Hi

Nice watch and Its uncommon with a 2179/2 I have typically seen them with 2179/3 . Dont hold your breath on fining a replacement crown. The tub size is way oversized and finding any crown to replace it will be a challenge...

The dial on your is in great condition the lacquer used on these dials did not hold up , maybe it was not UV stable !!

enjoy it at 35 mm and a steel screwback case ...

Please keep in mind most of the 2179 we find in the wild are for civilian consumption... a small amount were purchased by the US ARMY...

@gatorcpa did research on his US basket ball watch years ago... That is in fact I introduced myself to him to correct some of his assumptions... but that is another story.

Good Hunting

Bill Sohne

 

Images are particularly grainy on my computer. But it looks pretty good to me. I think that an original crown will be difficult to find for this model.

Jules Borel says they have it:

http://cgi.julesborel.com/cgi-bin/matcgi2?ref=\]ZETESMXo

However, I don't know if there is a difference between the crown for this watch and the ones on the "civilian" watches with different dials.

Here's mine for comparison:





No US Army on mine, but the family of the original owner said that this engraving referred to a US military basketball tournament held after WWII ended:



I never was able to prove direct provenance to my owner, only that there was a tournament held in Wiesbaden in March 1946. This watch is a Ref. 2179/5.

What Bill is referring to is that I didn't understand the differences between the Ref. 2384 (the other reference for these US Army watches with the same dial) and this Ref. 2179.

What he is saying that if it's not marked "US Army" on the back, it is probably not an issued military watch. This dial style was not exclusive to the engraved watches delivered to the US Army in 1944 and 1945.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa

 

ALSO on the OP stamping the letter are wider apart then I remember them to be... were tighter together and very lightly stamped...

2384 is also a great case style.

Best

bill

Hi
Well... actually two thoughts...

1) 2179 was a civilian model not like a WWW or a RAF 53 that was Military only. I have examples over the years that were told to dist in France , and other Countries....

2) Omega records imply that they were sold to the US

 

For @Bill Sohne's benefit, here's another Ref. 2179-2 with engraving.

http://www.classicwatch.com/asp/howtoorder.asp?Where=(Ref='rx2258')&User=76&ManCode=86&Model=U.S. Army

The heavier engravings are found on the Ref. 2384:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-194...-Manual-Watch-30T2SC-ref-2384-1-/371807848233Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network





Really nice watches,
gatorcpa

 

I believe I have a couple of crowns at home - remind me in a week and I will look for you! Here is my 2179, unfortunately no US Army markings. Out of all the ones I've owned this one has the cleanest dial.

 

Hi
Well... actually two thoughts...

1) 2179 was a civilian model not like a WWW or a RAF 53 that was Military only. I have examples over the years that were told to dist in France , and other Countries....

2) Omega records imply that they were sold to the US

HI @gatorcpa

I have to disagree, that is not heavy or deep stamping.. but the letter spacing is much tighter then the OP example.

When i get a chance will dig thru a box to find some of mine...

Best

bill

 

totally true... the 2179 is my favorite version personally.

 

Never said it was deep, just deeper than the Ref. 2179.

On those 2179's, I'll bet there are many examples that were US Army issued watches where the engraving was simply polished off.
gatorcpa