The concept is the same as the Aussie company but not as much as what they are charging. I 'built' the watch myself but with help from my friendly watch guy. I sourced the dial and the hands from one of the watch forum. I wanted the dial with the large triangle at the 12 o'clock position but none was available. So the next best option was the small triangle with no date. Got one with the hands, all from the same time of manufacture. Sourced the case from an on-line stockist and got the last piece at the old price. The price of the case has since gone up (a lot).
Issues faced.
The problem was the movement. The dial I got was for the Caliber 550 which was the 17J version of the caliber 552. The caliber 550 were fitted to Omega watches sold to the US, as back then there were tax issues with watches as the US wanted to protect the local watch industry. So tax was imposed on jewel count. So Omega (and other watch companies) reduced the jewel count to 17 so that the watches were not taxed.
The dial and hands.
The part number. Note the movement reference, caliber 550.
The case.
OK back to the movement problem. The case is for the caliber 565, which is the date version of the caliber 552/550. The case, reference 166.xxxx will not fit the caliber 552/550 properly as the caliber 565 is 0.5 mm thicker (due to the calendar module, I stand corrected on this). The correct case for the caliber 552 is 165.xxxx which is no longer available. You can get around the problem by getting a thicker movement holder tabs.
The movement.
The next problem is the movement and getting the right serial number for the watch, i.e. correct serial number for the years the SM300 was issued. I did not manage to get such movement but got an earlier one. That is why I call it my homage to the SM300. All the parts are original Omega, just not 'correct' for the watch. The case does not match the dial and the movement serial number does not match the years of issue.
The movement in the case.
I got an old Omage Seamaster and cannibalise the movement. At least the movement was from another Seamaster. Got the movement serviced by my Omega trained (ex Omega) watch guy and timed (3 position). The other problem was the winding stem. There was no way I could get a new winding stem as the old winding stem was too short. The solution is fitting a stem extension.
Assembled the parts and sent the watch over to my watch guy for final fit and check. Did a pressure check as well. Everything was ok.
The final product.
