Review of cheap Omega Seamaster rep (NFDK ATT)

[SkyMonkey]

Putting my head above the parapet. Please be kind!

I am here to learn and guess the only way I can do that is by engaging with the community.

Still deciding on a first purchase from a TD. My expectation is that the reps they offer are superior to what can be bought from shops overseas. I guess that mostly comes down to analysing reps.

I don't have much to offer here yet but I will upload some pictures of an Omega Seamaster Rep recently purchased in Dubai for equivalent of £100.00.

I bought it because I like the style of watch though I accept the debatable part is whether it's better to buy one superior rep from a TD or 3 'lesser' quality watches such as this one.

Watch looks quite clean to my untrained eye. I looked for a gen equivalent to compare but couldn't find one. Generally though everything seems pretty sturdy (for now at least).

Now he bad part, and I am sure this is where the term 'shitter' comes in. The rear case seems out of place. It has the markings of a moonwatch, but the watch face doesn't seem to correlate. Also, and more obviously, there are no spaces in between 'NASAFORALL' on the wording on the rear. Thats a pretty big school boy error.

Over all I like the look of the watch and the floors wouldn't stop me wearing it, but I don't think I would hold so much pleasure wearing it with the knowledge of such large flaws.

Sure I am missing more errors, and a reference would have helped. Experienced guys here may see yet more errors, but this is my first foray.

So that's my first, but hopefully not my last, review. Hopefully a future review will be from a TD where I know more of the watches back story and can review the component parts in more detail. For now though I hope this was useful, even if just as a conversational piece.

 

[KJ2020]

Nice write up and pics, thanks for taking the time. It was an enjoyable read and your personality shows through which is always welcome.

I am not an Omega aficionado or expert, but I have a few and have looked at enough to help you see some differences to a gen.

OMEGA SpeedMaster 1st Watch Worn on Moon! W/ Rare Brn Dial!-$100K Apr Value&CoA! | eBay

With Rare Brown Tropical Dial! This watch has a solid case back with a special engraving: “Flight qualified by NASA for all, manned space missions, the first watch worn on the moon.”. Speedmaster Professional.

www.ebay.com

Yours is similar to ones sold on DHGate, a clearing house of vendors like Ebay and a name commonly linked with the "shitter" label. But I have a few of those too and it's all relative. You have to start somewhere and I think it's actually a good idea to start small and work your way up.

Your watch is most likely a quartz so the running seconds hand at 6 o'clock would tick incrementally instead of moving smoothly. I say this because many chrono shitters are quartz, and because of your subdial layout.

The gen has running seconds at 9 o'clock, minute counter at 3 o'clock and hour counter at 6 o'clock. This is the same for a lot of Omegas (and other brands) and can be seen better on the similar model below. The one pictured above has the chrono hands not reset so it may be harder to decipher their functions.

Your subdials are too large. Your minute counter is at 9 o'clock and uses the wrong scale - it should be 30 minutes. Your 3 o'clock subdial is a 24 hour repeater, which runs constantly and simply indicates the current hour, AM or PM. While minimally useful it is an instant tell, not that you really need another one.

Aside from those big differences, there are ofc others like your hour and minute hands are too wide, the bezel looks too skinny, the chrono pushers look too small etc. I'll let you find some more now that you have a gen to compare to.

But don't be overly critical to the point of not enjoying your watch. Amazingly, there currently is not a great Speedmaster rep in this category. The upper tier ones have more correctly sized subdials with proper functions but they are so widely spaced apart it is very obvious. More than a few members have bought a DHGate shitter Speedy just to have one as a cheap beater. I considered it myself and have looked at them more than a few times with an itchy trigger finger.

Welcome to the forum. Here are some words I try to live by regarding reps.

"Love them for what they are and don't hate them for what they're not."

And something I've learned over the years - no matter how many reps you own, you will always want another one. So dive in and have fun!

 

[SkyMonkey]

Nice write up and pics, thanks for taking the time. It was an enjoyable read and your personality shows through which is always welcome.

I am not an Omega aficionado or expert, but I have a few and have looked at enough to help you see some differences to a gen.

OMEGA SpeedMaster 1st Watch Worn on Moon! W/ Rare Brn Dial!-$100K Apr Value&CoA! | eBay

With Rare Brown Tropical Dial! This watch has a solid case back with a special engraving: “Flight qualified by NASA for all, manned space missions, the first watch worn on the moon.”. Speedmaster Professional.

www.ebay.com

Yours is similar to ones sold on DHGate, a clearing house of vendors like Ebay and a name commonly linked with the "shitter" label. But I have a few of those too and it's all relative. You have to start somewhere and I think it's actually a good idea to start small and work your way up.

Your watch is most likely a quartz so the running seconds hand at 6 o'clock would tick incrementally instead of moving smoothly. I say this because many chrono shitters are quartz, and because of your subdial layout.

The gen has running seconds at 9 o'clock, minute counter at 3 o'clock and hour counter at 6 o'clock. This is the same for a lot of Omegas (and other brands) and can be seen better on the similar model below. The one pictured above has the chrono hands not reset so it may be harder to decipher their functions.

Your subdials are too large. Your minute counter is at 9 o'clock and uses the wrong scale - it should be 30 minutes. Your 3 o'clock subdial is a 24 hour repeater, which runs constantly and simply indicates the current hour, AM or PM. While minimally useful it is an instant tell, not that you really need another one.

Aside from those big differences, there are ofc others like your hour and minute hands are too wide, the bezel looks too skinny, the chrono pushers look too small etc. I'll let you find some more now that you have a gen to compare to.

But don't be overly critical to the point of not enjoying your watch. Amazingly, there currently is not a great Speedmaster rep in this category. The upper tier ones have more correctly sized subdials with proper functions but they are so widely spaced apart it is very obvious. More than a few members have bought a DHGate shitter Speedy just to have one as a cheap beater. I considered it myself and have looked at them more than a few times with an itchy trigger finger.

Welcome to the forum. Here are some words I try to live by regarding reps.

"Love them for what they are and don't hate them for what they're not."

And something I've learned over the years - no matter how many reps you own, you will always want another one. So dive in and have fun!

Thank you for a tremendously helpful and thought prevoking reply. I am of course on an apparently steep learning curve but am keen.

For me there are a few distinct questions when considering a new watch. The aesthetics; how does the overall look fit with what I am looking for. This is probably the most important thing for me. Secondly, quality, will it last and keep good time. I am guessing a higher quality rep is made with better quality parts and with more 'care'. Again an assumption would be that closeness in matching the original would suggest greater care in build and reliability. Ultimately though it's about feeling good with a nice watch on your hand.

So we each make our own mind up over whether we like an object aesthetically and whether we feel good wearing it. They are feelings which probably cannot be learnt but felt. The third part though about quality is the part we can presumably gain some idea over how much attention to detail has been built into the making of a watch.

What I have learnt from you is that perhaps I need a strategy before a purchase. Find a good reference picture. Maybe not immediately compare but draw a table with criteria. Complete for the reference picture describing what you see in detail for each part (subdials, hands, bezel etc) then do the same with the rep. This would help me I believe as I think just comparing two images would blind me looking at the big picture. Breaking it down though would definitely help.

 

[Danza1813]

That’s a speedmaster not a seamaster. Welcome to the rabbit hole of reps and super reps you are about to expose yourself to!