How it works — and how much to trust it
Photos in, a graded identification out, every finding checked against Omega's own spare-parts catalogues. This page is the whole method: what to send, what comes back, how each answer is graded, which documents it's checked against, and where it can be wrong. Read it before you pay anyone — including me — for an opinion on a watch.
The deal
- Email photos to id@watchbreaker.com, subject "What is it?". You get the calibre, an age band, the case metal and a value verdict back, free, normally within a day.
- Want it in writing? Reply "Movement ID request". I send a Payoneer payment request for US$25; the written report follows within a day of payment.
- Your watch never leaves you. I don't take custody. Nothing gets posted anywhere.
- Your photos are yours. They are never published without your permission.
Launch offer: the first ten written reports are free, in exchange for publishing them as case files. The First Ten — terms and how to claim a spot. Watch YouTubers: there's a free-for-life pass on the same page.
What to send
Five photos and one number. Daylight, no flash, as close as your camera will focus.
- The dial, straight on. A second shot in raking light if the dial has facets or texture.
- The movement, caseback off, close enough to read the engraved numbers. This is the one that matters. If you can't open the back, say so — the answer will be narrower.
- The inside of the caseback: the reference, the maker's mark, any fineness stamp.
- Between the lugs at 12 and 6, and the outside of the caseback.
- The whole watch on a kitchen scale, in grams. Weight says more about a gold case than a photo does.
What comes back
Free — "What is it?"
- The calibre, or the shortlist if the photo can't settle it
- An age band from the serial
- Steel, plated, capped or solid gold
- A verdict: worth more whole, as parts, or as metal
US$25 — Movement ID report (PDF)
- Calibre with the catalogue reference it was matched to
- Jewel count, size and marking checked against the catalogue
- Case reference and whether Omega built that case for that calibre
- Serial year band, and whether it agrees with the calibre's run
- Dial, hands and crown: original, replaced, or refinished — as an opinion, with the evidence
- A confidence grade on every finding, and what would change it
- The verdict, and a value band as guidance
See a sample report. A walk-through of a submission, photo by photo, finding by finding, is being added.
How every finding is graded
A report that says "genuine" and stops is hiding how it knows. Every line in a Watch Breaker report carries one of four grades, so you can see which statements are facts you could check yourself and which are one person's judgement from a photograph.
| Grade | Means | Typical findings |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | Read directly off the watch and matched to an Omega document. You can check it yourself against the same source. | Calibre number, jewel count, case reference, whether the case was built for the calibre, part numbers. |
| Consistent | Everything visible agrees and nothing contradicts — but the evidence is indirect. | Serial year against the calibre's production run; dial text and lume markings against the era; hands style against the model. |
| Opinion | A judgement from photographs that a bench inspection could overturn. Stated with the evidence, never as fact. | Refinished dial, relumed hands, replaced crown or crystal, polished case. |
| Not determinable | Cannot be known from photos. Said plainly rather than guessed. | Whether it runs or keeps time, service condition, anything under the dial, gold fineness with no stamp and no weight. |
What the answers are checked against
The identification is only as good as the reference behind it, so here is the reference. Watch Breaker holds and has digitised Omega's own spare-parts catalogues — the documents Omega issued to its service network — into a database that the reports and the serial lookup run on.
| Source | What it is | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| GF 620-1 (1954) | Omega spare-parts catalogue, 278 pages | The pre-1955 calibres: 30 mm manuals, bumper automatics, pocket and ladies' calibres |
| GF 620-3 (1955) and 620-3/5 (1967) | Omega spare-parts catalogue and supplement | The 470–600 series: first full-rotor automatics, 550/560, 600 manuals |
| GF 620-4 (1969) | Omega spare-parts catalogue (chronograph block and calibre 980) | 320/321, 865, 910–930 chronographs; the alarm calibre |
| GF 620-5 (1967) | Omega spare-parts catalogue | Ladies' automatics, 700-series manuals, 1000-series automatics |
| Omega Technical Guides 25–34 (1961–66), 861 and 863 | Factory service guides | Calibres 620, 269/286, 640/650, the one-piece "Unishell" case, the 861/863 chronographs |
| Omega case bills of materials (2012) | Omega's own case parts lists as published in 2012 | Which calibres each case reference was built for — 77 references so far, mostly 1960s–70s |
Part numbers and fitments are facts and are extracted as such; no catalogue pages are reproduced. Watch Breaker is not affiliated with Omega. The catalogue set is still growing — GF 620-6 (1972–75) is on its way — and the counts above are updated when it does.
Where it can be wrong
Anyone who tells you an identification from photographs is infallible is selling something. Here is where this one isn't, in the order it matters.
- Serial number dating is approximate. The published serial tables are collector-compiled, disagree with each other by about two years in the 1950s and more after 1975. The report gives a band, not a year, and the lookup shows you the spread.
- The catalogues contain misprints. Omega's own documents have errors — a dozen are logged so far, and they're corrected in the database rather than trusted blindly. A part number in a report is checked against more than one source where two exist.
- Photographs hide things. A re-engraved bridge, a swapped bridge with the right number on it, or a very good redial can pass a photo and fail a loupe. That's why those findings are graded Opinion, and why a report will sometimes say "have a watchmaker check X."
- Dial and hand judgements are judgements. Two experienced people can disagree on a refinish from the same photo. The report gives the reasoning so you can weigh it.
- Case data is incomplete for the 1950s. Omega's 2012 case lists mostly cover 1960s–70s references; for earlier watches the case-to-calibre check leans on the catalogues and collector documentation, and the report says which.
The guarantee, and its limits. If the calibre identification in a paid report is wrong, the US$25 is refunded — the calibre is read off the movement and cross-checked against the catalogue, so this is the one claim that can be staked. Opinions about originality are exactly that, are labelled as such, and are not guaranteed. Value bands are guidance, not an appraisal.
What this is not
Not Omega. Omega's Extract from the Archives is the document of record for what a watch was when it left the factory, and if you need that, order it from Omega. A Watch Breaker report tells you what the watch is now and whether its parts belong together — the question the Extract doesn't answer. Not an appraisal. Value bands are steering, not a valuation for insurance or probate. Not a repair shop. I break watches for parts and identify them; I'm learning the repair side on camera, in public, and I don't service customers' watches. Not a guarantee of authenticity. A report grades what the photographs support and says what they don't.
Start with the free one. Five photos and the weight to id@watchbreaker.com, subject "What is it?". If you want it in writing afterwards, say so and the report follows.
Questions people ask
Do I have to send my watch?
No, never. Everything is from your photographs and the weight on a kitchen scale. Watch Breaker does not take custody of watches.
How accurate is the identification?
Findings read off the movement and matched to the catalogue — calibre, jewels, case reference, case-to-calibre fit — are checkable facts, graded Confirmed. The serial year is accurate to about two years. Originality judgements are opinions from photographs and are graded as such. What can't be seen isn't guessed.
What if the report is wrong?
Wrong calibre in a paid report: refunded. Opinions are labelled and not guaranteed.
Is this an authentication or an appraisal?
Neither. It's an identification — what it is, whether the parts belong together, what the serial says. Omega's Extract from the Archives is the record of what it was; an appraisal is a formal valuation.
How long does it take?
The free verdict normally within a day. The paid report within a day of payment. If a watch needs longer — an unusual calibre, a reference not yet in the data — you'll be told before you pay.
Can you identify brands other than Omega?
No. The reference library is Omega's, and the method depends on it.
Watch Breaker is an independent identification specialist and parts dealer and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Omega SA or the Swatch Group. Omega is a trademark of Omega SA. Terms.