Don't miss the next drop
The vintage Omega Seamaster automatic at this reference, the GX 6250, is the kind of late-1950s dress Omega that quietly does everything we love about the period. A US-cased 14k yellow gold filled wrapper, a factory silver dial with applied gold Arabic 12, 3, 6, and 9 framed by faceted baton markers, the cursive Seamaster script printed exactly where Omega wanted it, and underneath it all the caliber 500 turning at the pace it was designed for. In our opinion, this is a watch that earns its place on the wrist by being honest about what it is rather than performing for the room.
The Seamaster line had only been in the catalog for about a decade when this reference shipped. Omega launched the name in 1948 to mark the brand’s centenary, building the case construction around the rubber O-ring gasket technology Omega had used on its World War II military submissions. By the late 1950s the Seamaster had grown into the everyday workhorse of the Omega range, and the gold filled dress configurations like this GX 6250 were the version most American buyers actually wore. The GX case prefix tags this one as a US-market case, built by a domestic case maker working under Omega’s specifications to skirt the heavy import duties on solid gold Swiss cases, a practical arrangement that produced thousands of handsomely cased Omegas through the 1950s and 1960s.
The caliber 500 inside this watch is the story we keep coming back to. Introduced in 1957, the 500 was Omega’s first true full-rotor automatic with central seconds, replacing the long line of bumper-driven automatics that had dominated the brand’s catalog since the early 1940s. Where the bumpers used a swinging mass to wind the mainspring with a characteristic side-to-side knock against spring buffers, the 500 used the now-standard rotor that pivots a full 360 degrees on a central axle, beating at 19,800 vibrations per hour across seventeen jewels and adjusted to two positions. The architectural template every Omega automatic of the 1960s would inherit starts here, including the chronometer-rated 5XX family that would soon power the Constellations. Our service photographs show the copper finishing across the bridges, the Omega-signed rotor, and the caliber 500 stamp under the Ω logo on the lower main plate. The visible serial 16 683 206 places production firmly in the mid-to-late 1950s, exactly when the 500 family was finding its feet.
The case is a substantial 14k yellow gold filled construction measuring 34.6mm across, 42mm lug-to-lug, with an 18mm lug width. Gold filled is a thick bonded gold layer over a base metal core, distinct from the thinner electrodeposited gold plating that came later, and on a well-cared-for piece like this the gold wears with the warmth and depth that thinner gold treatments simply cannot reproduce. The bezel is stepped and polished, the lugs are the gently scarab-shaped form that catches light along their upper surfaces, and the case profile from the side shows the slim dress proportions Omega favored for this generation of Seamaster. Honest hairlines and gentle scratching across the case and back record a watch that has been worn rather than locked in a drawer. The exterior of the caseback carries a period F.B.H. monogram, hand-engraved by a previous owner in serif capitals, with the 14k GOLD FILLED specification stamped along the perimeter below. Open the back and the inner caseback shows the Omega Watch Co triangle logo above the GX 6250 reference, exactly the stamping configuration the case maker would have applied at the time of casing.
The factory silver dial is original and unrestored. The applied gold Omega logo sits above the printed OMEGA AUTOMATIC text in the upper half, with the cursive Seamaster script printed across the lower half and SWISS sitting at the base. Applied gold Arabic numerals stand at 12, 3, 6, and 9, with faceted gold baton markers filling the other hour positions and a printed minute track ringing the outer edge. The gold dauphine hands have darkened to a warm honey tone that reads as character rather than fade, an exact original handset match that you simply cannot reproduce with a service replacement. The factory finish has settled into a quietly even cream-silver field with the kind of gentle age across the surface that only a six-decade dial earns, with one small original-finish mark near the lower half that we have left exactly as we found it. Refinished dials kill the value of any vintage Omega, and the factory dial is the single most important originality factor on a reference this age.
The crown is the original Omega-signed component with the period-correct logo intact and operates with the positive engagement a properly maintained caliber 500 should give. The acrylic crystal sits clear and proud above the dial with the gentle doming that helps the silver surface play across its surface in light. We have paired the watch with one of our chocolate brown leather straps and an OTTUHR signed buckle, picking up the warmth of the gold case without competing with the dial.
Serviced in-house at OTTUHR and backed by our 2-year mechanical warranty, this is the kind of vintage Omega Seamaster we get genuinely excited about. Factory original dial, original Omega-signed crown, 14k gold filled case in honest unrestored condition, period owner engraving on the caseback, and the caliber 500 that started the modern Omega automatic story all under the same crystal. For the collector who values originality over polish, who reads honest case wear as character rather than damage, and who wants a late-1950s Swiss dress automatic with a real story attached, this is exactly the kind of watch we love bringing in.
