Omega

Some more thoughts...

 

IMHO most of the "red star ornated" watches (I guess more than 99%) do not mean it is a "Chronometer". In my understanding the red star on the dial was just a marketing tool in the journal ADs to show potential buyers that the watch houses a movement out of the famous 30mm family - a movement which is one of the world´s best movements - as was proved at the Teddington observatory... I am sure there are very few "Observatory movements" which had participated at Teddington competition (I have read about 4 of them in the year 1940!). Most of the watches (or expressed more precisely: movements) later on participated only at the observatories of Neuchatel and Geneve as can be tracked from publications. For this purpose they have not been in wristwatch cases but in special aluminum "boxes" which allowed to regulate them in different positions more easily than in an ordinary wrist watch cases!

Observatory competition box

Observatory competition movement without any “Rg” device. Source: "Ein legendäres Werk - Das 30-Millimeter Kaliber von Omega" out of the journal "Klassik Uhren" 3/97 Most of these competition movements were not only used for a single competition but one and the same movement for several competitions over the next following years! There have been only VERY view of these movements which were encased into real watch cases to leave the factory for sale - I doubt if any... Most of them were kept in the factory and may be found in the Omega museum in Bienne now. And an important detail: These (watches) movements did not even have a "Rg" adjustment device and no "Chronometre" inscription on the dial as they were only "tools" for winning a competition and not designed to be sold! So what is a "Teddington" watch??? Is it a watch that really participated at the Teddington competition? Or is it a watch with a red (or golden) star on dial? Should these be chronometer rated watches? I think the red star was just to commemorate the great result of Omega at the Teddington competition and this fact was used for public relation for several years after 1940! A watch with red or gold star on the dial need not be a chronometer. There are early Omega chronometers without "Rg" and even without "Chronometre" wording on the dial (most have at least the word Chronometre on dial, as Ref. 2254 does), but they are extremely rare and can only be confirmed by the Omega archive in the museum in Bienne. If all the "hints" like the "chronometre" word on the dial and the "Rg" and the polished crown- and ratchet wheels of the movement are absent - how can you find out it is a chronometer? Only Omega could do... You can not ask Omega for every single 30mm watch if it was a chronometer or not as there are millions... Just my 2 (euro) cents ......... have a nice weekend! - best - erich This message has been edited by mac_omega on 2008-09-13 05:35:55