Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: Omega Seamaster 300 ref 165024 Big Triangular

This is my third Omega Seamaster 300 diver watch. My previous two was sold to Wendy and another Malaysian collector and I have regretted the decisions for a long time. The bold case is typical of Omega of the 60s with their characteristics twisted bombe lugs and the thick 42mm case.

After many years of searching, I have managed to find one back and this time it’s with the Big triangle Maxi dial similar to the military versions. The watch is from the year 1966 with serial 23797xxx and with the early pencil hands and with type C bezel and flip the watch over and you will see that this Omega Seamster 300 is powered by one of their greatest workhorse movements, the Cal. 552. This self-winding movement is well known for its reliability and has a power reserve of 50 hours

I have traded my vintage Orient King Diver plus cash top up for this watch and this shall be the 2020 Christmas present that I have longed for. I am looking for an old Omega metal bracelet to match this.

Information from the net:

Although the Omega Vintage website states the SM300 was in their International Collection from 1962 - 1969 it probably did not reach the dealers until 1964. It was available either with a metal bracelet or leather strap.

Initially the SM300 was available as non date watch with a centre sweep second hand. The majority of non US watches used an Omega cal.552 movement with 24 jewels created in 1958. The Omega cal.550 movement with 17 jewels created in 1960 was chosen specifically for the American market, as watches that exceeded 17 jewels were subject to more tax in the US. The compromise was made in the automatic assembly, where brass bushes were used instead of jewels. The brass bushes were prone to wear, and it is not uncommon to see cal.550 movements that have had both the upper and lower automatic bridges changed to the jewelled version. The date version was introduced in 1967 as case ref.166.024 and used an Omega cal.565 movement with 24 jewels created in 1965. The SM300 name suggests it to be waterproof to 300 metres but the Omega Vintage website and period catalogues list it as waterproof to 660 feet or 200 metres

1962 also marked the introduction of the second generation of SM300, the 165.024 and 165.025 date. The case size was now 42mm, up from 38mm and the straight lugs were now turned. The 165.024 continued to utilize the caliber 550/552 combination, with the 165.025 housing either the 563 or 565.

Cases were made by two primary manufacturers, Huguenin Freres (HF) and Centrale Boites (CB, seen here) and can be determined by the presence of small HF or CB stamps inside the case back. Some later cases can be found bearing Piquerez markings.

Three different types of hands were used on the 2nd generation SM300 – sword and baton, with arrow hands being found on early transitional models. A sword hour hand is ID’d by its diamond shape.

A low profile Naiad non screw down crown was used until sometime in 1968 when it was replaced by a 5mm deep screw down crown. This came about as a requirement for any watch bound for British MoD service, and by the end of the 60’s had made its way onto all SM 300’s.

Movement caliber 552 in HF case

The flat top of the ‘A’ in ‘WATERPROOF’, an indication of authenticity and correct spelling.

Non-screw down Naiad type crown

Type C bezel

My previous Omega Seamaster 300 was a version that was exported to US using the Caliber 550 from the year 1967. It’s a version without the big triangle.