Marked as Omega Seamaster Anti-Magnetic & stamped 18K Gold 0750, these watches take many shapes and sizes but are a common vintage replica from Europe in 70s
Are these Vintage Seamaster Anti-Magnetic 18K Gold watches real?
No, none of them are real. Omega has never made Omega Seamasters that look like this with the words Anti-Magnetic written above the sub-dial.
Similarly the watches with "22 Rubis" written on the dial are also counterfeit.
A small sample of the many ugly faces of the fake vintage Seamaster Anti-Magnetic
These watches are old knock-offs made in extremely large numbers, and we see them many times a month, sometimes many times per week on Omega Forums when people ask if the watch they have bought or inherited is real or fake.
There is a MASSIVE thread with 118 pages, and over 2,350 posts on Omega Forums here discussing these frustrating watches as there seems to be no end to them.
Dablitzer
Are these Seamaster anti-magnetics made of real 18K Gold?
No, these watches are made of cheap base metal, not even a real grade of stainless steel, with a light plating of gold.
Real gold DOES NOT ever look like this
Nearly all of them wear through, have the gold coating flake off, or corrode with time as they were not meant to last, only to fool people for a short period of time before going in the trash.
There is no melt value or potential to recover gold from this watch, this includes not only the case but also the dial furniture and hands.
The hallmarks on the back indicating they are real gold are both illegal, as well as entirely wrong as these particular markings are found on the INSIDE of the case-back on real Omegas, with additional hallmarks finely stamped on the lug, or between the the lugs (US market).
What about the vintage mechanical movement inside?
The movements found in these watches vary wildly, so just because your movement doesn't look like one of those below doesn't mean yours isn't a fake in this category.
The makers of these fakes used whatever movement happened to be most available at the cheapest price at the time. Some have cheaply made Swiss movements, some have eastern-European movements, some have movements from Asia.
Often Omega is written, stamped, or engraved on the movement but the finishing is far below the standards of a real Omega, and these movements are not of value to collectors.
The only potential use for them is for beginner or hobbyist watchmakers wanting to practice on something they don't mind destroying.
A small selection of the sub-par movements found in these fake vintage Seamasters
Where did these fake vintage Seamasters come from?
The majority of these seem to have originally come from Europe. There are so many of these watches out there and they have been resold many times over the decades, but all European countries tend to have them floating around.
As is evident by the fake 18K hallmarks, rather than 14K, these watches were originally from Europe, but many have made their way to the US by way of returning military personnel
One of the most common stories of how they came to the US is that they were bought in Mediterranean port markets by US servicemen in large numbers as a novelty and brought back to the US, often being gifted, inherited and sold many times since.
Its hard to date them exactly 70's and 80's seems to be when many of them were bought, they were seemingly marketed as "vintage" even when they were new.
Is my vintage Seamaster Anti-magnetic 18K worth anything at all?
No, please don't try to sell it even as a novelty or a joke gift. These watches contain no value, except as practice dummies for absolute novice watchmakers.
There is no reason for these to still be in circulation at all, and by passing them on to someone else, knowing what they are, you are allowing someone else to be scammed down the line.
If you purchased one of these watches, not knowing it was a forgery, pursue the seller for a refund as quickly as possible, using PayPal, a credit card chargeback with your bank or any other method at your disposal.
What should I do with it?
If you don't have the ability to get your money back, or if you received it as a gift of inherited it, please simply throw it in the trash.
These watches do not deserve to survive, and it is for the best of everyone that you take it out of circulation once and for all.
Fake watches really are for fake people, pay it forward and do the right thing.
Throw it in the trash.
