Omega De Ville Automatic Cal.711 9ct 1969

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.

Description

Here we have a stunning Omega De Ville 9ct yellow gold watch, complete with its original full-length woven link 9ct Omega bracelet. The watch case is 29mm x 29mm and yet it contains a very high-grade Omega Cal.711, 24 Jewel automatic movement. This watch was made at a time when Omega was at its peak in terms of the quality of its in-house movements and this is a superb example, especially when found as here, in 9ct gold with a bracelet in such tip-top condition.

At 29mm x 29mm in diameter, excluding the correct unsigned crown, this would have been a good sized watch for this period. However today, given the popularity among ladies to wear gent’s watches, this could equally be considered a suitable watch for a lady.

The Dial

The beautiful, original, unrestored and untouched gold dial carries a beautiful verticle grain. The original gilt onyx inlaid ‘index’ hands are matched with the black ‘baton’ hour indices which are doubled at 12. All of these wonderful features make the watch very easy to read when upon the wrist.

The dial carries the Omega brand and signature brand with ‘Omega’, ‘Automatic’ just below 12 along with ‘De Ville’ just above 6 and ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom.

Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however, we decided in this case, due to its unique condition, to retain its originality and charm for the many collectors who prefer this. This watch carries some very beatiful signs of ageing in the pitting and spotting. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored.

Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you see here may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.

Movement

This is the top grade Cal.711, 24 Jewels automatic movement which is the same movement as used in the top of the range, Chronometer rated, Omega Constellation during this period. This movement is very highly regarded for its accuracy and reliability. Here, the beryllium bronze movement is in absolutely tip-top condition and looks as good in fact, as the day it was made.

The movement has been fully overhauled and serviced, meaning complete disassembly of the watch movement to all its component parts, careful inspection under high magnification, replacement where necessary with only genuine Omega parts, then careful reassembly and adjustment before final calibration. The watch, therefore, winds, sets and runs perfectly accurately and reliably within +10 seconds per day, averaged over 2 positions. This is truly outstanding for any watch of this age, we have checked and confirmed the test results on our electronic watch timegrapher. The movement also has a tremendous 42-hour power reserve when fully wound. We are therefore pleased to be able to offer 12 month warranty with this watch*.

The movement is signed ‘Omega Watch Co Swiss’ along with the Calibre number 711, 24 Jewels, and the movement serial number 2399861 which dates the manufacture of the movement to 1969.

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

The Case

The solid 9ct yellow gold, three-piece watch case is of sturdy solid construction and is in immaculate condition. The case is a good size at 29mm across, excluding the correct Omega signed crown, 29mm from top to bottom and 36mm from corner to corner.  This is a noticeably heavy gold case and integral bracelet weighing 57.8 grams. The case has been cleaned, carefully inspected and gently hand-polished by our watch-case-maker and there are no scratches dings or marks visible to the naked eye.

The case is signed ‘Omega Watch Co’ and carries the serial number 3615022, along with Swiss Geneva 9ct hallmarks and London hallmarks dating this watch correctly to 1969.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Bracelet

The original integral woven link Omega 9ct bracelet is in close to ‘as new’ condition and is of its original full length and is adjustable between 17.8cm to 19.1cm. This equates to  7″ inches to 7.25″ inches i.e. a small to medium size ladies wrist.

The bracelet is adjusted using the three-step Omega ladder locking catch. The bracelet has simply been cleaned and lightly polished to bring it back to the condition you see 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 1969

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 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”.

This watch comes complete with the original Omega presentation box shown in the photographs.

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.