Shundi Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Vintage Calibre 564 Omega Constellation (168.015) review and pictorial Hey all, first review so forgive the horrible photos, the hairy Italian arms, and the verbose-ness of the post. Any feedback you have would be much appreciated!! Well it has been a long and painful journey to find the latest gen piece- the vintage Omega Constellation I notice most Omega discussion here revolves around either the Seamaster, Planet Ocean, or Speedmaster, and (with today's trends) rightfully so- these are the most popular Omega models in modern watch fashion. When I brought my gen Seamaster 1120, I noticed an "odd" shaped Omega in the shop window: That Omega was the Constellation. "Yech" I said, and kept walking to my shiny Seamaster I thought nothing more of the Constellation before I decided that I wanted a really great in-house movement. The gen Glashutte I brought from POTR has a great movement (albeit a simple, yet sturdy, handwind) and my gen Datejust and Sub have in-house movements but...so does every Rolex. I wanted something that could really blow the doors off of most gen movements but most of all, I wanted a piece of history: a truly unique movement that had a champion pedigree. I spotted an Omega Constellation online due to its low price on Ebay. I figured "entry level Omega, ho hum..." and then I read a series of articles by Desmond Guilfoyle who also authors the extremely helpful Omega Constellation Collector's Blog . If you do a little reading, you'll find Guilfoyle's movement essays in which he mentions that the mid 500 series Calibres from Omega are regarded as some of, if not the, most reliable, accurate, and beautiful movements from Omega or any other watchmaker of that time period. Guilfoyle holds the 551, 561, 564, and 750 calibres as, bar none, the greatest movements ever produced by Omega. I did some more research and was absolutely fascinated by the legend of the Constellation. Around the time of the mid-500 series, the last member of the founding Brandt family had died, leaving the company unsure of its future. The Constellation was designed as the "Flagship" Omega brand and, interestingly enough, all of its models were Chronometer certified. Now, some of you may be saying, "So what, Chronometer doesn't mean anything, it's a $50 test." Today, you'd be (in some ways) correct, almost any decently made movement can be "tuned" to test within Chronometer specs, but a watch that can STAY within Chronometer specs is a "fine watch." In order to ensure that they kept their reputation for quality, Omega rolled out the Constellation Chronometer series with a unique twist: They only put movements in the Constellation that had earned an "Exceeds Expectations" rating from the Observatory. In plain English: That means that these movements took the standard and maintained at 50% greater tolerances than the already strict Chronometer standards of the day. A bit of history on this: The watch was found in a desk in an attic in Punta Gorda, Florida. Apparently, it had been given to a prominent marketing executive as a congratulatory gift. The gentleman did not believe in wearing/purchasing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjfesq Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Beautiful Watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Beautiful watch! The vintage Omega's are a great choice, you get a lot of watch for your money. ps this might be better if it were moved to the Omega area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Hmm, crap...I thought I put it there but I guess it's under "General Discussion" Hopefully one of the almighty Mods will do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidestro Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 I just realized I need to add a vintage or two to my extensive gen Omega collection. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Beautiful piece of history there Shundi and very nice write up... moved to the Omega Section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Very nice read. Good job!! It's always nice to read about something a little different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TagShmag Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 "verbose-ness" indeed. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4GTR Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Thanks for a great review. Its a really nice watch. Good bracelet too. Vintage Omega does not seem to hold much interest to many. The prices on ebay speak volumes. I don't believe it will stay this way. Eventually the market will level out and the whole "Red typefont on a stainless submariner isn't worth $45,364,843.. Im done bidding" I think some attention will divert to Omega and the like. I recently inherited a vintage seamaster. Don't have a good strap for it yet, but here it is- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted August 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 @P4GTR, Toad, Dluddy, Fidestro, b1, and jj- Thanks guys! If anyone is interested..there's a guy on TZ selling a pretty nice vintage Seamaster like P4's for around $350 (black dial...I have his email address somewhere). It may be a redial...not sure but it's a sharp looking watch (I think there's a Cal. 552 in those which (I think) is the 17 jewel unadjusted cousin of the 551)... PM me if you want his email address. He's also got another vintage SS Constellation with aftermarket sword hands...not my taste at all but for $275 or so it's a bargain for the movement alone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollux1 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 A beautiful watch, and a fantastic review, keep em coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Unlike Rolex, those vintage Omegas can be found for very reasonable prices. However, the prices of the Seamaster line have increased a LOT lately. Lots of old models were very small, but that Constellation looks like it has some respectable size. I guess 38mm or so? Nice review & watch. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Thanks By-tor and Pollux! @ By-tor - Specified dimensions are 35.5 mm in width but it wears like a 38 mm or so... great feeling on the wrist... I just shipped it off to my watchmaker for a full service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Great write-up, Shundi. Very informative and a cool bit of history on a vintage line of watches. Good reading and pics are fine, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucumber_Jones Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Awesome post. I have that exact watch with box and papers - it was a gift for my 30th bday (8 years ago) from my good friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caracarnj Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Classic watch and a great review. Taught me there are more nice vintage watches than the modern contemporary one. Great piece of history too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucumber_Jones Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I took a quick photo of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Great watch of course but even beter review Shunid. I sincerely hope you'll do some more in the future. Thanks a lot for the time and energy spent on this one. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted August 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 @ CCJ and Stephane- Thanks guys! Very humbling praise coming from some great reviewers here @CCJ: That's a real beauty!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Shundi- That's a beautiful Constellation and a great review! There's just something about the charm and character of a vintage Omega; the attention to detail as you've pointed out in just the fit of the bezel alone is a great example of the level of workmanship they've put into their watches. The case looks as though it fits comfortably on the wrist and with elegant lines. Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capice Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 lovely watch but can you PLS disable your avatar m8........too distrackting for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted September 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Haha, I love that avatar... Just got it back from my watchmaker...we'll see how it performs over the next week on the wrist but the rotor sounds much quieter/smoother and the quickset is more fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted October 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Update: To those of you who have PM'd me looking to purchase a gen seamaster or constellation and have questions regarding the movement: the rate is still between +-1 per day however the rate per week is down to +2... the watch also has winding efficiency near that of the Rolex Cal 3035 meaning it can stay wound even if you sit at a desk for eight hours a day (or, in my case, chase people around Wall Street and scream at the board while watching the market burn). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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