SixteenYears of Constellation Trivia




I launched this blog on June 28th, 2006. At the time, eBay and other on-line markets were, largely, an unregulated frontier more closely resembling a mercantile variant of Dodge City, circa 1870, than a fair and dependable marketplace. Cowboys, bushwhackers and outlaws roamed the fertile plains of on-line auction sites; Oriental crime gangs offloaded wagon loads of fakes with impunity; Frankenmeisters saw many opportunities to make a quick buck with their despicable horological confections, and buyer, and indeed seller, protection were pretty well non-existent.  

 Sixteen years ago all of the major Omega-related chat fora were run by horological petrol-heads for the most part funding set-ups and ongoing operations themselves, or through member contributions and a trickle of advertising revenue. It was on these fora where we learned from each other and contributed our knowledge.    

By 2006, the “Buyer Beware” mantra had almost reached hysterical proportions on some watch fora. I felt that a certain hubris and heartlessness had entered collecting cultures, placing, in my opinion, a bit too much of the blame on those who had been duped and too little of the blame on the parasites and cockroaches who did the duping. And so I was motivated to set up a resource that in the case of Omega Constellations would perhaps help redress the imbalance a little.

Another strong motive was to share with others my enthusiasm for Omega Constellations of the Fifties and Sixties, a collection of superb timepieces that time and the ill fortune of the brand in the Seventies had left undervalued and underappreciated.    

Quite a few of my earliest posts involved naming and shaming some of the more outrageous attempts to separate unsuspecting watch buyers from their money, however I tired of that soon enough. I decided that the best way to achieve both of the above ends was to present well-researched and detailed essays about various aspects of vintage Constellation and other Omega collections so as to help people value and appreciate the brand and acquire the knowledge required to make a judicious acquisition.

Until 2013, I travelled extensively on business, spending up to twenty weeks a year in hotel rooms in various cities in Australia and around the world. In the evenings, instead of watching hours of brain-numbing trash on cable TV or viewing breathless reports about nothing important on CNN and BBC News, I decided to use my time productively and write about various aspects of my favourite vintage brand, the fruits of which grew over time into the most comprehensive resource about Omega Constellation on the Web.

At the time of writing, this blog has attracted a total of 4,243,621 visitors who have downloaded essays on Omega Constellation and other topics hundreds of thousands of times.  Hopefully this resource has increased awareness and helped re-establish the reputation of Omega Constellation watches of the 1950s and 60s to where it was during the halcyon decades,  that of the premier production watch brand of its time. 

29 comments:

  1. chris3:04 am

    This is the ultimate Constellation resource and I have learnt a hell of a lot here over the years. All of which I have used on numerous occasions to help me make the right decisions both quickly and at the right time whilst hunting Connies. I frequently return to re-read your old posts and interesting factoids!

    Keep up the fantastic work, which is very much appreciated.

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    1. Hi Chris

      Thanks for your kind comments

      Regards

      Desmond

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  2. Desmond, thank-you for this astounding site. I don't have a Constellation (yet), but this website has meant that I'll be armed with the correct knowledge when the time comes. Congrats on ten years!

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    1. Thanks for your post, much appreciated. When you get around to searching for an acquisition let me know and I'll assess it for you.

      Thank you for your many and varied posts on the forums. I have enjoyed them over the years.

      Cheers

      Desmond

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  3. Congratulations Desmond. Many thanks for all the time you have spent learning, writing, and most importantly sharing. It is greatly appreciated. Pat

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    1. Thanks Pat. :)

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    2. Patrick Doran8:50 pm

      Hi Desmond,

      For some reason it listed me as "Unknown" which i guess is not a bad thing. I probably forgot to choose name/URL. Would not be the first time. We are moving to Milwaukee in December and I've been in Milwaukee these last 2 weeks buying a house. If you ever get to the midwest, you have a place to stay.

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    3. LOL You're far from unknown Pat!

      Here's hoping the house hunting has resulted in a home you'll enjoy living in. Good luck on the big move.

      Regards

      Desmond

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  4. Desmond -

    I can hardly believe that it's been 10 years since you started this blog.

    You have been so valuable and generous to the watch forums and also to myself personally. You have passed on so much knowledge, a large part of my collection is thanks to you.

    I hope to see more of you on the forums and of course on your blog.

    Take care,
    gatorcpa

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    1. Hi Gator,

      And thank you for your contributions to the "knowledge", and on more than one occasion to the content of my essays!

      I still enjoy the forums, and I tend to stand back and let others contribute. There are so many people who are Connie 'literate' now compared with ten years ago.

      Regards

      Desmond

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  5. First of all thanks for a great forum for getting more knowledge about vintage omegas. I'm about to shop my first Constellation. What is your opinion of this: http://m.ebay.com/itm/311648313707

    The seller informs me: "I can't speak for the watches early history, but I can tell you that when I serviced it in 2015 we replaced the crown, crystal, complete hand set, and the sweep second pinion. It also had two new case clamps and case screws. All parts where new original parts from Omega. As I said in the listing, I believe the dial is also a high quality restoration."
    Thanks in advance for your time.

    /Peter

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    1. Hi Peter,

      Thanks for your post.

