And now for something diferent. Kim Il-Sung signature Omega

Ed White’s Ed White would clearly go for somewhere far north of $100k, probably closer to $250k. My guess, anyway.

What do others think? When you get in that rarified atmosphere with a unique watch, an appraisal is more speculation than anything else.

Some of these Omega watches were presented as gifts to heads of official delegations visiting Korea, dedicated heads of diplomatic missions and (perhaps) some of subordinates (about this last fact it is only my guess). Depending on the importance of the person the watch was presented in stainless steel or 18K solid gold case and bracelet.

Fun fact: These NK Constellations are the only way to get an Omega with the day wheel in Korean. So these were probably custom-ordered to Omega for the DPRK government.
As many have mentioned above, these were probably a gift to foreign dignitaries for their "brotherly friendship" and for their "loyal services"(i.e. bribes) but also to showcase the wealth of the regime. One should remember that, back then, North Korea was a comparatively "respectable" communist country, like so many others in the Eastern Bloc like Ceaucescu's Romania. (I said "comparatively")

BTW if you want to see how these interactions worked there's a good Korean spy film coming out in the US, called "the Spy Gone North". Unfortunately, the watch featured is a two-tone DJ.

And now, for something completely different: Kim's Southern counterpart Park Chung Hee also gave out watches to his followers starting in the late 70s.(copycat?) These were at first Korean-assembled Orient watches and later quartz ones, a tradition still in vogue in Korea. But these obviously are nowhere near the quality of a Constellation. Park ended up being shot by his chief of intelligence. I'm guessing they didn't like the cheap watches he was giving out.

Cheers