Omega Railmaster CK2914 ~ Research Thread

[dpd3672]

have you seen the stupidly low priced watches from India? I wonder about that

I bought one a while back, in Mumbai. It was a JLC Club, which was originally sold by JLC as a lower end, entry level watch, with a 3rd party movement. It seems to be mostly original, but well worn. I have no idea how original all the parts are, but probably most, based on the consistency of the wear. It runs fast, but I haven't been motivated to try to regulate it...it probably just needs to be demagnitized, to be honest. For the $50 I spent for it, I can't complain.

They're basically a questionable purchase. Sometimes they have some gen parts...movements, cases, occasionally dials. But generally, they're frankens of all different makes and models with a branded, low quality, aftermarket dial and all kinds of random, aftermarket parts...like Breitling movements in rep/homage Submariner cases, etc. They're also notoriously dirty inside and sometimes show signs of rust due to the ambient humidity in India...probably rebuilt in some dirty warehouse in bulk under conditions that would make the worst Chinese factory look like a NASA laboratory, lol.

They call them Mumbai specials. You can Google them for more information.

I do think some of the Seikos are worth it. Gen Seiko movements in $10-15 "Mumbai specials" are probably worth it for the parts. I bought a few that were ending just by putting in $10 bids on Ebay for 10 or so of them...I wound up winning about half because no one bid against me.

All had the 7S26 movements that were running in spec (the predecessor of the NH35, and a movement known to be bulletproof...good for decades of abuse without service...not a bad choice for a vintage rep, although I don't know if they will fit the same as the NH35 without modification).

Or alternatively, if you just want to represent a brand in your collection without investing heavily in a gen or rep...Breitling, JLC, Oris seem to be very popular Mumbai Specials.

 

[369mafia]

have you seen the stupidly low priced watches from India? I wonder about that

Ive bought a couple many years back . think I paid less than 5 CAD each , This one was oris dialed and engraved caseback , clearly not gen but I thought it had that railmaster vibe but also vintage field watch appeal , I was going to buy a sterile field watch dial, swap an eta into it and wear it as my cabin watch, but that is what my explorers are for, so now it sits.

they come on a terrible plastic leather look watch strap but better suited for a pass through nato .
I cant imagine anyone buying these and being happy with it as a daily wear. It has one job and barely does that.

 

[Karbon74]

Posting to subscribe.

The dial doesn't look terribly difficult to create, and if anyone can do it, manodeoro can. This is a Ploprof dial he did for me, which is somewhat similar in style:

If not, a good scan of the dial and some work in photoshop, and you could come up with a pretty decent dial to print yourself.
Before:


After a very quick tidying up in Microsoft Paint. The more time you spend, the better it could look, but to be honest, this would print up fairly nice as is, and with the lume done, would look pretty good:


I still say a gen case is probably better than anything you could find in the rep world.

Hour and minute hand look like something from a Constellation could be used, from any era:


Or from the Speedmaster Broad Arrow, depending on which Railmaster you were looking to copy:


The second hand looks like it was borrowed from a Moon Watch.




A little research says this could be a fairly easy rep to create, as many of the parts you'd need are availabe from other reps, in gen, or with a little commissioning or work on the computer.

I will buy the Bi dial. Then I can scan it, and see if I have the courage to try waterslide decals

@369mafia Raffles has a Seamaster dial that very close...would Ken take a little push
there is potential in the Omega vintage modding

 

[369mafia]

I will buy the Bi dial. Then I can scan it, and see if I have the courage to try waterslide decals

@369mafia Raffles has a Seamaster dial that very close...would Ken take a little push
there is potential in the Omega vintage modding

We could ask him. I know I sure would like to build a few , lets wait until you get the st martin and we confirm that the case is a good component for a build, that way I can sell it to him as a direct replacement part for that watch , and knowing that people who buy that watch may want to upgrade , could convince him of market size and cost benefit.

Have you studied the details of the gen dial vs any rep dials that you have seen? I think there is some variance in the thickness of the font in the railmaster text.. have you noticed any other differences? I think sending him pics of a gen dial straight on , loose preferred would be enough for him to approach the factory .

 

[Karbon74]

Bi dial in the first pic and gen CK2914-2 with broad arrow head.

At this point, I will do a test first by deleting with some cape cod the San Martin writing and putting a waterslide decal
because why not !

I am thinking of doing the same with the Raffles dial



I am not (yet) coming at this from the fidelity perspective. I only want a Minimum Viable Product.
Actually, that would even be a better talking point to Ken, if he sees an MVP

As soon as I get the watch, I will take it apart and make zillions of pics

 

[Karbon74]

you can see that the Raffles dial has a more modern logo

 

[Karbon74]

just go the san martin
what a spectacular watch

will do pics later

 

[Got20Mate]

just go the san martin
what a spectacular watch

will do pics later

Is this sarcasm? I've had some good and bad in the past

 

[Karbon74]

Is this sarcasm? I've had some good and bad in the past

it's good. so good that I am nervous to modify it

 

[Geonor]

it's good. so good that I am nervous to modify it

San Martin has gotten real good. I saw a steel finishing comparison between, Seiko, Citizen, Grand Seiko and San Martin and they blew Seiko and Citizen out of the water. They were up there with Grand Seiko. Sounds crazy but macro shots of brushing, transitions and polishing don't lie.

