Since pocket watches are not my expertise, would be most grateful if anyone can shed some light on this piece in terms of age, movement, rarity and valuation (i.e., $$), etc.. Many thanks. Ronnie
Yes, other pics show the bezel. The workmanship is stunning - beautifully bevelled and polished plates and bridges and pristine for a piece that was produced in about 1907. The only other example in this condition that I've seen was during the Omegamania auction. Specialist pocket chronograph collectors go for these Ronnie, and this one is quite special becaus of its condition. Cheers Desmond
Hi, Beautiful Watch! I'm not in Pocket watches so I will not risk an assessment of its current value, but I can tell that it costed 2230 Francs with silver case (I don't have the price in gold case...) in 1925 : Want to have a look at the instructions for use (this one is for an earlier model, with 15mn subdial BTW):
Would be most grateful if someone could please explain what "CALCULE SUR 1000 METRES" means on the bottom of the dial? This translates to "calculated to 1000 metres" - how does this have anything to do with time and a stop watch function ?
More modern chronographs had telemeters calibrated by kilometers (1,000 meters) also. See the red scale on this watch. Basically you're supposed to measure the time between seeing an object and hearing it (like lightning/thunder or a jet). That will give you the distance in kilometers. Hope this helps, gatorcpa
Dear Forum members and especially gatorcpa I recently received an "Extract of the Archives" certificate for this pocket watch which states "Omega 18 LOPB CHRO (manual winding chronograph/stop watch), Model "Lepine", 14K gold" Unfortunately the Omega Extract which provides me with very little information to determine really what this piece is and what it was used for? For instance, the Extract process does not allow me to provide a photo the dial -- so I don't really understand what each of the various outer registers accomplishes. Also, the dial at the bottom has 'Calcule sur 1000 metres'/what does this mean? gatorcpa responded earlier and I think he is on the right track but I am not certain. The rest of the Extract includes the movement serial number as 5.667.466. The case serial number is 6.454.317. The watch reference number is: KOL 141 LV -- Production April 23, 1929 and delivered to Poland. I would really be interested if someone can provide a nice concise paragraph as to what this piece is? Is it a tachymeter chronograph or perhaps a chronostop -- it has both stop watch and watch characteristics. Thanks to all Ronnie
Tire-comedon posted an old Omega ad above with some more clues. It shows this dial and says it is for "courses, sports, etc." This means it is designed for racing and sports. The stopwatch function can be used for sports like soccer. gatorcpa
The numbered scales are effectively one continuous scale that unwinds like a flat spring. Say you were in a car travelling over a measured kilometre - if it took 15 seconds, the black numbers tell you that you are doing 240 km/h (1 km divided by 15 seconds times 3600 seconds in an hour) If it took 1 minute 15 seconds (75 seconds) the red numbers tell you you are doing 48 km/h (1 divided by 75 times 3600) If it took two minutes 15 seconds (135 seconds) the blue numbers tell you that you are doing 26.66 km/h (1 divided by 135 times 3600)