Omega

Hello Everyone.....

I was out a few nights ago and dinner topic changed from politics, to the BP oil spill. One reason or another we started to talk about watches.  They asked me what I like I told them Omega.  Out of the blue the one guy who does not wear a watch ( cell phone time guy , if you know what I mean ) , Asked " Why Omega ? "  I gave him my answer ( took a while) hahahaha....

On that Note,  there are a host of  unique collectors on this forum and I am asking this question  to everyone...

Why Omega ?  


Looking forward to reading your replies...


Good Hunting

Bill Sohne
This message has been edited by Bill Sohne on 2010-07-28 20:03:14

I'd say, even if I don't consider myself anything else than an admirer of the brand, that I like the brand for its important historical background in different backgrounds such as:

Precision : The Chronometric watches, and the Connies are a nice ambassador, indeed.

Military: The SM 300 is one of the most famous, but the Pilot watches, and the WWW are other great examples.

Diving: SM 300, CK 2913, 14 755 and so on.

Space: Do I have to name it?

Antimagnetic: Railmaster, which is a nice competitor of the Rolex Milgauss, and the ( a bit ) later JLC Geophysic.

Original and high end watches: Here, without discussion, the Tourbillon Central.

Yes, I think I love Omega for its variety, and its talent.

Take care of you, my friend.

Nicolas.

This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-28 07:52:53

Great question, Bill!

And to which I have no other answer than the fact that I grew up being exposed to their watches. From my Grandfather's Constellation (now Dad's), to an uncle's vintage Seamaster (which I now have), Omega, and it's sister brands, Tissot and Mido, have witnessed many moments and memories in my family's life.

It is because of that, that I feel a strong bond towards Omega. A bond which I hope to pass on to the future generations.

Looking forward to your reason, and everyone else's.

All the best,

Alejandro

 

Nicely said, Hermano.

Wonder what brand my daughter will like...



Best,

Nicolas

I am sure whichever brand and watch she chooses, it will be a wonderful reminder of her caring father.

And if for some reason, she doesn't like those faded, old Rolexes you have, well, you have my phone number.

Abrazo, hermano!

Alex

For the moment, she's in love with the Amvox II, the Polaris, the MMR, and the PP world Time.

It could be worst!



Best,

Nicolas

. . . they're the established manufacturer that caters to the average person. Their watches were, for most of their history, produced in-house, and they're moving back towards that ideal, so on that specific level, I would accord Omega much the same respect as Patek, Audemars, Jaeger, and Glashütte, amongst others. What differentiates Omega from the other great Houses is their devotion to creating watches for people of average means.

Omega has a history of producing movements that offer high levels of performance, winning several chronometer trials in the last century. They respect their tradition by offering service to models discontinued long ago. Their aesthetic values are, in my humble opinion, almost always tasteful. Most significant, though, is my sense that Omega has consistently offered an exceedingly high level of value to the public.

There's a subliminal diminishment of value when cost is no object. Omega's consistency in providing, year after year, watches of value is what commands my affection.

Cordially, Art

Iconic designs

Amazing history

Co-Axial Escapement

The vintage chronometers from the 60s are amazing

Omega doesn't sacrifice product for profit

Did I mention that Omega's make Rolex look cheap and are about 2/3 the cost?

I love OMEGA by several reasons:

1.- Childhood.- My mom and dad wear an OMEGA, I always admire the Omega of may dad and I love the Omega of my mom that certainly was an heritage from my grandmother to my mom...in those times, the general perception, in my environmet of my childhood, was that Rolex and Omega were the best brands, later I discover the ultra most best brands like VC, PP, JLC, IWC, but this did not change my love for Omega...as a boy (like everyone boy) I was to be an astronaut and I love more Omega! (do you know why?? hehe)...

2.- State of the Industry.- As  a mass production brand, is incredible the very well finished watches! along with Rolex.

3.- Precision. Well, a, lot about this is saided.

4.- I love all "special" models like PROPLOF (both Old and New), SM 300 military (a marvelous piece), FlightMaster, SpeedMaster, Connies, DeVilles (specially the new ones)

5.- High End.- Omega can make one of the most beautiful tourbillions with the Central Tourbillon and the movement 3612 of the Split Seconds is just amazingly finished.

