History of Omega from Société des Amis du Musée Omega (SAMO)
Here’s a site I stumbled across a while back, one of those things that fell upon the “this probably needs to be mentioned on the blog soon” pile but somehow never made it into a live post until I discovered it in my “ready list” of unused ideas just the other day when it turned out to relevant to an inquiry from a fellow vintage enthusiast.
Louis Brandt & Frere - The making of the "Labrador" Style
So without further ado, please check out this history of Omega from SAMO, the Société des Amis du Musée Omega or “Society of the Friends of the Omega Museum.” From wha tI can divine from their site SAMO is a non-profit historical society located in Bienne/Biel, Switzerland dedicated to awareness of the history of the Omega factory and the Omega brand. Unfortunately the English-language version of the website apparently hasn’t been properly kept up with with all that much energy, and even the French- and German-language versions of the site appear to have suffered and are well over a year out of date at this point. But the keystone ‘Omega History’ portions of the site remain cheerily and entirely relevant. And as far as I’m aware the site has previously gone largely unnoticed in the online collector community, so it is my pleasure to bring it to your attention here.
So if you have a few spare moments and would like to explore one of the better online accountings of Omega’s history I have come across so far, I invite you to peruse SAMO’s site for a really, really good overview of the history of what eventually became the Omega, S.A. that we are familiar with in modern times.
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Posted in Omega Watches, Vintage Watches.
Tagged with Omega Watches, Vintage Watches.
By Rrryan – 24 October 2009
Although readership has been quite strong, I was starting to think it quite odd that there had been few to no comments to any of the posts of late. Some prodding from a fellow (thanks, Ariel!) prompted me to go digging in the WordPress software settings only to find that somewhere along the way commenting had been inadvertently disabled, or more specifically a login required even though there was no mechanism afforded for registering or creating a login.
In any case, that setting has been disarmed and readers should be free to comment at will.
Enjoy.
Posted in Uncategorized.
By Rrryan – 24 October 2009
Vintage Omega Seamaster 300 with Aldo replacement bezel insert
For quite some time a challenge for collectors of early Omega Seamaster 300 models (see Bill Sohne’s Seamaster 300: A History for a great quick overview of the SM300) has been the bezel inserts on some of the earliest models. The inserts were originally made of an early plastic material called bakelite which was brittle to begin with and gets increasingly brittle with age. Many makers in the period including Rolex and Omega used bakelite for bezel inserts until it was eventually replaced by more suitable and durable materials like acrylic or metals. Collectors often find such watches with the bakelite bezel inserts in poor condition. They’re often cracked, broken, missing large pieces or just missing altogether, and examples with intact original bezels can often fetch enormous premiums.
Omega Seamaster 300 with original bakelite bezel insert. Photo: "reficul_x"
Previously Seamaster 300 collectors often had little remedy for dealing with broken or missing inserts, as the Omega factory has not had any stock of these for quite a long while, owing not only to the model age but that their relative fragility had led to a strong demand for replacements over the years. A few years back there was a DIY “recipe” in the forums for creating home-grown replacements using things like successive layers of tinted epoxy and number decals borrowed from model railroad applications, a technique that often met with mixed results.
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Posted in Omega Watches, Vintage Watches.
Tagged with bakelite, Omega Watches, rolex, Seamaster 300, sm300, Vintage Watches.
By Rrryan – 23 October 2009
Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Time Attack MF
But good grief, this is bad design. Why can’t anyone design watches any more?
Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Time Attack MF
Presented for consideration is a new offering from Chopard, the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Time Attack MF. The “MF” presumably stands for Multifunction, though I find it somewhat comical that Chopard chose to abbreviate the only element of the ostentatiously long title that actually describes any of the watch’s features.
It’s apparently an attempt to mutate a Breitling-like multifunction display using an off-the-shelf ETA ana-digi movement, imposing Chopard’s penchant for incorporating supposed auto racing themes along the way.
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Posted in Modern Watches.
Tagged with ana-digi, chopard, racing.
