A curiosity: Fake Omega Seamaster / Lorsa 238G

IMG_3756Here is a little curiosity. Matthew sent in this Omega Seamaster for repair, as it doesn’t work.

On closer inspection, this doesn’t look quite right. The fonts are wrong, the Omega logo isn’t aligned properly, and I’ve never seen an Omega that looks like this.IMG_3757

The case back doesn’t look quite right, either. The OMEGA writing doesn’t align with the bottom of the triangle, and also, I’ve never seen an Omega stamped on the outside of the case back like that. This should be inside.IMG_3759

The dial – everything is wrong here, including the Omega symbol. My guess is that the “Ressort incassable / Antimagnetic” is from the original watch.IMG_3760

I find the black Omega stamp on the movement quite amusing. Who will that fool? This is a Lorsa 238G, and it fits nicely into the case. So my guess is that somebody just modified the dial and case back – hey presto – an Omega.IMG_3762

And here is the calibre mark under the balance cock. A Lorsa 238G indeed.

What strikes me here is that this is probably the oldest fake I’ve seen. I don’t think that this was done recently, as this doesn’t come out of China. This looks very much like a European fake. Somebody just took a bog standard watch with a Lorsa movement, and “made” and Omega out of it.476-01

A closer look at the Omega symbol reveals that is was bitten out of a copper pipe by a squirrel.476-02

And the writing is nowhere near to what it should look like.

This is where I stop my work on the watch, and it’s going back to the client free of charge, and taken apart. I don’t really want anybody else to get stung by this watch.

22 thoughts on “A curiosity: Fake Omega Seamaster / Lorsa 238G

  1. Ik heb vandaag een Omega Seamaster gekocht in een 9 karaat echt gouden kast met het zelfde 238G uurwerk. Ziet er goed uit maar fake dus.

  2. I got one a few years ago in Denmark at a flea marked
    It is late 60’s
    Movement as 1130 , ingraved Omega, only made in 1955
    It runs great but it is still a FAKE
    I am a watch collector and the only reason I haven’t destroyed it , is the movement is from the same year I was born. And I have marked it FAKE

  3. Hola a todos e encontrado en los jolleros de mi abuelo un reloj igual este fue traido de caracas funciona perfectamente no se su valor si es autentico o no como podria saber lo

  4. Hi
    I bought one piece of the same watch in Macedonia.
    Exactly the same model . It is not working, no stem, a hand is missing .I wander why it look so weird.Now I have the answer from the above messages of the readers. Cheers

  5. My dad won one of these in a card game back in the 60’s. I wore it as a teenager for a short time in the 70’s (kept good time!), though abandoned it to a drawer eventually as the brass case left a nasty green mark on the skin. Am currently taking it apart to service, just for fun!

  6. I have just found one of these looking through some bits and pieces I have had stored for many years after clearing an elderly relatives house. The back has the Omega triangle and words underneath in the right hand shape is the number 12 vertical in the middle 18k and underneath 0250. Is any part of this watch worth anything?

  7. Hi all,
    Notice the faint hallmark stamped below the Omega stamp back of the case, i bet it say 0.75k Gold, guess that at least the case is gold, never mind the fake watch….;-)

  8. This is not the first one I have seen of this “design”, so obviously there are a small “factory” somewhere creating these monstrosities!

    Maybe Chip and Dale has gone into the Omega Logo manufacturing business?

    Jokes aside, as you pointed out Omega NEVER printed a hallmark on the outside of the case back.
    Also, if in doubt, I would warmly recommend to put up a post in the Omega Forums (http://omegaforums.net/). Plenty of helpful guys in there that can warn you of from buying fakes and worse.

  9. That is so called “Autobahngold”. They were sold in the 1960s along the roads to the Italian resorts along the seaside. And many tourists bought them. They were available in many different version, but usually poorly made. This is no exception.

    • “Autobahngold” isnt a word I was familiar with, but having looked it up I realise it must happen here in the UK also; I have seen signs at motorway services stations warning customers not to purchase watches or jewellery from people in the immediate area as they have been “independently assessed as being of very poor quality and low value”.

      • Amazingly enough that style of selling had a renaissance just recently, and it is still done: At a gas station someone needs urgently gas, has no money, and then comes to you or me and offers jewelry, leather jackets, fur coats, etc., to get some money for fuel. That stuff is also faked and worthless – but when greed of people to get sometihing for a bargain price wins, then those criminals make a good turnaround….

  10. So… your theory is that squirrels have been faking Omega watches? That’s nuts 😉

    I have actually seen two fake Omegas that appeared to date from the mid 60s – they also had the marking on the rear of the case and I was told they originated on the other side of the Iron Curtain… which makes them interesting enough I suppose, just not quite in the same way as if they had been real Omega products!

    • You wonder if they really came from the other side of the iron curtain, as the base watch is Swiss. Wouldn’t they have used a Russian or East German watch for that?
      My money would be on the Mafia. It’s the 60s, and they are trying to expand 😉

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