# Vintage Omegas From The Ukraine - Genuine?



## GASHEAD (Aug 27, 2009)

Hi,

I have recently been looking at old military style Omegas on the Bay (Regulateurs etc) and a disproportionate number of them seem to be coming from sellers in the Ukraine. Their feedback score is always high but it still seems a bit fishy to me. Anyone had any experience of buying from the Ukraine or know why so many old Omegas seem to have ended up there?!


----------



## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

It's likey wise to exercise caution. In the past, I've noticed many of the watches from there were recased or a hodge-podge of movements, dials and hands. Be sure what you are looking at actually existed in the format shown.

Later,

William


----------



## kevkojak (May 14, 2009)

Lots of old Military watches out there, wouldn't have any idea on why so many vintage Omega though.

If its a recent trend then its likely its the old story of 'if it looks too good to be true - it is'!

Could just be the case that there are people over there with the skill to re-furb and not many jobs going, so shipping in huge job-lots of spares/repairs and turning them over on the cheap. Happened in India with plenty of artisans capable of great dial refurbishments for virtually nothing.

The problem with that is they do like their bright colours.... Seen more than one bright pink/yellow/orange Omega Dynamic listed by sellers over there and just wanted to cry! 

Of course, being cynical, that would also mean they had the skills to knock up good looking replicas too I suppose.

UK and USA for me. There are shifty ones about in both countries, but (touch wood) I've never been stung yet by either of those.


----------



## azimuth_pl (Aug 17, 2009)

go worldwide and you won't miss bargains.

if you stick to the UK and US you only see some 50% of the watches for sale.

as for the guys in Ukraine, as mentioned they are good craftsmen that buy tons of junk pocket watches and build nice wristwatch regulateurs.

they have the skills and they can make a decent living out of the Bay but they don't care for detail with their inkjet dials, etc.

IMO they want to attract newbies that even know how a watch works and that's the reason for the flashy visual effect.

to sum up = they sell original but heavily modified wristwatches = nonoriginal for collectors


----------



## flaxman (Dec 14, 2010)

http://seikoholics.yuku.com/topic/489

Although this link is not concerned directly with the Ukraine watch sellers, it does in my opinion illustrate very aptly the differences in expectations and cultural difficulties in relation to watch collecting and commerce in different parts of the world.

Acknowledgements to SEIKO7A38Fan for providing the link on another thread, "Buying Vintage on Ebay".


----------



## GASHEAD (Aug 27, 2009)

Thanks guys, very helpful.


----------



## dobra (Aug 20, 2009)

Ukraine had a mixed reaction to its up-graded 6x6 film cameras some years ago fftopic2: , they bought Russian jobbies cheap, and modded them. Probably the same for watches of any make..... :thumbsdown:

Mike


----------



## Morris Minor (Oct 4, 2010)

flaxman said:


> http://seikoholics.yuku.com/topic/489
> 
> Although this link is not concerned directly with the Ukraine watch sellers, it does in my opinion illustrate very aptly the differences in expectations and cultural difficulties in relation to watch collecting and commerce in different parts of the world.
> 
> Acknowledgements to SEIKO7A38Fan for providing the link on another thread, "Buying Vintage on Ebay".


Don, the guy who posted on the Seikoholics forum, is worth listening to and I would call him a 'virtual' friend of mine. He is also a leading light on vintage Seikos and has put together the database on that brand on the Seikoholics forum, as well as data on lesser known brands. I do the vintage Citizen section over there. I reckon that site is pretty well unique in what it has to offer on vintage Japanese watches.

Have to say it's ...er... disappointing when people write off whole regions of the world. If you are careful and do your homework, you can get decent watches anywhere. I have generally had very good experiences when buying from the 'far east' (far from the UK that is). My worst experiences have been with UK sellers...

Stephen (aka Sweephand in some other places)


----------



## stevieb (Feb 12, 2010)

i bought a lovely Roamer Searock from a guy in Ukraine, but i would have to say all of the 40mm plus vintages are modern pocket and fob watch convertions.

They also create their own hype in the listings as said previously. They are bought by inexperianced young guys who want a 50mm watch with a name on the dial.

When they arrive they are fine looking watches so they get good feed back.

They then find out the hard way the movements dont have shock protection on the balance.

But there's alot of watchmaking skill there, which to me means i should do my home work but not rule it out.

Regards steve


----------