6.- Omega is (for me) doing the very best steps to keep its wonderful history with the new pieces, the new calibers 8500, 8600 and 9300 are up to the challenge.

I do respect all brands of watches, many of them have true DNA and Omega is among in this group!

warm regards

Monster

If it really was as easy as making a list.....

I am not an Omega aficionado but I would say i have a simple ability to recognise one quality that pervades Omega. It's a classy watch. So many of you know the intricacies of the brand that it would make no point in repeating them...even if i knew them. But class shines through Omega. It does so in several brands..... but i would say that real class shines through in only 5 or 6. Omega is definitely one of those 6.

Classy.

i've keep my answer simple. Omega to me mean History, reliability, reputation, accuracy, quality, something for all tastes from diver to dress and space to haute horology. need i say more? everyone knows the details behind the words so i wont go into detail as its not required.

good question Bill

best

Graham

..Very good question, and very interesting topic

Omega is for me like Ford......
I grew up with my father, grandfather, older brother everybody in the family drove Fords.
The same on watches. Everybody in the family who could afford a decent watch had ONE nice Omega. Maybe two (as my grandfather) a daily beater and a nice 18k dress watch.

When I grew older, I wanted to show I could more and went for mainly AP and Rolex to say "hey, I moved on". I also scrapped the Ford cars and had some nice German brands.
But a few years back when grandfather and father died and I inherited some watches.....Omega watches...I started looking different on the brand.
To me Omega have a long and very interesting history. They have done a bunch of great calibres and are as it looks finally back again with new calibres and stunning models.
They have quality watches that Mr & Mrs Smith can actually afford.
Omega is a very good brand, and gives real value for money...
Omega have tradition and new daring design.
As a newbie to vintage, I love that the Omega prices are not completely out of my ballgame as some other brands.
I love the variation on dials made especially in the 1960...!
And a decent vintage homepage.

Well, I better stop here and let the next speaker stand up

Cheers

Hans

Variety - unmatched by any brand bar none.  I can't stress this enough - you can choose to collect from only one line - say seamaster and still have a very broad collection of watches.
Availability - possible to find very nice examples of some beautiful models at reasonable prices
History - Speedmaster, Seamaster and Constellation - three of the most iconic lines in all of watchdom.
Value - IMHO still very undervalued as far as vintage pieces go.  I don't collect for investment of course but if you have a considerable amount in the hobby, it would be nice to have some capital preservation (even if the return is only at money market rates!)

I have always been fasinated by Omegas unparalleled performance in chronometry and professional timekeeping.I am mainly collecting professional pieces, particullary the 24-ligne movements./Rikard

Hi Bill,

Many good points have been made, but for me it is the history of the brand and the timelessness of several of the designs from the 1950’s-60’s that attract me. I guess that is reflected in the few vintage Omega pieces I have collected (Constellation, Seamaster, Geneve, Speedmaster).

Andrew

Hi Bill & gang,

I'm not really an Omega freak so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Like some other fans, I agreed that Omega appeals to the mass. They seem to cover all areas in the market share with different designs, the Seamasters being their bread and butter product line.

While I do have Rolexes, from DS, SD to Kermit, it is an Omega Seamaster chronometer 600m (co-axial) that spend the most of my wrist time.

Why is it so? Simply becos it's humble. Omega to me is value for money yet it does have a rich history.

I recalled an incident when I brought a vintage seamaster for verification at SWATCH service centre and they commented it's a great timepiece compared to current lines cos the old Omegas have great movements! That is the reason why I see so many of you shared your vintage collection on this forum.

Now, I'm starting to think about current  Omega's reliabilty ( not that I had problem with ). It seems to me that Omega's move with the co-axial escapement is purely a marketing strategy rather than a break-thru. Something that Omega wants to show us they have this technology while others dont.

Perhaps it's better off for Omega to stick to their beautiful cal 1120 just like Rolex did with its cal 3135?

Just my thoughts...

 

You mention that the co-axial escapement is nothing but a marketing ploy. You could elaborate further?

I have a SM300 with co-axial movement. I am really tempted to do some 'test' to see whether the co-axial is really an added value to the watch.

Tyler

Hi Tyler,

I'm not a technical person so I'm juz expressing my view. Of course, I may be wrong.

Somewhere in this forum, there are some threads that share on the accuracy of the co-axial movement ( think it's related to Aqua Terra ).

