# Omega Seamaster Dating



## cogtocog (Nov 6, 2010)

Just bought a 1979/1980 day/date automatic seamaster dress watch.I have a couple of questions....it has the 1020 movement...if the watch is working well how accurate should this be......it has a push on back but is a semaster so how water proof would this be ?? and i tryed to do a more detailed search based on the case number of 188.0209 but could not get the search function on the omega site to work properley !! Oh and one last thing ..it looks as if omega themselves can do an archive type search but at 75 swiss francs this seems a bit steep...is it worth doing at all...?? cheers for any info anyone can tell me !!...Dave.


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## aroma (Dec 11, 2009)

Hi,

It would appear that 188.0209 is not recognized by the Omega Vintage Database. There could be several reasons for this - including the site is not 100% accurate or it is cased by someone other than Omega.

Omega markings normally work in this way - the 1 in the 188 would indicate 'Gents Watch', the first 8 would normally indicate that is an 'Electronic Chronograph' with the second 8 indicating 'Water Resisting Chronometer Calendar'. Clearly is isn't any of these things.

Are there any other markings on the case back that would give a clue (ie case maker for example 'DS&S'). Have another look and see if there is anything else - or post a picture

Cheers


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## aroma (Dec 11, 2009)

Also, The Omega 'Extract from Archives' would not tell you a lot - I think it is ridiculously expensive for what it is - it would only be worth it for something like a Speedy Pro where you wanted to ensure its originality.

Post a piccy or two


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Omega's new site is useless. 

The water resistance on that watch will be 30m or 50m. After a proper service, the time keeping shouldn't exceed +/- 15 seconds per day, likely better than that. It probably was made in the mid to late 70's, that seems to be when most of the 1020 movement watches were sold.

Later,

William


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## cogtocog (Nov 6, 2010)

Do i feel like a proper prat........YES is the answer...the reference number on the inside of the bezel is 166.0209 not 188.0209..........i should have gone to specsavers !!!.....and putting that into the search brings my watch up !!!

...thanks for all the other bits and bobs of info that you guys have supplied,thanks very much...because the watch appears to be slightly earlier than the serial number on the movement suggests ( according to the bezel number) does this mean that this clibre of movement is an omega one or one based on an ETA movement which i think i have read on this site somewhere for post 1980's watches....how are these 1020 calibre movements regarded buy you guys here in the know....thanks very much again for the replys....Oh and i nearly forgot that above the number inside the bezel is a sort of humped square and the letters MLB does this mean that this particular watch was cased by someone other than omega....Cheers .Dave.


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## aroma (Dec 11, 2009)

That's better - I thought it sounded a bit odd. If it is a stainless steel case then it would be made by one of Omega's contractors and probably that is where the initials come from - though without a picture, it is not really possible to say. The 1020 movement was the non-chronometer version of the fast beat (8 beats per sec) - I think the chronometer version was 1021. Yes, they're OK but by that time Omega was on the slope downwards from building to a quality standard to building to a price. The earlier 55x, 56x and 751 movements were better.

Cheers


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## cogtocog (Nov 6, 2010)

Thanks for the extra info Aroma !!...cheers,Dave.


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