Language on Omega dials

Posts

303

Likes

671

kfranzk

·Sep 19, 2023

Hallo friends, some thoughts:
- Omega is the last letter in the Greek Alphabet.
- The historic manufacturing site of Omega is in Biel/Biene at the German/French language border in Switzerland.
- Allmost the whole Swiss watch craftsmen and industry speak traditionally French due to the origin in protestant French refugees to the western Switzerland. The exception is IWC, an Amercan foundation in the German speaking Schaffhausen.
- The language on Omega dials is English! One little exception: the gold mark 'OM' is the French 'Or Massiv'.
= On dials of older mostly 'De Luxe' Constellations I observe a mix: the French 'Chronometre' and the English 'Officially Certified'.
=> Is this fake or authentic?

I show two exemples (copied from the net).
I saw many but those with the 'crossed t' I assume as fakes.
Greetings Konrad

 

Posts

1,764

Likes

7,236

JimJupiter

·Sep 19, 2023

I see more exceptions, like the companies around Grenchen / Lengnau, namely Certina, Enicar, Nivada 😀

 

Posts

303

Likes

671

kfranzk

·Sep 19, 2023

JimJupiter

I see more exceptions, like the companies around Grenchen / Lengnau, namely Certina, Enicar, Nivada 😀

Grenchen/La Grange and Lengnau/Longeau
are also biligual towns, but the language in the watch factories is traditionally French. That does not mean that there are not also native German speakers.
Even when I call to Genf/Geneve, they switch easily from French to German (and English).
Konrad

Edited: Sep 19, 2023

 

Posts

7,651

Likes

21,955

Syrte

·Sep 19, 2023

JimJupiter

I see more exceptions, like the companies around Grenchen / Lengnau, namely Certina, Enicar, Nivada 😀

Exceptions to what?
-Certina was initially “Kurth Freres” (meaning Kurth brothers in French) later renamed Grana because it was in the village of Granges (also a French name), later renamed Certina which is a play on the latin word evoquing “security” or reliability.
-Enicar is the reverse of the French noun Racine (meaning root), which is also an old family name.
-As to Nivada, I’m quite sure it’s another play on a latin/ French name.

Although as Konrad says those are words that switch easily between various languages.

 

Posts

1,764

Likes

7,236

JimJupiter

·Sep 19, 2023

Exception to that everyone in the industry speaks ore spoke mainly french. At least for Enicar I know for sure that the mainly spoken language was German. I have all issues of the "Saturn" the company magazin. 90% of the articles are German, the speech to the 50th birthday by the CEO of Enicar was in German and the second location of Enicar, where they produced their movements was in Oensingen, a place were 85% of the population speeks German.

I dont wanna Highjack the post of Konrad, I just dont agree that all Swiss watch manufacturers mainly speak french.

Cheers 😀

 

Posts

3,409

Likes

13,206

MtV

·Sep 19, 2023

Double crossed ts are perfectly fine - on some specific references.

Omega used the French -re spelling of Chronometer until around 57-58 or so, then switched to -er. This happened during the production of the ref. 2852, so you can find both variants on them and it's absolutely legit.

 

Posts

303

Likes

671

kfranzk

·Sep 19, 2023

MtV

Double crossed ts are perfectly fine - on some specific references.
Omega used the French -re spelling of Chronometer until around 57-58 or so, then switched to -er. This happened during the production of the ref. 2852, so you can find both variants on them and it's absolutely legit.

Does that mean, these two exemples are legit?

 

Posts

2,948

Likes

6,126

Fallout Boy

·Sep 19, 2023

OK, let s discuss 😉


automatic is English (?) ......... Automatik (D) Automatique (F)

officially certified (Eng)

chronometre (F)

CALENDAR ( Eng)

Am I wrong?

 

Posts

6,888

Likes

12,664

SpeedyPhill

·Sep 19, 2023

chronomètre (F) 😗

 

Posts

2,948

Likes

6,126

Fallout Boy

·Sep 19, 2023

correct, but AFAIK accents not used with "lettres majuscules" like ABC

 

Posts

3,409

Likes

13,206

MtV

·Sep 19, 2023

kfranzk

Does that mean, these two exemples are legit?

The first one: Yes. Referring to the dial, that is. Overpolished, dial damage, wrong crown etc, there are issues. But the dial is original. Not 100% on the second one (2954, I suppose?) as I don't follow these at all so I can't tell if the gap between the tips of the arrowhead indices and the minute ticks is ok, but the -re spelling certainly is correct.

 

Posts

7,651

Likes

21,955

Syrte

·Sep 19, 2023

Fallout Boy

automatic (Eng)
chronometre (F) (Eng)

FIFY