My New Daily Wearer.......deville Chronograph Cal 861

Privateday7

After some research and seeking for advice : http://omegaforums.net/threads/1985-omega-chronograph-caliber-861-what-do-you-think.5754/, I decided to take this Deville Prestige Chronograph cal 861and make it as new addition to my daily wearer.

First Impression:
This Deville Prestige chronograph cal 861 ref 145.0050 is produced since 1993 according to Omega database. There is no mistake, this is a dress watch. The chronograph functionality does not change that. No sporty image come out from the watch.

The case
The round stainless steel case with short straight lugs has simple yet elegant traditional look. There were two tone (SS/YG) and 18k solid gold available,too. It measures 36 mm without lugs and 45mm with lugs. The watch looks bigger than its size suggest due to its thin bezel.
The case height is 12 mm and it looks thinner because the case back is slightly domed. In the outer caseback Omega script and logo is carved along with the watch serial number. The watch comes with either leather strap or bracelet. Mine is leather strap option which I just changed it to non-original black leather strap to give contrast with its silver dial.
The watch wears comfortably and firmly in my wrist. Partially because the smaller size of the case. Bigger case usually slide around my wrist (My PO XL comes to mind) and makes me tired from frequent adjustment needed. The other reason is because the slightly domed case back. It give sufficient pressure to wrist without hurting.

The dial
I got silver dial version. According to Omega Database this is the most uncommon with only 10% of the production. The 60% is white and 30% is black.
The lay out is classic tri counters of 861 family chronograph. It has very simple and clean design. No fancy hour markers. No date. Even there is no Deville script on it, just applied logo and Omega script. I must admit the simplicity of the dial design really attracted me at the first place.
Some people has difficulties reading silver hands and markers on silver dial, especially in bright light. Fortunately I don't encounter that problem. Reading in the dark is another matter. Without any lume presence, trying to read the watch in the dark is almost useless.

The movement
Second factor that attracted me to this watch is its movement. It has the famous Speedmaster Pro moonwatch workhorse Lemania Cal 861. No further explanation needed as so many review and articles discuss and compare this movement. I think it is still one of the best movement around. Inside a 36 mm case, it looks very full. It's like stuffing V8 engine in compact car engine bay.

Having this movement means we need to wind the watch almost everyday. A routine that I found very soothing and become an addiction by itself.

Conclusion
Simple and elegant traditional design with mono silvery color in a relatively modern package driven by famous cal 861 movement workhorse makes this Deville Prestige chronograph a very promising dress watch for daily wear.