Hello All from Madrid, Spain! I am new here. First of all thanks for the welcome, and for a most informative and interesting forum. There are some fantastic watches in here and the advice is quite good. I have enjoyed browsing for some time, and finally decided to join and share my Omega story. I also hope I can contribute what little knowledge I may have and participate in discussions. I have been a fan of quality watches for most of my life. Some time ago I decided to get my own Seamaster watch. It is a style of watches I fancied for a long time so I finally got the one I liked. I love the look and feel of the watch, and use it as my everyday watch. I have other watches, some that may be considered good watches, but still prefer the Seamaster and wear it almost every day. Now for the vintage Omega story. On my wedding day, my aunt presented me with an Omega vintage watch. It is an automatic with solid gold case that had belonged to my grandfather who had died some years before. The strange thing is that the watch came with the gold brick bracelet of a Constellation Grand Luxe. The watch has very nice look to it, and I like it that is small, especially when compared with my Seamaster. I thought the gold brick bracelet was a little too much to wear every day, so I had the watch serviced, put a leather bracelet on it, and wear it as a dress watch every now and then. I assumed that maybe my grandfather initially bought the gold case watch with a leather bracelet, and then when he had the money for it, bought a gold bracelet (in this case a Grand Luxe bracelet) and attached it to the first case. You will see later that my assumption was not completely correct. It was my first introduction to vintage watches more than 10 years ago, and with the help of some people like Desmond and my local watchmaker I was able to find out more about the watch. I have since traced the serial number to 1946, and is a 28.10 RA with bumper automatic caliber. I hung on to the Grand Luxe bracelet in case the circumstances allowed me to buy a vintage Constellation by myself. I searched forums and auctions, but I had other priorities then, and the urgency to complete the Grand Luxe faded away. Well, several years passed, and for my birthday last month, my father told me he had a watch from my grandfather that he had held on to since he died, and he wanted me to have it. When I showed up at his place he presented to me a beautiful gold Constellation Grand Luxe on a leather bracelet. Now the pieces fell into place. My grandfather had indeed bought the full Grand Luxe, but apparently in the typical confusion after his death his watch pieces got separated, some going to my aunt, some to my father, and were now finally appearing together. My father explained that he was not surprised that my grandfather liked Omegas, because my grandfather made his living working in the electricity business, and the Omega sign is the symbol for electrical resistance. He created an electrical installations company in the 1930s, and the company logo had my grandfather’s initials under an Omega sign. I will now have the Constellation serviced and will try to trace the history of the watch, as it is also a part of my family history. I think I will keep it on a leather bracelet most of the time, and will use with the gold brick bracelet for special occasions. For the future, I hope to slowly build on my own watch collection, and will try to add some more new and vintage watches as money allows. Best regards Julian
Really nice story :') and beautiful grand luxe piece. I hate it when someone's first watch trumps your whole collection. Haha.
Welcome @JBDinMad, and thanks for sharing tour family pieces. Enjoy your Omega journey. What are thoughts on the next piece. Something contemporary or vintage? Pat
Holy crap! As I read your post and scrolled further and further down I felt sad for you. And then your Father just goes "Oh, by the way, here's a watch from my father that I'm passing down to you". What a great post .
Wow - great story on that Grand Luxe - stepped dial GL's are some of the coolest connies - congrats In regard to the bracelet - is the build on locks on the sides of the clasp due to extra security, or due to the original spring loaded mechanism being out of function? Also, did your grandfather have the lugs modified to carry straps, or does the lugs still look like this: Just curious
Hi again, Tapatpat, I think the next one should be a contemporary watch. A dressy De Ville would really be nice. I would like to build a small but good collection. Something I can wear and enjoy myself, but also that I can pass onto my son, and even let him wear them as much as he likes. I think watches ought to be worn as much as possible. I will be tricky because I will have to negotiate with my wife. I am already negotiating with her on other topics such as getting a new motorcycle, so it will require a lot of good negotiation. But you know, in these cases I always get to say the last words: "Whatever you say, darling." Pahawi, Those were good questions, as I never looked at that level of detail before. Regarding the clasp, the locks seem to be added security, as the normal pressure closing mechanism seems to work OK (see pictures). regarding the lugs, I think they were not modified as they look very much like your picture: Thanks to all the comments, and best regards.
My first really Good watch was an Omega which I still have and love and the first watch I bought with my own money was a Seiko Analog/Digital I still have that to and removed the battery long ago.