Hello, A Japanese colleague of mine has sent a rather strange 'Omega' for me to look at, was wondering if anyone here has much experience with the history of frankens. Picture of the watch in question: I'm sure we can tell what this watch is trying to be, but is having some issues along the way: Inside... not much better: ...the caseback (with that stamp): So, what is this thing? I have read that Omega for a while used to ship out only movements, to have the cases manufactured in the destination country in order to avoid import tariffs, but can someone please confirm my suspicions that I am looking at a custom 320 case manufactured outside of Omega? I can't find any reference to such a case design, and although the lugs feel mildly reminiscent of a BA 141.0009 (albeit in a different metal) - the main housing looks quite alien to me. Grateful for any insight here. Kind regards, M
Not a custom case, but a case made in Argentina by a company under license granted by Omega. The case references on the official Omega site are generally for Swiss made cases. Different reference numbers were used in other countries. This is just the way it was done back then. gatorcpa
Thank you for your prompt reply - that is very interesting. As for the difference in shape - do you think they were given a certain degree of freedom in regards to case design? M
For the most part, yes. Obviously, the design had to conform to the dimensions of the movement. gatorcpa
They were given too much freedom really, which is why South American cases are considered less desirable than their Swiss equivalents. The question "How can we make this case bigger but use less gold in the process" seems to have crossed their minds when designing them.