G99's 1964 Birth Year Omega Collection

G99 celebrates his 5000th forum post by sharing a deeply personal collection of watches, all born in his birth year, 1964. This article delves into his philosophy of collecting vintage pieces with horological or historical significance, focusing primarily on Omega watches from that pivotal year.

this is my 5000th post in 2 1/2 years. I hope that most of my posts have been of interest or have contained a constructive comment as that is my main aim, to learn from others and to pass on the knowledge i have. For this milestone i wanted to do something special, something meaningful to me and for a long time people have been asking me to do this post so here it is.

The pieces i am about to share with you are very close to my heart for 1 reason, they were all made the same year that my heart started beating independently as i emerged kicking and screaming into the world. That year was 1964. A very good year looking at the calibre of members we have who were born the same year. Our esteemed JLC moderator Nicolas (Amanico), Al Archer (1440), AndrewD, our esteemed Omega Moderator Bill Sohne.........and then there's me, there is an exception to every rule          if i have forgotten anyone i apologize profusely, please make yourselves known as i would be interested to know how many of us '64 dragons there are. the reason being is that it is supposed to be one of the 'baby boomer' years with a very high birth rate.

I hope that i can give a good reason for owning every piece other than the fact that it was made in 1964. Since i purchased the first piece i have tried to buy pieces that have some horological or historic significance and think i have succeeded. I wont buy a piece just because it is from the right year. That, i believe, would be pointless. You will find that the majority are Omega's and the reasons for that a several. Firstly Omega's are what i know best, secondly, they are easier to date than most vintage pieces and thirdly, Omega were at the top of their game in the 1960's so the pieces are of good quality without being over priced if you know where to look. The information given in this post is only what i understand to be correct from reading books and searching the interweb. If it is incorrect i apologize in advance. 

The pictures i've taken arent brilliant and dont involve lots of macro shots for the simple reason that these watches have all been shown before and this post is about the reasons for buying and owning them, not the condition they are in.

Ok, lets start with the first picture which shows 3 chronographs. 

They are all Omega/lemania calibre 321's, a movement with a huge history in the Omega brand. On the left is a Speedmaster 105.003-64, the last of the round cased models and the same model worn by Ed White when he did has spacewalk in 1965 and  when he was tragically killed in the Apollo 1 disaster. It is not the first watch from 1964 that i bought, but it is the first that i knowingly bought from that year. More on that later............ On the right of the picture is a Speedmaster 105.012-64. This is the first of the assymetric cased Speedmasters and one of the earlier examples of a 'professional' dial. When i initially found it and checked with information in the Omega books i thought it was one of the very earliest examples, but several earlier examples have come to light since i purchased it. That just shows how reliable the books on Omega vintage pieces are (not). Both these Speedmasters are iconic and historic pieces so have a firm place in my collection.............. The piece is the middle has the same movement as the Speedmasters, but has a totally different character. The Seamaster 321 chronograph is far less common than the Speedmaster, is quite obviously smaller and has a less sporty look. It has an equally important place in the collection as the Seamaster was, and still is, a trademark model in the Omega lineup and the chronographs, which started long before this one, continue to be very popular.

The next pic is of 3 Omega Seamaster 300's.

As i've already mentioned, the Seamaster is a trademark model in the Omega range and the Seamaster 300 (SM300) is the starting point for their diving watches, a model theme which is ongoing with the Seamaster professional 300m, the Planet Ocean and even the Ploprof. An interesting point is that with the early SM300's the '300' does not mean 300m, it is only 200m WR and the '300' indicates the position this watch was placed within the range. Quite how this works out i'm not sure, but thats what they say  .....................The piece on the left, an SM300 165.014-64 is the last of the round cased Seamasters with the thin bezel. A very hard watch to find in good condition as they werent made in huge numbers and most appeared to have been used for their correct purpose. The Speedmaster and Seamaster have a lot in common with the case shapes being the same and changing at approximately the same time................... The watch in the middle is an SM300 165.024-64. This is the model where the case changed to an assymetric one with crown guard and non screwdown crown. The cork crown stem gaskets work on pressure so the deeper you went the more waterproof the watch became. Very clever, but does that mean they let water in when your in shallow water?? one day i'll find out .................The watch on the right is an identical model to the middle one, but i purchased it very cheap it pretty poor condition and had it refurbished. Some could say that there is no need to have 2 the same, but i wanted to own a vintage piece that i could use as a daily watch knowing it was water proof. My watchmaker only tested it to a true 30m, but i dont believe i'll ever go that deep so no need for a full 200m test. The SM300 is a good competitor to the Rolex Submariner, they were used by the military and were the first serious diving watches Omega made. A watch that deserves to be in this collection i think. Beware, they are heavily faked.

