This is a genuine Constellation sold in the US that does not feature the Constellation script above the star. The watch is registered in the Omega archives as:
- OMEGA - ( Constellation)
- mvt N° 14'003'114
- automatic chronometer rating mvt of cal. 354
- watch reference : KO 2652 - 14K goldcap on stainless steel case
- manufactured and delivered to USA on September 19, 1955
So why the absence of the Constellation script? Simple, albeit very unusual really. As mentioned in
this post, in the early to mid 1950s Omega Constellations were not sold in the USA or Canada because of a copyright issue surrounding the name Constellation.
The copyright issue was eventually resolved in 1956, and from that date Omega was able to release the Constelllation in North America. But, as the earlier post reveals, Norman Morris, the US importer of Omega watches at the time, imported the movements and produced dials naming them after another heavyweight in the areonautical industry - the Douglas Globemaster.
The watch you see above was delivered in its entirety to the US and it must have been quite uncommon even then because of Omega would have been considerably more expensive than its US cased Omega models because of the high tariffs imposed on fully cased watches in the US at the time The highest tariffs were circumvented by a number of leading Swiss manufactures by having the imported movements cased and dialled in America.
We know the case and dial came with the movement because of the case number 2652, one of the earliest manufactured, and the spelling of the word 'chronometre'. The case also carries the correct markings indicating its production in Switzerland.
This is indeed a good find, made even better by the watch having avoided the fate of many of the calibre 354 Globemasters: that of being re-dialled as Constellations.
My thanks to Peter Wagenaar and owner Norman Garbaccio for bringing this beautiful relic to my attention and providing the pictures.
