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About official certification

 

When the Centenary was issued in 1948, the Chronometre certification did not require the validation by an official agency.

At that time, a chronometer had to be able to successfully pass the test, but this capability could be assessed by the manufacture itself.

Rolex were submitting their watches to the official agencies, but Omega did not. And that is what the Centenary certificate says...



"... pouvant obtenir un certificate ... " means "... that could obtain a certificate ... ".

It is only in 1951 that the official test was required for a Chronometre certification. This change of criteria had an impact on the number of watches submitted as the figures below show.



The black line shows the number of Official Certificates obtained by Rolex, the white line shows the number of Official Certificates obtained by ALL other brands.

From 1927 to 1947, more than 85% of Official Certificates were obtained by Rolex. In 1953, Rolex had still the absolute majority of certification, but Omega and other brands had started to increase the number of submitted watches from 1951.

Back to the Centenary, I think that a "Officially Certified" mark on the dial cannot be correct.

Best,

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14 Comments view entire thread 

Omega Centenary 2499 - Officially Certified on the dial?

 
By: kyle L : December 8th, 2012-17:29
Hi guys, I've been looking for a Centenary 2499 and I've come across a Cal. 343 with officially certified written on the dial. I have nEver seen one of these before, is it correct? I'm curious to hear other opinions and will post pictures soon.

hey Kyle nice looking example..

 
By: Bill Sohne : December 9th, 2012-15:57
Hi Kyle... Nice looking example... so what is the story.... looks clean and the bezel Double bevel looks crisp. This watch has not seen alot of wrist time . '" The 343 is a classic movement and superior finish and the "Omega System" regulator.... So Kyle ... 

Seller decided to keep the watch...

 
By: kyle L : December 9th, 2012-17:11
I don't blame him though, it's a really nice example. I'm still curious about the officially certified however.

Nothing to really think about...

 
By: Bill Sohne : December 9th, 2012-17:27
Hi Kyle I have seen and owned 343 with and without the off signed on the dial.... If you like gold Omega that one would have been nice to grab ! Good Hunting BIll

NiceWatch!!

 
By: Timertom : December 12th, 2012-12:13
That's a smart looking, and ever so rare now Centenary, I'd go for it if I could even if the officially certified were a later addition or not original to the dial in some way! Mine doesn't have officially certified on it, and I checked all the different ... 

About official certification

 
By: Marv : December 9th, 2012-01:32
When the Centenary was issued in 1948, the Chronometre certification did not require the validation by an official agency. At that time, a chronometer had to be able to successfully pass the test, but this capability could be assessed by the manufacture i...  

Very interest post Marv

 
By: mondodec : December 9th, 2012-21:38
Kyle's example has a 12.3 mill serial number which means it was part of the very late batches of second generation with the 12 oclock arabic numeral 2499s, dating the production of the movement to around the middle of 1950. Your evidence coincides with wh... 

I think Desmond is correct...

 
By: gatorcpa : December 10th, 2012-13:57
...in that Omega used the same style of dial and case as the Ref. 2499, but did not market this model as "Centenary" after some point (probably in 1950 or 1951). This likely would have coincided with the introduction of the improved bumper automatic movem...  

Thank you for the scan and the info

 
By: Marv : December 10th, 2012-16:00
I am very pleased with this thread! So my remark was only valid for the original Centenary (from 1948). Sorry for the confusion. Your scan of the 1950 catalog indicates that Omega did not wait for the change of regulatory rules in 1951 to submit some of t... 

Vey informative post!

 
By: blomman Mr Blue : December 11th, 2012-14:19
Thank you all for chipping in! A lot of knowalge for a Omega newbie! :) Best Blomman