By Rrryan – 22 October 2009
I have previously read your article on the g10, naming your favorites. While the article is an outstanding reference ther is PERHAPS 1 mistake: from the pictures, I see that Time Factors does not sew their bands. So I called a friend who had tried numerous NATO/G10 bands & he tells me that his Time Factor band fell apart (in the field)after 5-6 months of use…EVEN THOUGH as you note: “the Timefactors design is actually among the truest to the actual DEF STAN spec” The lack of stitching would still make this an inferior band…vastly inferior. more inferior than a plated buckle alone I would love to have your comments. v/r K.
Timefactors G10/"NATO" strap in black. Photo: Timefactors.com
Hi K,
I have to say I’m really not entirely sure what you’re getting at. You are quite correct that Timefactors does not sew its G10 (or “NATO”) straps and instead relies on a welding or heat sealing process. However I’m not sure what you’re implying by pointing to the lack of stitching, as the most current version (30 March 2001) of the UK Ministry of Defence Standard 66-47/2 specification quite clearly and specifically calls for welded construction: Continued…
Posted in Military Watches, Straps.
Tagged with G10, maratac, NATO, Straps, timefactors.
By Rrryan – 21 October 2009
Buzz Aldrin and his Speedmaster on the cover of "Omega Lifetime" magazine
This actually happened a while back this summer and I had been meaning to report it here earlier but somehow getting sidetracked along the way. But after an email exchange with another collector who was previously unaware, I decided it was really high time I get around to mentioning it here.
Over this summer I was quite pleased when friend and fellow Omega enthusiast Sam Hewitt called to let me know that my X-33 article had been mentioned in the factory-sanctioned “Omega Lifetime” magazine. As a collector, this is one of those little things that happens once in a while that just makes me grin. As I’ve written before, I mostly think of my writings here as catering to a very limited audience of friends and collectors, with the occasion passers-by who wander in by way of Google and such. When evidence emerges that there’s potentially an impact on the wider world, it’s often at least a little bit heartening.
At first, I was quite flattered when I learned that the Omega X-33 Article I had authored with Bsodmike garnered a mention in the magazine. While perhaps not quite so scholarly or academic as the journals of some brands (IWC fans in particular are blessed with a really excellent journal!), I must admit I was initially quite pleased when I heard the news.
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Posted in Modern Watches, Omega Watches, X-33.
Tagged with chuck maddox, nasa, Omega Watches, seamaster multinfunction.
By Rrryan – 20 October 2009
18k Gold "Apollo" Speedmaster Professional BA 145.022. Note solid gold dial and burgundy bezel. (eBay seller's image)
I happened to notice this Gold “Apollo” Omega Speedmaster for sale on eBay yesterday, an accident of sorts as they’re mostly outside my collecting pursuits, but I thought it interesting enough to note here. The seller apparently had owned several examples and is selling them to finance the construction of a custom sports car, recently selling one other example on eBay as well.
The original examples of these 18k Gold BA 145.022 Speedmasters with the unique burgundy bezels and solid gold dials were presented to Astronauts, NASA officials, and select US government officials at a special gala dinner on November 25, 1969, as detailed by Brad “Watchcarefully” Jacobs in his Gold Apollo Speedmaster article originally published in International Wristwatch Magazine. The watches are also discussed in the Omega Speedmaster Table originally created by Omega factory historian Marco Richon and formatted, appended and hosted by the late Chuck Maddox and further discussed in Chuck’s Guide to Speedmaster Moonwatch Casebacks.
Omega "Apollo" 18k gold Speedmaster Professional Caseback. This example is one of the upper numbers that was not personalized. (eBay seller's image)
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Posted in Omega Watches, Vintage Watches.
Tagged with ebay, gold, Omega Watches, speedmaster.
By Rrryan – 15 October 2009
J. Crew 'Military' Timex Watch, $150.00. Photo: J. Crew
| EDIT: False Alarm. Although I looked repeatedly, it just would not come up on J. Crew’s site and browsing to the links I had bookmarked only re-directed to the J Crew homepage. A temporary blockage in the J. Crew tubes perhaps. (Thanks to A Time to Get for the correction) |
| Also interesting is that J. Crew now offers a “kid’s” version of the military Timex, which seems identical to the regular Timex I recommend below as an alternative but at 2x the price. Hah. |
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Posted in Military Watches, Modern Watches, Straps.
Tagged with J. Crew, quartz, Straps, timex.
By Rrryan – 14 October 2009
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