Vintage Omega De Ville, a bit of a puzzle...

Ben Cooper · Mar 17, 2012

Hi

I bought a vintage 18k Gold Omega De Ville at an auction in Stockholm some years ago. I have tried, with no luck, to search on the Omega Vintage database and have questioned some reasonably knowledgeable collectors, again with no luck.

Really all I'm interested in is knowing a bit more about it and about it's possible worth. As a child of the Seventies, I was assured by the auctioneer that it was made in the mid-seventies but it would be nice to actually have a bit of history.

What I know of it is...

·It is a day/date watch with the days in Spanish (Lun, Mar, Mie, Jue, Vie, Sab, Dom)

·It is a mechanical automatic, as far as I can tell.

·It has a gold strap that is highly unusual, with a very beautiful clasp.

·The case-back contains the numbers "1011", "18k", "0,750" "1620068"

·The face has the words "Omega", "Automatic" and "De Ville" as well as the Omega symbol.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ben

ulackfocus · Mar 17, 2012

HI Ben. You actually have most of what you're asking for. The base reference number is 162.0068, but since it has a bracelet from the factory It should have a 3 in the front. Unfortunately the Omega vintage database is crapping out when I enter anything related to these numbers so I can't tell you for sure if it matches up.

The watch has a caliber 102x inside. It could be a 1020, 1021, or 1022 - can't tell because the automatic winding rotor is covering up the information on the movement in your picture. If you look at the left side of this picture, you'll see "1020" which is the caliber number.

Above that is a circle with a serial number. If we could see that, we could tell you what year it was made.

dsio · Mar 17, 2012

Why is the rotor and everything so... Japanese looking in these? I mean the 5xx series is an elegant mix of brushed and polished surfaces, cut away rotor, cut away bridges, and a swan neck regulator that looks like a piece of art, then the 1000 series look like something Seiko's bean counters put together to work efficiently and accurately.

Its like the pride and elegance went out the window when designing it.

ulackfocus · Mar 17, 2012

dsio
Why is the rotor and everything so... Japanese looking in these? I mean the 5xx series is an elegant mix of brushed and polished surfaces, cut away rotor, cut away bridges, and a swan neck regulator that looks like a piece of art, then the 1000 series look like something Seiko's bean counters put together to work efficiently and accurately.

Its like the pride and elegance went out the window when designing it.

I highlighted the two most important words in your post. Low cost quartz watches were the reason for cost cutting with a lot of companies - if they were even able to stay afloat in the 70's.

gatorcpa · Mar 17, 2012

dsio
..the 1000 series look like something Seiko's bean counters put together....

hey, Hey, HEY!!! Watch it, Bub.😡

I resemble that remark! 😝
gatorcpa

dsio · Mar 17, 2012

gatorcpa
hey, Hey, HEY!!! Watch it, Bub.😡

I resemble that remark! 😝
gatorcpa

Resemble or resent? Not sure if you're offended by being called a bean counter, or you IS one 😜

gatorcpa · Mar 17, 2012

Umm...I believe they call 'em Chartered Accountants in your country.

Yes, I be one.
gatorcpa

dsio · Mar 17, 2012

gatorcpa
Umm...I believe they call 'em Chartered Accountants in your country.

Yes, I be one.
gatorcpa

Ah! That makes sense now.

Ben Cooper · Mar 20, 2012

Thanks for the responses, guys. I am endeavouring to find out the serial number of the watch. I will post back when I find out.

Ben Cooper · Jun 1, 2012

Finally, I have found the serial number and calibre number. You guys would not believe how hard it is to buy a jeweller's loup in Stockholm!!

The serial number is 35112035, the calibre is 1022.

Oh, and, what does the "1011" number denote?

Thanks in advance.