 

[Karbon74]

 

[dpd3672]

Damn, that's pretty nice out of the box. Do they sell sterile models (some Chinese watches do)?

I'd almost say a sterile version with a "Manodeoro-esque" tweak to the dial would be 90% there.

 

[Karbon74]

Damn, that's pretty nice out of the box. Do they sell sterile models (some Chinese watches do)?

I'd almost say a sterile version with a "Manodeoro-esque" tweak to the dial would be 90% there.

they don't have this model on sterile
I had not thought about that

@manodeoro What do you think?
If I send you the dial and hands, could you reprint the dial and do the relume?

This way I keep some business "local" instead of sending more money to Asia

 

[Got20Mate]

That is sensational for out the box, really one of the best I've seen. Madness! What's the model?

 

[Karbon74]

SN0113

 

[dpd3672]

they don't have this model on sterile
I had not thought about that

@manodeoro What do you think?
If I send you the dial and hands, could you reprint the dial and do the relume?

This way I keep some business "local" instead of sending more money to Asia

custom logo cost - San Martin Official Store

If you have any trouble checkout with your credit card on our store, please feel free to click this link to our linked Aliexpress store, thanks! Custom Logo Service for single order is stopped, for over 20pcs bulk custom order,please contact [email protected], thanks! Custom logo service for...

sanmartinwatches.com

I thought I remembered seeing an option to order sterile watches from some of the Homage brands if you order from them directly. I remember because I considered it when I did my Ploprof (which ultimately wound up being done by Manodeoro, lol, so it might be a dead end for you, too). Not sure if they'd to the "Omega" stuff themselves or just do it without San Martin branding. A lot of what these sellers are willing to do isn't actually stated directly, for obvious reasons.

My issue was I wound up using a Steeldives watch, rather than a San Martin, as the base.

 

[Got20Mate]

San Martin has gotten real good. I saw a steel finishing comparison between, Seiko, Citizen, Grand Seiko and San Martin and they blew Seiko and Citizen out of the water. They were up there with Grand Seiko. Sounds crazy but macro shots of brushing, transitions and polishing don't lie.

That's impressive. I've been looking at some grand Seiko's but even second hand market they're 2k +

 

[Karbon74]

I think I will change the dial and crown, age the dial/hands, put a strap and call it a day

I am not even sure I want to age the case

 

[Karbon74]

custom logo cost - San Martin Official Store

If you have any trouble checkout with your credit card on our store, please feel free to click this link to our linked Aliexpress store, thanks! Custom Logo Service for single order is stopped, for over 20pcs bulk custom order,please contact [email protected], thanks! Custom logo service for...

sanmartinwatches.com

I thought I remembered seeing an option to order sterile watches from some of the Homage brands if you order from them directly. I remember because I considered it when I did my Ploprof (which ultimately wound up being done by Manodeoro, lol, so it might be a dead end for you, too). Not sure if they'd to the "Omega" stuff themselves or just do it without San Martin branding. A lot of what these sellers are willing to do isn't actually stated directly, for obvious reasons.

My issue was I wound up using a Steeldives watch, rather than a San Martin, as the base.

SM is going upmarket and legit.

I asked in the past. They don't do copyrighted brands at all.

 

[dpd3672]

I think I will change the dial and crown, age the dial/hands, put a strap and call it a day

I am not even sure I want to age the case

I'm finishing up my new work areas and planning my next builds...there's more than a few stacked up that have been on hold waiting for parts, tools, and a quiet place to be born, lol. This hobby has turned my home office into a watch repair and light machine shop, lol.

It occurred to me, after reading some of the posts in the 1016 thread, that we sometimes just "age" these vintage watches because...well, they're old and they should look a little beat up.

That said, there's plenty of these watches that were actually...believe it or not...well cared for! If anything, TOO MUCH care is sometimes the issue...overpolishing, etc. They weren't all beat against coral reefs, worn in combat, subjected to the direct sun for 12 hours a day, or immersed in saltwater for hours at a time.

We don't need to make every one of these into a battered war veteran. Some were just worn to weddings and funerals, or the office, or kept in the top drawer of the dresser for decades at a time.
I think having a variety of conditions of the vintage watches you wear might add a bit more "authenticity" to a collection. A little fading to the indices and hands and maybe a good quality strap with some creases where it buckles is sometimes more than enough "work" on a vintage watch.