omega gf 1602

hello just bought a mint omega 1602 gf watch i love the watch it has the original module etc . i thought these omegas had a dot display my one has bar lines is this still original readout . i hope i didnt over pay for the watch as i did think it was dot display until it came . 750 british pounds watch only . any ideas or price info

[Ade51]

Hi Nipper - if the watch you have bought is the Digital 1(sometimes called the TC3) then initial production runs had the 1602 dot matrix module however later runs had the 1603 line display. Could you post a picture of your watch.

hello ade51 its the 1602 module as stamped 1602 but its line display not dot. i have no camera so cant post pictures the watch tell day of week also

[Old Tom]

Sounds like the watch failed, was returned to Omega under guarantee and the original 1602 dotty board replaced with the later 1603 line segment board- they did this (and still do with their watches) to retain the serial number on the watch (which is on the board carrier).

THANKS TOM . WOULD THIS LOWER THE VALUE OF 750 BRITSH POUNDS

[SASM]

There are basically three types of 1602 displays: The early ones had dot displays of the same type all P3s had. The 2nd generation 1602 module had the same display, however with bars. This type of display is quite rare and in off-condition it´s hard to tell if this is a dot-display or not. The 3rd one is the same like in all 1603 modules. It has a cover with a rounded top and italic characters. The only difference between this type and the 1603 display is, that it has the strange "1" digit as the first digit and non of these were alphanumeric. So there´s nothing wrong with the module from my point of view.

Hanno.

hi did the 1602 display day of week also

[Old Tom]

Day of week is alphanumeric function so the board is not a 1602 one, must have been replaced with a 1603 which did have the alphanumeric capability.

ok thats all i wanted to know . well thats me ripped off as watch was sold as fully original

[767Geoff]

It may be a factory replacement under warranty or post warranty repair.

Omega did that even with teir mechanicals. I picked up a 1968 Speedmaster Professional Chronograph with the moon inscribed back. Looking at the service history the watch was sent to Omega for service in 1970. At that time it was standard practice to swap the plain back for the inscribed back without asking.

So the module may indeed have been updated to a 1603 by the factory. Also, mixing and matching movements as supplies dwindled may have led to a Frankenstein-factory-watch! Again, Omega did this at the factory. Hence a 1960 movement serial number in a 1965 watch style.

Hewlett Packard calculator repair service would install whole boards with different revision dates into your original case causing a miss match in the serial numbers dates. They would also replace external labels with newer versions if the originals were damaged and even with the wrong label as long as they fit!

So it begs the question, what is factory original? And if you have a 1603 in a 1602 case, is it really due to subterfuge or was a a factory swap?

Cheers, Geoff

yes thanks sir . well i bought it to keep so it wont be sold just put it in along with my other three omegas . thanks for letting me know . you have all been very helpful

[retroleds]

Agreeing with those that say "don't worry, be happy". If the carrier to the module is original type and the circuit board is Frontier, there is no real argument that it is as original as it can be. I can imagine a factory repair coming back with a slip explaining, " your watch has been upgraded to our most current circuit board that fits your model."
Could have been one swapped by me or someone else - I just ask people which display they want, I could care less which way the carrier is marked. " your watch has been upgraded to the latest model circuit board that fits your watch."

[charger105]

All Omega Frontier modules used QCs with SSIH printed on top.
If it's been replaced by Omega with an 'updated' module it should have SSIH written on the crystal.

If it's been fitted with a standard Frontier module from another watch, then it won't have this type of QC (unless the swapper swapped the crystal too).

I bet yours hasn't got SSIH written on the QC.

your right . am really happy with the watch . if feels very nice on the wrist . not so chunky to have on the wrist like the tc models.

[Old_timer]

This is great - my thanks to Hanno and everyone for adding information to this thread. I too had no idea there were 3 main variants of the 1602 module. I'd just assumed that any Digital 1/TC3 with a bar display had a swapped module. Carrying-back new boards at service is something I had overlooked.

I guess that means all Digital 2/TC4 must have originally had an alpha-numeric bar display type module installed at the factory, because of the Dow function which I guess is referenced in the instructions? (I haven't seen a Digital 2/TC4 instruction card)

All Omega Frontier modules used QCs with SSIH printed on top.
If it's been replaced by Omega with an 'updated' module it should have SSIH written on the crystal.
If it's been fitted with a standard Frontier module from another watch, then it won't have this type of QC (unless the swapper swapped the crystal too).

Also differences in the style of timing trimmer?

The two Omega boards I've seen have a trimmer head designed for adjustment with a flat-blade screwdriver, whereas "standard" Frontier boards seem to have a recessed small square drive type trimmer.

Whatever the answer, it wouldn't stop me using a dot type board in a Ditgital 2/TC4 case.... but that's a bit off original topic.

[Caruso]

This thread reminds me of similar ones on the Ferrarichat forum. I think it goes with the territory in appreciating historical works of engineering. History and originality is often a big part of the appeal. But when you dig a bit deeper, you often find out that 'the factory' did all sorts of non standard things to their creations, because at the end of the day the factory is a business run by mortals trying to turn a profit!

Fortunately, there are no concours d'elegance competitions for digital watches (perhaps we should start one ) where the decisions of the judges and the value of your device is based on an arbitrary judgement of what is deemed original - which is usually what was most commonly delivered by the factory.

For me the test of value is to look at the watch on my wrist and ask myself if it's worth to me what I paid for it. With my TC2, although a bit battered the answer is definitely yes even though it is the most expensive watch I have bought. But I look at a mint Citizen ana-digi that I only paid £25 for and think...actually I just bought it because I was interested and it was a good deal...but to be honest I don't really like it that much. So it's not worth even £25 to me even though the market may think it's worth more.