      The watch in question has a refinished dial, done to quite a reasonable standard. Movement is very clean and the case quite sharp.

      The question is, do you want a refinished dial, or do you want a watch that is original? This watch looks nice, however to a collector the refinished dial would not be appealing, so it depends on your personal preferences.

      The crown on the watch is also not the original smaller crown that fits in snugly to the bezel. These crowns are no longer manufactured, which is why we see the replacement crown fitted. Again, the question of full originality is raised.

      Regards

      Desmond

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  6. Thank you so much for your fast reply. I'm a little in doubt and it Leaves me with a lot of questions.
    I find the full originality appealing, which would lead me to another watch. But wouldn't that mean a Price in another Ball park? If I accept The refinished dial, what do you Think of The Price? After all what does refinished mean in technical terms - did The repair put new paint/stuff on The dial or did he just remove dirt and dust?

    Sorry for all my ignorance and questions.

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    1. Refinished means that the dial was removed from the watch, cleaned of all paint down to the metal, markers removed and repainted, followed by application of dyes to reproduce the letter on the dial. Usually the metal applied markers are glued back, as opposed to the originals being rivetted.

      So, in a way, you get a 'reproduction' of the dial. For the price being asked (750 pounds) I would expect that you would be able to see an original dialled version. So I think the price is somewhat high for a redial.

      For around 1200 - 1400 USD (havent put pounds as the currency is fluctuating a lot) you could obtain a pretty good example of the 168.004 with pie pan. This would mean trawling ebay and assessing each watch as it comes up and then making a decision.

      So, perhaps a little more reading and maybe join OmegaForums.net and enage some of the members too. That way you're not in this alone :)

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  7. Happy anniversary!

    I have you to thank for my 4 Constellations. You're an inspiration and this site is quite a legacy to the many hours you've spent curating it. Thank you!

    --Adam

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  8. Thanks Adam,

    Happy that the content on this site has provided some guidance.

    Regards

    Desmond

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  9. Thank you Desmond for being a great source of wisdom and a generous advisor to us all the Omega illiterates. We can now pretend to be expert collectors because of you...only pretend. Many thanks again.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your support. Much appreciated.

      Cheers

      Desmond

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  10. Congrats Desmond abd keep up the excellent work - your blog is one of my favorite web resources. If I could only write like you!

    Nicholas Hacko,
    Watchmaker - Sydney

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    1. Hi Nick,

      Thanks for your comments. As a regular reader of your blog over time, I think your writing and indeed entertaining slant on things serves us all well :)

      Regards

      Desmond

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  11. Hi Desmond
    I see the word "generous" in the comments more than once, and at the risk of being tedious, I'll repeat it. About 3 years ago you gave generously of your time and advice to a new collector looking to buy his first Omega. I've learned a lot since then: firstly Patience; secondly that there is always a lot more to learn. Anyway congrats on 10 years and very many thanks to a "diamond geezer", as we say in the UK!
    All the best,
    Ted Peacock

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ted,

      Thanks for your post and your good wishes.

      Good luck in your future collecting endeavours

      Regards

      Desmond

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  12. Hello Desmond. I also just wanted to thank you for all your time - both writing this blog and for your many personal emails to me, helping me in the process of an online purchase. I think you first helped me in 2008 or 09 when I was still in Business School. Every new purchase happened only after several mails between you and me and all your time and help was unique and priceless. Over the years I've had about 30-35 Connies at one point. For years, I just collected all I could find, with only one mantra: It has to be all 100% original. Today, I'm down to around 10 good pieces and focus on the more rare which include Jumbos, the last Japanese pie pan, black dial/rose gold case with b&p, steel pie pans because of the sublime elegance and so on. In all honesty, I wouldn't have half the knowledge I have today without your blog and many elaborate emails. We moved recently, and in a box I found a huge stack of papers. It was every single post on your blog, I had printed and turned into a book. Oh yes, your posts have been read carefully and often several times over the years. :-) Thank you for all your time, Thomas - Copenhagen.

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    1. Hi Thomas,

      Thanks for your kind words.

      I remember our conversations very well. Great to see that you gained so much sophistication in collecting. I think your focus is right on the money!

      The other thing that is very gratifying is that the blog posts have helped spawn not only interest in collecting Omegas but also a much broader expertise in the collecting community, so that now we have a ew generation of Connie and Omega experts to hand the knowledge down.

      Best wishes

      Desmond

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  13. Best Omega Constellation info worldwide, keep up with the good work. Thanks for sharing with us all this knowledge.

    Regards,
    Cesar.
    www.relojblog.com

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  14. Huge congratulations Desmond on 10 fantastic years. I started following your blog when I had one Connie and the knowledge I gained, has allowed me to add four more and avoid a recased or fake 168.005. I have also been able to meet a fellow Toronto enthusiast after reading the story of his restoration of his father's Constellation.

    Congrats and thanks Desmond
    Best Regards
    Mark Fleminger

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    1. Hi Mark, yes I remember Ari's project and your link-up. Glad the blog has served you in your collecting endeavours.

      Many thanks for your good wishes.

      regards

      Desmond

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  15. How do I post a picture. I need an opinion on a junk drawer find

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    1. Sorry no facility to host pictures. You can leave a url if you like

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