{"title":"Omega","description":"Omega pocket watches from the decades when the maker's Grand Prix and observatory honours still meant something. We look for honest open-face pieces in silver and gold, with clean enamel dials and movements that run as they should, each one researched and dated before it is listed.","products":[{"product_id":"omega-gold-plated-open-face-art-deco-sub-seconds-47-6mm-c-1933","title":"Slim Gold-Plated, Art Deco Enamel Dial, c.1933","description":"\u003cp\u003eA signed Omega from the early 1930s, its white enamel Art Deco dial still crisp behind clear glass. Slim, gold-plated and running strong.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a Swiss-made Omega open-face pocket watch from around 1933, signed by Omega on the dial and across the movement bridge, with the case number 8154718 inside the back. The movement serial (7706956) dates it to the early 1930s, the height of the Art Deco period, and the dial reflects that: elongated Arabic numerals, a clean outer minute track, blued Breguet hands and a sunk subsidiary seconds register at six.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe case is gold-plated rather than solid gold, stamped inside 'Metal Plaque Or Lamine, Garanti 20 Microns'. The plating has held up well: the case is bright and sound with only light surface marks to the back, where a previous owner had the letter G engraved. It measures 47.6mm across, a comfortable full size for a dress pocket watch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMechanically it is honest and working. It winds up with proper tension, the hands set cleanly, and it runs well and keeps ticking. The crystal is clear with no cracks or chips. The one flaw is a small chip in the enamel at the edge of the seconds dial, near the 5, with fine hairlines running from it into the numeral. It is visible on close inspection but does not distract from an otherwise clean, bright dial.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOmega traces back to Louis Brandt, who set up in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848. The firm moved to Biel in 1880, named its 19-ligne calibre of 1894 Omega, and took the name as Louis Brandt \u0026amp; Frère, Omega Watch Co. in 1903. This one is ready to display or carry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Omega","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54248926708051,"sku":"PW-0068","price":295.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/omega-gold-plated-pocket-watch-c1933-front.jpg?v=1783619666"},{"product_id":"omega-silver-800-open-face-sub-seconds-edwardian-48-2mm-c-1915","title":"Original Award-Medallion Cuvette, Enamel Dial, c.1920","description":"\u003cp\u003eA genuine Omega open-face pocket watch in .800 silver, dating to around 1920. A running example from one of Switzerland's first-tier makers, complete with its original award-medallion cuvette.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLouis Brandt set up as a watchmaker at La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848. His sons Louis-Paul and César moved the business to Biel in 1880, and in 1894 launched the 19-ligne calibre they named Omega; the firm, by then one of the largest watch companies in Switzerland, took the name in 1903 as Louis Brandt \u0026amp; Frère, Omega Watch Co. A gold medal at the Geneva national exhibition of 1896 and the Grand Prix at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 had come before. The movement serial, 5554568, places its production at around 1920.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe watch is a classic open-face design in .800 silver, the lowest of the Swiss legal standards for silver watch cases. The caseback interior carries the Swiss grouse control mark, the 0.800 stamp and the Omega roundel, with case number 6249792, and a repairer's mark scratched beside them is dated 21\/8\/21. The exterior back is finished in an engine-turned barleycorn pattern, and the hinged dust cover is struck in relief with the Omega name framed by twelve exhibition medallions, among them the Swiss National Exhibition at Bern in 1914.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInside is a 15-jewel Swiss lever movement, gilt-finished and signed Omega across the bridge. It winds smoothly, sets cleanly through the crown and runs well. The white fired-enamel dial carries bold Arabic numerals and a subsidiary seconds register at six, with blued Breguet hands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is an honest, wearable example rather than a museum piece. The dial shows a hairline in the enamel near the 11 and 12 position, and the case carries light wear with a few small dents to the back, consistent with a watch carried and kept for over a century. The crystal is clear and the movement is in good running order.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Omega","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54249114992979,"sku":"PW-0070","price":295.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/omega-silver-pocket-watch-c1915-front.jpg?v=1783620367"},{"product_id":"oversized-open-face-enamel-dial-with-red-13-24-ring-c-1909","title":"Oversized Open Face, Enamel Dial with Later Red 13-24 Ring, c.1909","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn oversized Omega open face from about 1909, built on the 19''' calibre that gave the company its name, with a later red 13 to 24 ring added to its white enamel dial.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn Omega open-face watch from about 1909, in an unusually large 58.8mm case, with a white enamel dial carrying a second ring of hours from 13 to 24.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlack Arabic numerals 1 to 12 run around the outside of the dial. Within them, red numerals 13 to 24 sit on a toned centre that was added over the enamel later: the 24 runs into the OMEGA signature, and the 19 and 17 sit across the seconds dial. There is an outer minute track and subsidiary seconds at six. It is signed OMEGA at twelve in small black capitals, with blued steel hands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe movement is Omega's 19''' calibre in lépine form and B grade, the 19''' LOB. It has gilt plates, 15 jewels, large exposed crown and ratchet wheels, and a scroll-engraved balance cock with a regulator index lettered S R and F A. The Brandt brothers introduced the 19''' in 1894 and named it Omega. It was built in series, with parts any watchmaker could replace without modification, and it did well enough that the firm took the name for itself in 1903. As on most Omega movements of this date, the bridge side is plain; Omega engraved the movement number on the dial side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe case is plated base metal, with a plain back, a hinged back cover and a hinged dust cover. Inside the back is Omega's trademark stamp, and the case number 3492887 is struck on both the back and the dust cover. At 58.8mm it is a large case for this calibre.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe watch winds, sets and runs steadily. The later toned centre is flaking, with partial losses to the red numerals 24, 22, 21, 19, 17 and 16. There are a few hairlines in the white outer chapter; the black numerals and signature are intact. Inside the case back the plating is worn through, with spotting and pitting, and the outside shows general light wear. The crystal is a later acrylic and the fluted crown is a later replacement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Omega","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55152799351123,"sku":"PW-0164","price":345.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/omega-19-lob-24-hour-dial-pocket-watch-c1909-1.jpg?v=1790887300"}],"url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/collections\/shop-by-maker-omega.oembed","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}