Vintage
ArthurSG shares the deeply personal story behind his vintage Omega Constellation Day/Date Chronometer, inherited from his father. This article highlights the watch's sentimental value, its technical specifications, and the confirmed link to legendary designer Gerald Genta, thanks to research by Desmond Guilfoyle.
I posted a thread some 9-10 months back about a vintage Omega Constellation Day/Date Chronometer that my father left to me. Although not the most sought after and most expensive watch in the world, you can imagine that this particular watch is one of the closest to my heart and worth much much more in sentimental value to me.
After quite a lot of surfing, I managed to track down a very knowledgeble Australian gentleman by the name of Desmond Guilfoyle who has much interest in Omegas and done a lot of research on them. Desmond was kind enough to indulge my desire to find out more about this piece my father left me.
Geo also indicated to me that Gerald Genta may indeed have been involved in some way with Omega in the early days and Desmond has confirmed this. (See below)
So for those interested, here's some information :
The C-shape Constellation I inherited is a 168.0029 Omega C-Shape with a calibre 751 chronometer movement. The 751 was art of the mid 500 series of movements and are regarded as some of the best production movements made by anyone.
Power reserve is about 50 hours and the watch has 24 jewels.
The case is gold caped to at least 220 microns (very thick) and will last a hundred years of wear. It has a solid gold medallion on the case back. My Omega also has a "knurled" bezel and silky guilloche dial and was indeed
designed by Gerald Genta. It was handed down to me with an original gold capped bracelet but after I sent it back to Swatch for a full overhaul, I requested for a leather strap and new tang buckle. I have kept the bracelet.
My sincere and heartfelt thanks to Desmond Guilfoyle again!
This message has been edited by Dr No on 2009-10-25 10:22:30Hi WMcLarenF1, thank you so much for a great and true story about a watch with a lot of soul and history, especially for you. I have the same feeling on my Dynamic I inherited from my father. Intersting reading from Mr Desmond Guilfoyle as well Best regards Hans P.S. Are you using the watch, or is just sitting in the box?
the replies and articles from Desmond. It's not the most expensive watch and my father was not a rich man but there is so much more to life than money and what it can buy... much more value in what money cannot buy. Enjoy your piece and i hope it brings you closer to the person who left it for you as well. sooner would have been nicer but later in this case is good as well. Take care.
Hi Arthur You are 112% right. There are more to life than money and material stuff. There is much more value in life than what money can buy. Some things we appreciate due to where it is coming from, and other maybe due the fact that we are able to purchase it due to success in life and having a good income. Both are OK, but items I have purchased just because I could are easier to sell later in life. I am personally close to the two Omegas and one Zenith I inheritet from dad (one Omega) and gra
hi Arthur, did not know there was a touching story behind your Omega cal.751. when my day passed away, i asked him not to pass me anything including his Longines quartz watch because he had spent part of his savings for my overseas study during his earlier time. hence most his belongings including his watch was passed to my elder brother. i believe my brother is still keeping it. by the way, thanks for the information and interesting internet search to confirm the link between GG land Omega cons
We should wear them when I meet with you to discuss about Vancouver. Will call you soon.
they date from about 67-70ish and are really nice pieces. i had one in 18kt with an 18kt bracelet. too blingy for me so i let it go. in retrospect i should have kept the watch and let the bracelet go as they look really good on brown or black leather. the reason i say it was one of the last good omegas is because it wasnt long after that, around 74 i believe, that they started using ETA calibres and the quality went downhill. the exception to the rule would be the chrono's using Lemania calibres
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