Delving into my vintage collection I came across one of my old favourites – the Omega Seamaster.  This particular model according to serial number is the 1950 collection series steel version with sweep second hand.

I particularly like this model as it is about as good pre-owned condition as it gets – The serial number dates it to the beginning of 1950 and it has a great condition Cal. 351 auto mechanical “Bumper” 17 jewel movement inside.  This has an early bumper rotor with a fairly short range of perhaps 300 degrees as Omega originally designed.  It has around 36 hours spring reserve which is pretty decent.  It is matched nicely by the classic detail of the outside.

It has a wonderful dial face with applied dagger batons and numerals. I note it has the original luminous ‘Radium’ dots applied to the markers (not the numbers). The hands are also still ‘Radium’ filled and and unusually (I’ve not seen one before) and amazingly the luminous infill hands, apart from being intact, are actually still visible in total darkness and this from a 74 years old watch

Then there is the sweep red coloured second hand with arrowhead pointer. Very unusual, but in closeup looks absolutely of the time – I find that just so cool!

The naturally aged patina of the dial itself gives it a nice 2-tone pan effect owing to the dial curvature and if you look closely you can see in the centre, the Omega logo directly embossed logo on to the original Hesalite crystal directly above the hand pivots (Hesalite initially named and used back in the 1940’s by Omega – which is basically an acrylic, so fairly soft but shatter proof – note there are no scratches on this one).

The case is stainless steel and in very good condition and the back is a very clean screw down original back.

The crown is original with Logo and the leather strap a standard Omega 18mm fitting, which completes the whole thing.

Dimension wise it’s just 35mm diameter and 42mm lug to lug, so a compact size for today and of course – there are many versions of the 2577 series and always good value as they are a quality and classic watch.  Just shop around for the best quality and finish you can get and you won’t go far wrong.

In short, this is an absolute classic early model Seamaster and as it’s still in good original condition I am pretty pleased to own it. For me it is a true collectors choice.