Omega De Ville Automatic Date Cal.1012 18ct c1972

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 an museum condition, Omega De Ville with the highly sought after ‘TV’ 18ct yellow gold case. The watch case is 36mm x 37mm and yet it contains a very high-grade Omega Cal.1012, 23 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.

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. All of these wonderful features make the watch very easy to read when upon the wrist. This dial also has the wonderful addition of a date window at 3.

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.

The Movement

The watch carries the original, high grade Omega Calibre 1012, 23 Jewel automatic movement which as can be seen, is in sparkling clean condition. The movement has been completely disassembled, cleaned, inspected and rebuilt using original Omega parts, only where required, by our vintage Omega specialist watchmaker. His work is superb and when final tested and calibrated, the watch was running consistently at +8 seconds per day which is truly exceptional for any vintage watch of this age.

These movements are strong, accurate and very reliable, making the watch perfectly suited for regular everyday use. This particular movement is in A1 condition and with regular servicing every 3-4 years, we would fully expect this watch to run happily for many more decades to come. We are therefore pleased to offer a 12-month warranty on this watch movement*.

The movement is correctly signed ‘Omega Watch Co’ and ‘ Swiss’, and carries the calibre number 1012.

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

The Case

The solid 18ct yellow gold, two-piece ‘TV’ watch case is of sturdy solid construction and is in immaculate condition. The case is a good size at 36mm across, excluding the correct Omega signed crown, 37mm from top to bottom. 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 xxx, along with Swiss Geneva 18ct hallmarks dating this watch correctly to xxxx.

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

The Strap & Buckle

A high quality black leather strap has been fitted with a gold-plated Omega buckle. We feel this finishes this watch perfectly, however if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please do let us know and we will do our best to oblige, free of charge. We carry Tan, Conker, Dark Brown and Black in stock in plain padded leather, crocodile skin or lizard skin. We 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 c1972.

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.