Questions about an old Seamaster Professional 300m Quartz autheticity, battery replacement, etc.

[MG-70]

I have an older battery-operated quartz movement Omega Seamaster Professional that I bought used from a pawn shop in Vegas via the internet back around '98. It came with the box, red case, a couple of small booklets (neither of which is a manual), warranty card and 3-year extended warranty card (dated July '98, not too far off from when I bought it). It's been sitting since the battery died at least two years ago.


As soon as I bought it, I took it to a well-known watch retailer that sells nicer watches to verify its authenticty and someone there confirmed it was real, even without opening the back. After that, I wore it often, and sent it off somewhere to have the battery replaced at least once (I believe it was either the shop where it was originally sold, or a place in PA as recommended by the paperwork included with the watch). After searching for pics of similar watches here on the site in order to obtain battery information, I found an awesome post with a “James Bond” model, that looked similar but had both a serial number on the case, and a laser etching on the bezel rim, neither of which are present on my watch. Mine does, however, an asterix ( * ) on one of the corners of the case.


So, can someone please try confirm it's authenticity from the attached pics, and perhaps guess the numerical model number? Excuse the griminess, it hasn't been used in a while. I plan to clean it before replacing the battery.


From searching the internet, I found a similar watch, model number 1538, but the case seemed smaller. Also, after reading a publication linked in a post here on the site, I discovered model 1538 can use either Battery Model 373 or 379. Assuming my watch is the same model, is there a way to tell which battery it uses prior to opening the case?


I'd like to change the battery myself. What's a decent case wrench that won't break the bank and, preferrably, that I can find on Amazon or Ebay? What else is needed? I've read that silicone can be applied to the seal/gasket; is there any particular type or brand that is recommended?


So, to sum the various questions:
Is it real?
What's the numerical model designation?
What battery does it use?
What's needed to change the battery, and what model battery does it use?


Thanks for any and all helpful info. and congratulations on a cool site. I found it running a basic search on google for type of battery for an Omega Seamaster Professional.


MG-70

[skoony]

you seem to have an older model.prevailing wisdom here on wus is that the quartz were not faked.
the watch looks ok to me even though the pictures are not close up.
sorry i dont know what battery is used.
mike

[MG-70]

Mike,
Thanks for the info. I did the best I could with the pics. They're thumbnails, if you click them, you can see larger images.

[HaydenM]

I've read some are they real threads on replica watch forums and even there they say that the quartz seamasters were not faked.

[MG-70]

Well, I'm happy to hear it doesn't appear to be a fake. I may post the question about the battery replacement elsewhere in hopes someone will know the answer.

Thanks for the replies and a good week to all!

[lgbalfa]

they do make fake seamaster's in quartz.

living in NYC, i recently went to chinatown to take a look at them (last week) as i am trying to become as knowledgeable as i can with the model.

hoping to purchase a real one soon.