Omega

Hello Friends!

 

I had very little intervention in this nice Omega Forum, being most of my postings at the Rolex one, so I took some deep breath today, and dared to make my first post here, asking for your kind patience!

I wish to share this old Omega chronograph, made circa 1950/55, which I found some time ago, having an interesting story behind.

 

As it usually happens with every collector´s "chase trophy", this kind of pieces happen to appear in our lives, always by mere chance. This watch is no exception to the rule.

 

As a matter of fact, it crossed my path inexpectedly, during one of my periodical visitis to my old friendly watchmaker, in charge of maintaining my old timepices.

 

This gentleman, is a technician with many, many years working in the repairing trade, having worked for several offcial service workshops of high end brands, localy. He doesn´t sell watches, nor have them in plain exposure, and during years of visiting him, he had never offered me something for sale.

 

But certain afternoon, I went to visit him to ask some maintenance work for several of my pieces, as well as changing batteries for some watches belonging to my wife, and while waiting for this change, we started chatting... about watches! What else?

 

Then, in certain point, our chat derived to Omega brand, and he told me: "I always knew that you were a Rolex fan, but now I see you also like Omegas very much".

 

As I responded affirmatively, he continued:

 

"I got something in my safe, that I know you surely will like"

 

He stood up from his workbench, took his monocular lens from his eye, and walked towards his safe. Opened the heavy door, and begun searching inside it most dark innards, till he finally found a little cardboard box he was looking for.

 

He put the little box in front of me, and invited me to open it, with his best smile. "Let me surprise you" he said.

He obviously was sure I would like it!

 

I observed the plain card box without any inscriptions outside, and proceeded to open it with care.

 

I surely got surprised when I found the chrono I am showing here, inside the box.

 

I loved the look of this little Omega, as soon as I saw it, and and inmediately strapped on my wrist, with the ugly old and cheap leather band it had in that moment.

 

 

I saw my friend face, staring at me, evidently waiting for the question which I was obviously going to make:

 

"Is it for sale?" I asked rather timidly.

 

"Well Abel, you know, I don´t sell watches... "

 

He made a pause and continued:

 

"I don´t usually sell watches, but, from time to time, a client brings some piece he wishes to get rid of, and if I find that the piece is interesting enough, and is offered to me at a good price, I buy it and put inside my safe as an investment. Of course, I will repair or service the watch, if I find it necessary, before making room for it inside my safe."

 

He continued talking, and I listened without pronoucing a single word:

 

"Take this old Omega, for example. I boght it many years ago, and kept it in my safe for those years as a nice investment. True is, that I am presently thinking is selling it, as I need the money to buy some necesary new tools and equipment for my workshop."

 

The fire of desire had been started, and I could feel that in spite of the air conditioning working at full, inside the little workshop, I had begun feeling the temperature had rised heavily in the last minutes of our chat.

 

I was trying to mantain my best "poker face" which a collector needs to show in these occasions, in order to show as little interest as possible, when the inevitable dealing work begins... when my old watchmaker friend asked me:

 

"Abel, didn´t you observed something unusual in this watch?" "A little detail may be?

 

As a matter of fact, I had not seen anything unusual, except that the watch was in superb condition, and I had strapped it so fast, that I hadn´t paid much attention to its back.

 

"Take it out of your wrist, and give a glance to its screw back, please" he said, again smililng.

 

I did what he asked, and gave a look to the case back.

 

There I easily saw what he was referring to.

A well known logo was engraved on the back.

 

 It was easy to see if I hadn´t rush to put the watch  on my wrtist the first time.

It had obviously got some polishing in the past, but it was still well visible.

 

 

I inmediately recognized the emblem, but couldn´t say a word, because my freind begun talking again:

 

"This watch belonged to a high rank military pilot of the Argentine Air Force. It was sold to me by his son, a few months after his father passed away. These watches were imported by the Omega representative here, in the beginnings of the 1950' s under the orders of the then President Peron, specially to equip crew members of our Air Force. The watches were inscribed with their emblem, at the Omega Factory, and then brought here, where the watches were sold, as personal purchase to the crew members in certain high military ranks."

 

I inmediately remembered those fabulous Cosmograph Daytona watches, branded "Fuerza Aerea del Peru" on their backs, wonderful watches which I never could reach, and then I grasped the little Omega more firmly in my hand.

I understood I couldn´t let pass this one!

 

Then, I heard myself pronouncing the fateful words:

"How much do you ask for it?"

 

Well, the dealing took some time. Well, not much time indeed, but it was a week of much thinking, several phone calls with my friend exchanging offerings and counter offering, and trying to figure how to get the necessary funds for it.

Till we reached a favourable deal for both of us, and I took delivery of the watch.

 

Now, this watch got the reference number 2451, a stainless steel case and screw back, and holds inside a wonderful 321 movement, the same one that some years later would equip the famous Speedmaster model.

 

The dial, has a very difficult to photograph dial color, which is a metallic grey, which changes as the light reaches its surface in different angles, sometimes giving the impression of being light blue, or sometimes a faded black.

 

I tried some outdoors photos, which better reflect the true color of this dial,

 

 

 

Hands are white, with an off light blue color hue, indexes are arabic numbers covered with nicely patinated tritum. Minutes scale and subdial markings are in silvery white, which provide with good contrast and easy reading.

 

Minutes acumulator sub dial, got the usual for the epoch, 3 minutes division, used to control long distance calls. 

 

The estimate vintage of this watch is early 1950´s as President Peron was thrown from his post during the 1955 Revolution, so these watches must be imported under his orders, before that year.

 

The case is 35 mm in diameter, the emblem of the Argentine Seal with wings is the official emblem of Fuerza Aerea Argentina. The band size is 18 mm, and I quickly changed the cheap leather ones it had when it was sold to me, with a croco set first, and then for another quality black leather set made in Germany.

 

You may have a better idea of its size, compared with a present made Speedmaster. A bit small for present "big watches" trend, but very nice to wear anyway.

It is surely a pleasure to have this little watch on the wrist.

A good set of leather bands, always enhances the look of a watch, and I love to try different colors and materials, to play a little with any watch, looking for the best looking one for my personal taste.

 

A good watch, deserves a good set of bands, and adds to the enjoyment of any quality watch, I feel.

 

I finally found this German made set more appropiate than the croco ones, for the "character" of this military watch.

 

 

 

Of course, this is just a very personal matter, depending on the tastes of each owner, or viewer.

 

 

I wish you have enjoyed viewing this post, and that you will like the old Omega chrono, as much as I do.

I also wish you had enjoyed the story behind these watches used by our military pilots almost 60 years ago.

 

As it always happens with the pieces in our collections, each timepiece got its own history, that written with their original owners, and afterwards, the story they write together with us, collectors, with all the details of its chase, and  its capture, which most probably, is the most exiting experience for every collector.

 

Thank you so much for your kind attention, and receive my best cordial regards, Abel.