Omega - Calibre 560 For the US market

Calibre 560 For the US market

Dec 28, 2009,16:06 PM

The calibre 560 was a 17 Jewel calibre only produced in 3000pcs for the US market.

The calibre has been produced from 1959, but has been used in models for the US market mainly marketed between 1963-1967

Serial numbers between 16-23 mill

Variants

The following are confirmed variants from Omega. Hence there has also been a discussion about three Geneve models KL6019, KL6020 and KL6021, however, the statement from Omega is: " KL6019 - KL6021=not found on our USA documents"

I have come across all variants except the 6196 Omega Dynamic with 14K gold top

The variants I have seen the most are: KL6068 (16%) and 166.020 (14%)

The reason for this special US Model

There was a heavy duty on watches with more than 17 Jewels imported and sold in the USA. There was a need for a watch for the simple man, the blue collar worker who could pay a price from USD 95

The US distributor Norman Morris came up with the idea of a movement with fewer jewels for the US market.

Hence the 560 was a variant of the calibre 562 (24 jewel).

Note on Norman Morris: Born in Austria 1898, died 1997 in USA. The Norman Morris Corp was founded in 1924. Norman Morris was Omega distributor from 1930 - 1980) who actually also was the man giving the “De Ville” its name,

Calibre variants

There exist two versions. An unadjusted and a variant adjusted in 2 positions.

Unadjusted seems to be seen mainly on the early watches and seems to change more over to unadjusted at around 1965

The markings are found on the rotor bridge

Casing/Case back

There exist four variants of casing

1: Cased in the USA with case from Ross Watch Case Co . marked "Ross" The Ross variants have all there hallmarks outside between the lugs

2: Cased in the USA with case from Jonell Watch Case Co marked "J" as an arrow. Here I have mainly seen KL6312 and KL6303

3: Cased in Switzerland. Only the stainless steel versions and the Dynamic steel

4. Exhibition back of KL6292, called KL6292VB for "Kleerback" according to John R. Diethelm at the Omega Museum

Outer casing variants

There seem to exist at least two variants of the outer/front case. One that is as the normal Seamaster (de Ville) and one that is a little wider and is in two levels.

Dial variants

Some references seems to exist in several variants as the Seamaster and one being the Seamaster DeVille (Fx KL6068)

The choice of dial was up to Norman Morris, hence the great variety.

Best to all of you

Hans

References:

WWW on several hits

Omega vintage site

Omega book: “OMEGA - A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME”

Omega Musem, aka John R. Diethelm (thank you John)

Articles by Mondodec aka Desmond (thank you Desmond)

Calibre versions Adjusted or non-adjusted

Calibre versions Adjusted or unadjusted

Case backs

Dials

Marks

KL6292VB

KL6303 case variant wide

This message has been edited by hans_jorgen_1968 on 2009-12-28 16:08:41

Nice Work, Hans!

By: gatorcpa : December 28th, 2009-20:21

I'm curious if there are any pictures of the casebacks on those Geneve Dynamic Models with the caliber 560. I've come across a couple of cal. 560's in case reference number 14470, which I think is the predecessor to 166.0020. These all seem to date from a...

Thanks gatorcpa

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : December 28th, 2009-23:20

Hi gatorcpa Also thanks to your comment here, and previosly as well during my research. Thankyou for sharing your picture on a really nice dial. I originally wanted to postpone this post to include the case back of the Dynamic (need to take a decent pictu...

I'm astounded by the clear caseback variation, even if it . . .

By: Dr No : December 28th, 2009-21:53

. . . wasn't commercially available . . . perhaps it was a demonstrator model for dealers. Thanks so much, Hans . . . very much appreciated! Cordially, Art

Thankyou Art

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : December 28th, 2009-23:50

According to Desmonds article, it could be a salesman type / demonstration type (it most probably is, as the water tightness does not exist with the clear back, hence the corroded dial). However I confronted the Omega Museum with the question, but they di...

Very interesting post, Hans!

By: amanico : December 28th, 2009-23:54

Wow, my friend, that's a superb post! for those, like me, who don't really know this topic, and certainly fro all the others, it is a rerally useful work. Thanks a lot! Best, Nicolas

Thanks my friend :-)

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : December 29th, 2009-00:05

Hello my friend It is a nice topic, and one of the more unkown. The official information that exist is very limited. So the digging and exchanging information is the fun part. Well, back to the mounting of the parabolic disc on my summerhouse. And tonight...

Doing your homework is really pleasant, indeed.

By: amanico : December 29th, 2009-00:08

But you're teasing me right now... I see 2 brands you could go for: Rolex and JLC... Am I right? Which one? Best, Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-12-29 00:09:39

yes I am...

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : December 29th, 2009-00:54

.... something red... Best Hans

thanks Hans, lots of information that is not available at the touch of a button

By: G99 : December 29th, 2009-02:55

i didnt intend to put you under pressure , but you can add the dynamic caseback at a later date. one thing we'll probably never be able to get is numbers cased in CH and in which cases. my understanding is that the VAST majority of movements went uncased ...

Thankyou Mr Pressure

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : December 29th, 2009-09:17

.... No worries. I also need to dig a little more into the steelvariants. I am not sure if they are more rare than the others. I believe they are all rare. But for sure the majority went uncased to US. I am collecting figures for my own statistic on what ...

very informative post, thanks Hans.

By: FanFrancisco : January 3rd, 2010-08:03

Was a pleasure Stefan :-)

By: hans_jorgen_1968 : January 3rd, 2010-09:15