Omega Constellation Cal.561 18ct Pink Gold 1966

Omega

Since the company was founded in 1848, Omega has pioneered a huge range of innovations. 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 the 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 to space on NASA’s Mercury Sigma 7 mission, and in 1969 two Speedmasters landed on the moon, worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

The Omega Constellation has remained Omega’s flagship Chronometer grade automatic dress watch since 1952 and was a development of the highly successful Omega Centenary Chronometer Automatics, 2499 and 2500, launched just a few years previously to coincide with the celebration of Omega’s first 100 years of high-end watch manufacture.

Description

Here we have an 18ct pink gold Omega Constellation in amazing condition from 1966. This watch has an immaculate fully restored dial and a watch case that are both in wonderful condition. This watch carries the truly excellent Calibre 561, 24 Jewel movement which was Omega’s state of the art movement during the 1960s. This movement is very highly regarded for its accuracy, reliability and self-winding efficiency.

The heavy 18ct watch case measures a large 36mm in diameter and is in superb all-round condition. As with all Omega Constellations, this watch carries the Constellation motif on the case-back which is fairly distinct, indicating this watch has been lightly used and has been very well cared for.

Omega Constellations have always been highly regarded for their accuracy and dependability, making this one of the most practical vintage dress watches you can buy.

The Dial

This watch carries a remarkable, fully restored gold dial which carries a wonderful vertical grain. This adds just the perfect amount of texture to complement the applied gilt, bold onyx inlaid ‘baton’ hour indices. These are matched with the original, restored solid gold ‘dauphine’ style hands, providing the classic smart 1960s functional aesthetic.

The dial carries the applied gold OMEGA brand and is signed ‘Omega’, ‘Automatic’ and ‘Chronometer Officially Certified’ below the 12 with ‘Constellation’ below and ‘Swiss Made’ below the ‘6’. An aperture at ‘3’ displays the date register.

This is the original dial which has been restored to the highest standards by our dial restorers, considered to be the best in the UK.

The Movement

The Omega Cal.561, 24 Jewel movement fitted to this watch was one of Omega’s most highly regarded and successful movements, remaining in production for almost 20 years.

The movement is in tip-top condition having been overhauled and serviced by our vintage Omega specialist watchmaker. This means it has been completely disassembled to all its component parts, carefully inspected under high magnification, replacement where necessary with only genuine Omega parts before careful reassembly and adjustment and calibration. The watch winds, sets and runs perfectly accurately and reliably and at the time of testing, immediately following its service, results were within +6 seconds per day. This is truly outstanding for any watch of this age and has been confirmed on our electronic watch timegrapher. The movement also has an excellent 50-hour power reserve when fully wound. We are more than confident in offering 12 months’ warranty with this watch movement*.

The movement is correctly signed ‘Omega Watch Co Swiss’ and carries the Calibre 561, along with the serial number 24,499,133 which dates this watch to 1966.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.

Watch Case

The heavy 18ct pink gold waterproof** watch case measures 36mm, excluding the correct original Omega signed crown. It is in the typically robust design of the period, with strong, straight lugs and a screw-back. The case was designed to be waterproof and dustproof, made in two-parts with a solid upper body which has an integrated, shallow chamfered bezel and a separate case-back which screws into the upper case.

The case has been cleaned, carefully inspected and very gently hand-polished to remove some tarnish, as this was all that was required to bring it back to its current tip-top condition with no scratches dings or marks of any kind visible to the naked eye. The case-back carries the famous Constellation motif which is almost as new. Being 18ct gold, this is usually worn to a far greater extent, but here it is still crisp and distinct, indicating this watch has hardly been worn. The screw-down case-back and sealed crown make this watch water resistant to 20 metres*.

Inside the case-back, all is as expected with the correct branding and correctly signed: ‘Omega Watch Co.’, ‘Fab Suisse’ and ‘Swiss Made’, along with Swiss 18ct hallmarks and the Omega model reference number 168004/14.

**Although originally specified as ‘Water Resistant to 20 metres’, this has not been tested and is not guaranteed. As always, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap and Buckle

The watch is finished with a very high quality brown Alligator strap and pink gold-plated Omega buckle which we feel suits the watch beautifully. However, if you have a preference for another colour or style, please let us know and we will do our best to supply and fit your preferred strap for no extra charge. We carry Tan, Conker, Dark Brown and Black in stock, in plain padded leather, crocodile skin or lizard skin, but can also obtain most types and colours from our partners at ‘Watch Obsession’ within 48hrs. Please take a look at their wonderful range of straps if you wish here.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to 1966.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will also 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 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

The Omega presentation box shown in the photographs is included.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this. 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 check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.

In Conclusion

A truly beautiful top of the range, 1960s 18ct pink gold Omega Constellation in excellent condition. If you are seeking the perfect example of a Constellation with one of Omega’s best ever automatic movements, this watch ticks all the boxes. The movement is of a very high grade and is equal to watches much more expensive than this. Indeed when new, this watch would have cost more than the equivalent gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Omega Constellation watches are highly collectable and the desirability of this watch means its value will always remain strong.

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.

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.