The four watches below may look very similar, but they are actually very different as i hope i'll demonstrate.

The watch on the left is a Seamaster 30 with a handwind 286 calibre movement. the '30' indicates that the movement is from the 30mm range which first came into production with, i believe, the 30T2. This was used extensively by the military during WW2 and its chronometer grade variant, the 30T2Rg is extremely desirable and getting ever more so by the day. I think the 286 was one of the last 30mm movements before they moved on to the 'next in line'.................. The 'next in line' is a Seamaster 600 with a handwind 601 calibre movement. You've probably guessed what the '600' stands for (not 600m as one seller tried to claim several years ago). The 6xx range of movements is a progression from the 30mm movements and are effectively a handwind variant of the 5xx automatic calibres............................. The third piece is a Seamaster De Ville with a 560 calibre automatic movement. The Seamaster De Ville name was actually coined by Norman Morris, the US importer for Omega and eventually, in 1967, the Deville became a 'dress' model all on its own. This Seamaster model was the first to come with a monocoque case where access to the movement could only be made by removing the plexiglass. This made it far more water resistant than other models and it was extremely popular. The 560 movement was made specifically for the US market. It had only 17 jewels instead of the 20-24 in other 5xx calibres to lessen the import taxes imposed by the US government. Only 3000 of these movements were made and 10 different case variants have been identified with only a couple being cased in switzerland. This is one of those models. All the others were cased by Norman Morris in the US.......................The final watch in the picture is, surprisingly, not a Seamaster. it is a Constellation with a 561 calibre inside. The Constellation was the top of the Omega range and at the time all of the movements were certified chronometers as this one is. For anyone who likes Omega's the Constellation is one near the top of the wish list........I think you will agree that all 4 of these watches have a place in this collection as they show a progression of the Omega brand from movements based on designs from the 40's too the 60's.

You'll be very pleased to know that that is the end of the Omega's so you can wake up now and carry on reading. The following three watches are Seiko's.

On the left we have the Tokyo Olympics 1 button chronograph. It is fitted with a handwound 60 second chronograph movement, the first chronograph ever made by Seiko for the first Olympics Seiko had the privilege of timing.................... The one in the middle is a King Seiko with a handwound movement. It was actually the very first watch from '64 i purchased, but i didnt realise it until i found out how to date Seiko's. Its funny how things work out. King Seiko's of this period were of very high quality, but not quite as good as Grand Seiko. This watch, despite its age, only shows a 1 second deviation after 3 days which i find amazing..................... The watch on the right is one that i possibly didnt need to buy. It is a basic 17 jewel handwound movement, but i purchased it for only $36 inclusive of shipping to show that you can buy a decent watch for virtually nothing and the quality of workmanship that went into even the most basic of watches. Remember that all Seiko watches are made totally in-house, not something you can say about many swiss brands even in 1964.

Now we come to the final 2 watches in this collection.

On the left is a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Superlative Chronometer. I've been educated over the last couple of years and now know that Rolex make extremely good watches so to have one in this collection was a 'must'. It might be a simple time only automatic chronometer with some bubbling on the dial, but it is a well built accurate timepiece that i am proud to own...................... The very last watch is a Universal Geneve Polerouter. The Polerouter was chosen by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) as the watch pilots would wear when they flew the quick route from Europe to the US over the north pole. It is also one of the few brands fitted with a microtor automatic movement, another horological innovation still used today by some of the top brands. This movement isnt the first microtor, but is developed from that first calibre. An early microtor watch has, i think, a place in any vintage collection especially one that is year specific.

Well thats it folks. 15 watches all from 1964, a year very dear to me. I wear all of these watches on a regular basis and enjoy every one of them. I hope you will agree that they all have a place in this collection either because of their horological or historic significance........... or just because i like them

This year specific themed collection is not finished. I dont think there are any (many) more Omega's i can add to it, but there are many other brands that i still have to investigate.

I am proud to be a member of this forum, proud of the friends i have made and proud to have reached this milestone.

enjoy

Graham