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jameshill51276@g
·Introduction:
I was looking for my first OMEGA watch and started looking at the latest De Ville watches. None of them suited my particular tastes and as a fan of the 1970s and 1980s aesthetic, this one stood out to me. I was originally looking at a similar watch (identical movement) but slightly newer and with a rounder case design, but the classic rectangular style of this one just spoke to me.
Technical Data:
OMEGA 1342 Movement Specs:
Description of movement:
A vintage quartz movement which was used in most OMEGA watches from 1977 to 1980. The movement is an OMEGA in house movement, before they switched to using ETA based movements. OMEGA used this movement in De Ville and Seamaster watches of the era; it remains a popular movement on the second hand market.
The movement is considered to be very reliable from what I’ve read, the stepper motor can be an issue on these as due to the age the components will inevitably fail and sourcing replacement parts such as the stepper motor can be difficult. However, due to the availability of these movements on the second hand market, this shouldn’t deter anyone from looking at any watch from this era which uses this movement.
Features of the movement:
The Case:
The case is made from stainless steel with a snap on case back. I’m unsure of the grade of stainless steel but it’s likely 316L or similar. The crown is a pusher style where the middle section contains a button to push in to set the minutes and seconds. When the crown is pulled out, the hour hand can be set. This allows for quick setting of the hour hand if changing time zones etc.
This style of watch was released with two distinctive case colours, stainless steel (silver) and a gold plated version, the latter of which came with a black leather strap.
The measurements of the case are listed above, but for a wrist like mine (6.5 inch) the watch fits really well and makes a nice change from all the 40mm and above watches in my collection.
The Dial:
This style of watch came in different dial colours: White, Silver, Black and Gold.
Depending on the year that the watch was produced, the De Ville text is also different. From the images of other watches I’ve seen, OMEGA changed the De Ville text to an italic style in around 1979 - 1980.
- 1977 watch
- 1978 watch
- 1979 watch
- 1979 watch
- 1980 watch
The quickset date window is located at the 3:00 position, with the OMEGA logo being positioned at the 12:00 position and the De Ville branding at the 6:00 position.
The hands are flat and rectangular and are black, the second hand is also black but features a silver tip. On different dial colours, OMEGA changed the colour of the hands to make it easier to read. The black dial and grey versions used silver hands, with white inserts (presumably for lume).
The Strap:
The strap is a standard mesh style bracelet which is synonymous with 1970s and 1980s watches. The strap allows for virtually unlimited adjustability and can fit a max wrist of 217mm (8.54 inch). It is easy to adjust using a standard flat head screwdriver.
The clasp features the OMEGA logo.
Wearability:
For my smaller wrist it wears very well, it’s thin and lightweight which is ideally what you want a dress watch to be. I'd say for wrists which are larger than 7 inches, this watch may feel on the smaller side, for wrists under 7 inches the watch wears really well.
Final Thoughts:
I really like this watch for its classic styling, it’s minimalist and doesn’t draw too much attention. I also really like the in-house OMEGA quartz 1342 movement, so far it’s been very accurate and reliable. Going on 48 years old, this watch still holds up today in my opinion.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this review, it’s my first go at this but just wanted to draw attention to the older vintage OMEGAs. And to also put all my research into this reference into one place. For the money, they are well worth their price and can often be found in very good condition for their age.
I was looking for my first OMEGA watch and started looking at the latest De Ville watches. None of them suited my particular tastes and as a fan of the 1970s and 1980s aesthetic, this one stood out to me. I was originally looking at a similar watch (identical movement) but slightly newer and with a rounder case design, but the classic rectangular style of this one just spoke to me.
Technical Data:
- Reference: 192.0035
- Width with crown: 36.3mm
- Width without crown: 33.8mm
- Between lugs: 20mm
- Lug to lug width: 38.7mm
- Case thickness: 8.9mm
OMEGA 1342 Movement Specs:
- Linge: 11.5”
- Jewels: 7/13 (this watch has 7 jewels)
- Frequency: 32,768 Hz
- Type: Quartz
- Period used: 1977-1980 (this watch is from 1977)
- Diameter: 25.6mm
- Height: 4.2mm
- Accuracy: -15 to +15 seconds per month
Description of movement:
A vintage quartz movement which was used in most OMEGA watches from 1977 to 1980. The movement is an OMEGA in house movement, before they switched to using ETA based movements. OMEGA used this movement in De Ville and Seamaster watches of the era; it remains a popular movement on the second hand market.
The movement is considered to be very reliable from what I’ve read, the stepper motor can be an issue on these as due to the age the components will inevitably fail and sourcing replacement parts such as the stepper motor can be difficult. However, due to the availability of these movements on the second hand market, this shouldn’t deter anyone from looking at any watch from this era which uses this movement.
Features of the movement:
- Calendar
- Central hours
- Central minutes
- Central Seconds
- Date at 3:00 position
- Date can be quickset
- Quartz controlled stepper motor
The Case:
The case is made from stainless steel with a snap on case back. I’m unsure of the grade of stainless steel but it’s likely 316L or similar. The crown is a pusher style where the middle section contains a button to push in to set the minutes and seconds. When the crown is pulled out, the hour hand can be set. This allows for quick setting of the hour hand if changing time zones etc.
This style of watch was released with two distinctive case colours, stainless steel (silver) and a gold plated version, the latter of which came with a black leather strap.
The measurements of the case are listed above, but for a wrist like mine (6.5 inch) the watch fits really well and makes a nice change from all the 40mm and above watches in my collection.
The Dial:
This style of watch came in different dial colours: White, Silver, Black and Gold.
The quickset date window is located at the 3:00 position, with the OMEGA logo being positioned at the 12:00 position and the De Ville branding at the 6:00 position.
The hands are flat and rectangular and are black, the second hand is also black but features a silver tip. On different dial colours, OMEGA changed the colour of the hands to make it easier to read. The black dial and grey versions used silver hands, with white inserts (presumably for lume).
The Strap:
The strap is a standard mesh style bracelet which is synonymous with 1970s and 1980s watches. The strap allows for virtually unlimited adjustability and can fit a max wrist of 217mm (8.54 inch). It is easy to adjust using a standard flat head screwdriver.
The clasp features the OMEGA logo.
Wearability:
For my smaller wrist it wears very well, it’s thin and lightweight which is ideally what you want a dress watch to be. I'd say for wrists which are larger than 7 inches, this watch may feel on the smaller side, for wrists under 7 inches the watch wears really well.
Final Thoughts:
I really like this watch for its classic styling, it’s minimalist and doesn’t draw too much attention. I also really like the in-house OMEGA quartz 1342 movement, so far it’s been very accurate and reliable. Going on 48 years old, this watch still holds up today in my opinion.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this review, it’s my first go at this but just wanted to draw attention to the older vintage OMEGAs. And to also put all my research into this reference into one place. For the money, they are well worth their price and can often be found in very good condition for their age.