From my knowing, the co-axial movements are running at a slower rate of 25,200 BPH compared to the traditional movements of 28,800 BPH. If I understand it correctly, shouldnt a movement running at higher BPH be more accurate? Even if you argue that they are certified chronometer by COSC that has an accuracy of -4/+6 secs per day, then where does Grand Seiko stands which is running at -2/+5 secs per day?

In addition, a slower beating movement also means that its second hand is ticking less smoothly. If you work it out, it's ticking 1 time less per sec. So why is it that co-axial can't be adjusted to run at 28,800BPH? Is it becos to accomodate their claim that all co-axials can withstand wear and tear over a longer interval or is it becos the movement simply can live up to the bar?

I hope your "test" will shed some light for me...

Happy Weekend!

Thanks for starting an interesting thread. This is a topic I like to revisit once in a while.

Ruckdee

Omega was my first nice watch that I bought myself after 3 months working out of school.  At that time, I didn't feel that I was worthy of a Rolex and the PPs, APs, VC, JLC, PAMs were not on my radar (ignorance is bliss for the bank account).  I still wear my Speedmaster Reduced as its simply low profile, comfortable and accurate, 15 years later. 

Why the Omega over say RADO?  Just like you all, I grew up with the brand.  Back in the 50-60's Omegas and Rolex were quality timepieces. 
I wanted an Omega just like my dad and uncle who worked in a professional setting.  I gave my GF who later became my wife an Connie and I received a matching one as my wedding present. 

Great discussions you all!  Very enjoyable. 

Omega has the unbroken history, including its ups and downs, that some other marques try to invent (Blancpain comes to mind).

Omega has more information (readily) available to the vintage collector than any other brand. 

Omega has name recognition and a reputation for quality and "value for money".

But most of all, I simply like their watches and enjoy wearing them. 

..and is waving his hand like crazy!  I had an Aunt, my Tante Marie-Angel, who worked for Omega (PR, I think) back in the Fifties through early Eighties (1950, etc., of course!), so it was part of my family (I am half-Swiss, vive les Valaisans et la petite ville de Orsiere).  One of my first watches was an Omega Seamaster Cosmic in 1968, when I was 14, the one with the solid back, which I destroyed because everything fell out of the front of the watch!  And, of course, Omega Speedy was the first watch on a spacewalk, on the moon (external to the spacesuit), and on and on.  And I own and wear a Seamaster Aqua Terra today (with the 2500C movement), which I like, and they're less expensive than a Rolex and just as good (ok, Rolex-heads may disagree, whatever!).  Now my hand is down.  Enjoy, HAGWE!   =:^D

... and I also really like their logo which reminds me constantly of some math I used to do. I guess that is prett superficial but the two combined give me a lot of pleasure.

Best

Andreas

Although Omega is not alone in this (I like the year and quarters engraved on Rolex as well), I like the fact the fact that movement serial numbers allow one to fairly accurately date a particular vintage watch. Adds to the fun of collecting.

Andrew

No one else does it as well.

As said many times already, Omega offers great looking watches that are affordable.  One of my first nice watches is an entry level Omega that my wife bought me for my birthday.  Being young at the time without the financial means I have today, having that beautiful gold piece on my wrist was very exciting.  Its classic look still holds up today, and I still love wearing it.  As it also has sentimental value, I will never part with it until I pass it on to a family member.

Stewart

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Great brand that I like from the logo to the moon :0)

Best buy Swiss made "serious" watch by far charged with history

and dedication to what we all love and live here ... horology

For me it also has sentimental value because my wife’s belated aunt that I loved very much

left me Omega Geneve and most of all Omega for me because Speedmaster is THE piece that brought me

to this world of watches and this forum in the end.. so thank you Omega

Best

Damian

P.S. Congrats on 1000th post

 

i have about 10 speedmasters.

i mainly collect speedies but mostly, actually all but one, are from the 70s and 80s. collect mostly cal 861s and lemania collaborated 1041s. why 70s...becoz these watches are robust and there is a sense of history and romance about them, before the modern day marketing depts crank up their marketing machines. strangely, the present day marketing efforst might lead current production to become collectables 20-30 years fm now!! but the chief reason is my grandfather left one behind, a retirement present from the company he worked for over 30 years in a production line, which was passed to my uncle who is childless and decided that i should have it.

 

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