Omega Watches
Since the company was founded in 1848, Omega has pioneered a huge range of technical innovations in watchmaking. Britain’s Royal Flying Corps chose Omega watches in 1917 as official timekeepers for its pilots and again in 1940, RAF Pilots watches were supplied by Omega. The 1940s also saw the first tourbillon wristwatch and the first of the famous Seamaster watches, whilst the 1950s and ’60s introduced the legendary Constellation, Speedmaster, Seamaster 300 and Railmaster. Over these years, everyone from John F. Kennedy to Elvis wore Omega watches on official duties. What’s more, in 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra took his Omega Speedmaster into space on NASA’s Mercury Sigma 7 mission, and in 1969 two Omega Speedmasters were the first watches to arrive on the moon, worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Description
A beautifully restored Cal.540 ladies 18ct pink gold dress watch from 1958. The star of the show here is undoubtedly the audacious case design. The hooded lugs frame the watch excellently and give it an enormous presence on the wrist, also allowing the strap to flow seemingly from inside the watch onto your wrist.
Other notable features of this watch include its simply wonderful and highly elegant dial design. It is typical of the 1950s and adopts the ‘calatrava’ style of dial design which was growing massively in popularity at the time, after become synonymous with Patek Phillipes elite dress watch aesthetics.
The Dial
The impeccably restored salmon dial has a vertically brushed finish which gives it just the right amount of texture to catch a wandering eye, despite its smaller size. Applied pink gilt batons mark the hour indices and matching original ‘pencil’ hands complete the ensemble nicely. As can be seen from the photographs, neither the dial or the hands have a single scratch on them which is incredible considering the high magnification of the professional macro lens used by our photographer. The dial is simply signed ‘Omega’ with ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom. This simplicity and excellent use of colour shows how Omega have excellently demonstrated their ‘less is more’ principle and were masters of mid-20th century dress watch design.
Movement
The watch carries its original high grade Cal.540, 17 Jewel movement which is in sparkling clean condition. The movement has been fully overhauled and serviced. This means it has been completely disassembled, cleaned, inspected and rebuilt using only original Omega parts where necessary, by our vintage Omega specialist watchmaker. When tested and calibrated, this watch was running to within -3 seconds per day, which is outstanding for any vintage ladies watch of this age. When fully wound, this movement has an excellent 38-hour power reserve. The movement is correctly signed ‘Omega Watch Co Swiss’, and ’17 Jewels’, with the calibre number 540 and the serial number 16222634, dating this watch to 1958.
These movements are strong, accurate and very reliable, making the watch perfectly appropriate for regular everyday use should you wish to do so. This movement is in top condition and with regular servicing, every 3 years, we would fully expect this watch to run very happily for many more decades to come! We are therefore more than pleased to offer a 12-month warranty on this watch movement* and regular servicing in the future.
*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the full list price is paid.
Watch Case
The solid 18ct pink gold, three-piece watch case is of sturdy solid construction and is in immaculate condition. The case is a good sized ladies watch case at 32mm across, excluding the signed Omega crown. The hooded lug design covers the pins which hold the strap in place. Usually this is visible from the top profile, however here the strap seems to flow from inside the watch itself, a much neater and more stylish approach we think. The case has been cleaned, carefully inspected and gently hand-polished by our case-maker and there are no scratches dings or marks visible to the naked eye.
As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.
The Strap and Buckle
The watch is fitted with a new high quality brown Alligator strap which suits the watch perfectly and the strap is fitted is with a pink gold-plated Omega buckle. If a different colour or different style strap is preferred please let us know and we will do our best to provide your choice, free of charge.
The Box and Papers
Although there are no original papers with this watch, the movement, case numbers and hallmarks all match, dating the watch to 1958.
Detailed particulars will be included with the receipt, along with our 12 months warranty*. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than totally authentic, or not as described, Vintage Gold Watches of London will offer you a full refund at any time”.
The vintage Omega presentation box shown in the photographs is included in the sale.
In Conclusion
A truly beautiful top of the range, 1950s 18ct pink gold Omega dress watch in wonderful condition. If you are looking for a great example of Omega’s balanced approach to dress watch design then there are few better examples than this. The movement is of a very high grade and the Omega 5oo series of movements are revered as some of the most reliable and outstanding movements ever made.
In addition to being perfectly practical for everyday use, this watch will make an excellent investment and heirloom piece as well as be something wonderful to use, wear, treasure and enjoy! Even though vintage gold Omega watch prices continue to climb, we still feel sure that top class examples such as this are underpriced. This is because as time passes and the world market for vintage gold Omega watches continues to grow, limited supply means prices will inevitably climb ever higher.
A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We, therefore, consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.
We are happy to accept PayPal as this is the quickest method of payment. However, if you would like to pay by UK cheque or by UK bank transfer we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.
Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.
We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.
If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.
Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.
Thank you.
Andrew M via feefo 
3rd December 2024 
JLC1891 
