nugget of information was proving impossible for me to give, I got it 2nd hand, and didn't even ask the simplest of questions, of the seller.
The serial number tables were if no use.
So for peace of mind, I decided to go for this, fingers crossed it arrives in the 15 days stated and I get some decent info.
Expensive, but at least they haven't, hiked the price since 2017.

Regards Steve
I’m glad you posted here and resurrected this thread. This is extremely cool! I wish I had a vintage Omega (any Omega, actually!) so I could pursue this. Please share the results with us when you get them.
Drew
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Re: Omega Extract of the Archives has arrived!

Post by magicman »

Hello there

I will update as soon as it arrives.
I even feel like a bonafide Omega owner, Now I'm added to their data bank, and a registered user on the website.

Regards Steve
Selling Tudor Pelagos 39
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