Omega Chronostop - Stopwatch for the Wrist

While the reason for this site is to pay homage to Omega Constellations of the 1950s and 60s, which I believe to be some of the best production watches ever made, I receive a constant stream of correspondence from visitors asking questions about other iconic Omega models of the time.

If questions go beyond that of a trickle and there are no other sites dedicated to a particular collection, I customarily knock up an essay to fill the void. Such was the case with the Omega Chronostop, a particularly charming fusion of design and function from the 1960s.

As I was gathering pictures of different examples of this model, I happened upon Steve Waddington’s excellent Omega vintage resource and discovered that he had already done the job!

Under the title, ‘Omega Chronstop Wrist Watches’, Steve’s essay reviews comprehensively, in both words and pictures, the breadth of this elegantly designed stopwatch for the wrist. Click here to view it.

The value of Omega Chronostops has risen quite markedly over the past two to three years, particularly for examples that feature the ‘Drivers Dial’ and retain their original finish. The 'drivers' models were designed to be worn on the underside of the wrist, and they most certainly deserve a place in any collection of 1960s Omega tool watches.

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A Story About an Original Black Dial Constellation

Calibre 504 Omega 18k gold Constellations aren't all that common, only 25000 pieces having been produced across a range of metals and dials. Black dialled calibre 504 models are in a different league altogether, with less than a thousand believed to have been manufactured.

Generally in the 1950s, black dialled models were a ‘special order’ watch and so, today, with the resurgence of interest in, and popularity of, black dialled Constellations from the nineteen-fifties and sixties, serious collectors hanker to have an example in their collections.

I received an email from John Hardy who appears to have won the trifecta!!! John reports:

"Although I was very inexperienced with buying watches, I had always wanted a gold “Constellation” and having had since I was 17 a Speedmaster Professional (1970), when I saw this watch with its “black face” I had to try for it and I was lucky enough to succeed.!"

John continues, "" I spent some time on your excellent web site and became satisfied it was real. Sometime after receiving it, the seller sent me the watch’s original watch box, Certificate of Chronometre and original purchase documents, being receipt and guarantee showing a purchase date of 2/9/1959. It still has the original sheets of carbon paper showing the type writer imprints between the pages! The seller says the old gentleman who was the previous and original owner brought them in after the sale and “thought I might like them” and they then sent them on to me as a gift!""

What a superb eBay story. I hope you have a bottle of quality whiskey on the way to the original owner, John, because his generosity has probably added between 700 to 1000 dollars to the value of your purchase. Original box and papers provide watches with provenance and provenance is very important, particularly with very uncommon watches. You now have a magnificent piece, together with original box and papers. It would be charming if you could communicate with the owner and obtain some background to his purchase. It would add a wonderful touch to a piece that I hope will become an heirloom in your family.

Above are some pictures of John’s find. Click on the pictures for an enlarged view.

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Beware the Rush of Pre-Christmas Omega Vintage Fakes

Every year in the lead up to Christmas, an army of bottom feeders, parasites and other opportunistic vermin invade on-line vintage watch markets to feed off the naivete and yuletide sentiment of people wishing to acquire nice vintage watches for those who are significant in their lives.

Judging by the number of fake new watches and bogus or franken vintage pieces appearing in a range of brands, this year is hotting up to be a biggie. Yes, it’s going to be a bumper Christmas for the crims and shonks who parade their fake wares on eBay, other on-line establishments and some bricks and mortar dealerships.

Sadly, January is my biggest month for emails from either purchasers or recipients of these counterfeit monstrosities. The collective disappointment and heartache revealed in such correspondence does much to dampen my experience of this the season to be jolly and to express goodwill to all men.

And so, in self-defence, I post another warning.

The pictures of the two watches above are those of the latest fake Omega Constellations coming on to the market. The first listed on eBay by German yuletide kill-joy watchauktion24 (click here) is from a new batch of fake pink gold Constellation models coming out of Asia. Lesser Omega calibres (usually tired old bangers from Seamasters, Geneve’s and early de Villes) are married with the fake cases and dials and sold as the real thing. No Chrismas pudding for watchauktion24 this year as this seller knows exactly what he is selling – shame on you!

Here’s hoping that Santa’s reindeers collectively crap as they pass over bgm 197's house in Zachodniopomorskie, Poland for listing this fake that pretends to be a yellow gold Omega Constellation. Again, with such a history in selling watches, this merciless Pole almost certainly knows he’s going to break a heart with this piece of junk.

Please, do your research before you buy a vintage Constellation for your someone special! Read this essay I wrote on authenticating solid gold Constellations. Bone up on the movement series that powered specific Constellations and read some of the posts on cases and dials. Buy your special vintage watch with knowledge and aforethought and they’ll love you forever!!

POSTSCRIPT

I'm delighted to say that eBay finally pulled the Polish listing and Watchauktion24 voluntarily stopped his auction, for which we offer thanks.

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Cleaning and Oiling Your Vintage Watches

The issue of cleaning and oiling watches is a perennial one on most watch fora, the most frequently asked question being about service intervals. The general recommendation is that a vintage watch should be dis-assembled, cleaned and oiled every three to five years, depending on use.

The reason for keeping a vintage movement well-serviced is simple. Regularly serviced watches, particularly with quality movements such as Omega vintage calibres, rarely ever wear out. For example, I have several family Omegas now more than 50 years old and they still retain all of their original movement parts. Crowns and crystals come and go, but a good service regime will protect your watch movement well into the next generation.

Some collectors dis-assemble, clean and oil their own watches, after a long mentorship by a friendly watchmaker or a crash course through one of the on-line watch schools. I service the less valuable pieces in my collection, after having spent tens of hours practising on various Omega automatic calibre parts movements, but I wouldn't think of touching some of my more important pieces. For those I defer to the experts.

If you own a vintage watch...or two...I recommend you get to know your way around the movement, not necessarily to service or repair them, but to understand their engineering, learn some of the diagnostic basics and know when to consult a watchmaker.

A good place to start to learn how a watch is serviced is this site maintained by the Carignan Watch Company of New Hampshire where there are comprehensive resources on cleaning and oiling watches.

If you want to know the ins and outs of oiling a watch, click here for an excellent paper produced by the British Horological Institute.

If you would like to virtually dis-assemble and assemble one of the famous ETA (Swatch Group) 2892 movements, click here

Enjoy the journey!

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