Watches: MY 1970 OMEGA GENEVE DYNAMIC DAY DATE

The Geneve Dynamic line was launched in 1967. According to Omega, the elliptical shape of the watch is designed to conform to the anatomy of the wrist making it one of the first ergonomically designed watch. The watch also featured a band made out of Corfam, a material that "breathes" and makes it more comfortable to wear the watch.

True to the spirit of the swinging 70's, this watch came out in a variety of dial designs. I purchased this particular watch because its dial design is not the common design that is found, making it "valuable" from a collection standpoint.

This is a cal. 752, 24 jewels day-date movement. Per the Omega database, the serial number of 32xxxxxx dates this watch to 1970. Access to the internal components is through the dial which requires the use of Tool 107. This is the single "fly in the ointment" aspect of this particular watch - the "Tool 107" inscription found in the caseback can only be faintly seen due to an overzealous effort in polishing the watch by the previous owner. This slightly reduces the over-all value of the watch. 

The dial, crystal, crown, movement and bracelet are all signed. It retains the original luminous white/black hands and orange sweep second hand.

 

The black dial face has a "Formula 1" checkered flags design on the outer markers track and has orange hour markers on white squares. The black color looks washed out due to camera/lighting conditions in the picture but it is inky black and in excellent condition. It also has the original stainless steel integrated omega signed bracelet and deployment buckle - ST 1153/38. Keeps great time - not bad for a 39 year old watch.

Watches: MY 1969 OMEGA GENEVE CHRONOSTOP DRIVER

I was lucky to win this watch in an auction.  I previously dealt with this seller so I was confident that the watch is authentic. 

This watch is a chronostop which means it uses a single pusher to operate the stop watch function.  Pressing the pusher starts the stopwatch hand.  Press and hold the pusher to read the elapsed time and release the pusher to reset the hand back to zero. 

From a design standpoint, this watch is not effective as there is no minute/hour subdial .  Which means that timing events beyond sixty seconds will require you to count the elapsed minutes in your head!  Definitely a no-no for old-fogeys like me who have memory problems. 

Omega produced two calibers for this series:  cal 865 and 920. Cal 865 was produced in 1966 and cal 920 was released in 1968.  The difference between the two is the 920 has a date function and the 865 doesn't.  Both have 17 jewels and are manual winding. 

What makes this model attractive from a collection standpoint is that it was designed specifically to be worn under the wrist.  The idea was that the driver could glance at his watch without taking his hand off the wheel to check the time.

The dial is slate grey in color and the lumes are faded given that this watch is 40 years old.  I'll be taking this to the Omega center to have it checked and cleaned up so hopefully I'll get an improvement in the looks.  I also ordered a perforated rally strap design to replace the strap this watch has.  Hopefully I'll be able to find an Omega No. 27 Deployment buckle which is what this watch would have sported when it was first released.

Watches: My 1949 Omega COSMIC MOONPHASE

Omega made these watches between 1947 and 1956. These were powered by a cal 27 DL PC AM, which was later renamed as cal 381 in 1949.

27 refers to 27mm in diameter; DL refers to the complication of day, date, month and moonphase; PC means that the movement is shock absorbent and AM refers to its anti-magnetic properties.

Info that I got states that Omega had a total production of 50,000 for this movement. This movement has 17 jewels and is manually wound. It is not a true perpetual calendar because although the day, date, and moonphase change automatically as long as the watch was wound, the month needs to be advanced manually by pressing an indented button located in the 4 o'clock position at the side of the case. The pointer date and moonphase are also adjusted through indented buttons at the 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock position. The day is adjusted via winding the hands past 12 midnight. I've posted pics of the recessed buttons at the side.


This model had a number of dial styles, the most common are steel models with printed numbers or hour markers and logo. These don't seem to age well and many of those that I looked at that were for sale had been re-dialed. I have read in some forums of a black dial version with a red date pointer hand but I have yet to see one.



The movement for my watch dates this to 1949 and is a cal 381. The dial has applied numbers and an applied Omega logo. It has a 14k gold bezel and stainless steel case. Original models when they came out in the late 40s had a pigskin strap but this one came with a brown leather strap. It also displays the Day and Month in Spanish. Per Omega, parts are no longer available in stock for English Day-Month displays.

There is a square cased version (case ref OT 3944) and this one is most prized by collectors. The place I purchased my moonphase from had this version for sale but it was way too rich for my blood. The square case version has been re-issued by Omega as part of its limited edition Museum Collection.

 

Watches: Today is a "Red Letter Day" - I got two Omegas!!!

I picked up two watches for my collection today: I got the Geneve Chronostop Driver from the seller in the morning and shortly after lunch, I picked up from another seller my 1949 Omega Cosmic Moonphase.  Yipeee!!!

Here's a teaser shot of the cosmic moonphase:

And here's the Geneve Chronostop Driver:

Stay tuned for my posts on these two.