Pre World War 1 Very Early Omega Wristwatches

Hello,

There seems to be a rash of these on eBay at the moment. Details of 3 below. They all seem to have similar cases, made out of base metal with gold coloured highlights around the inner rim of the bezel and the lip to open the case back. The inners tend to be blackened by some sort of oxidisation process and I wonder if the whole watch was once like this as it seems unusual to make the case from a base metal unless there was originally a reason like this blackening process.

They are very similar to @Raymondo5508 cases shown here https://omegaforums.net/threads/early-1903-omega-wristwatch.98682/page-2

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-Of-F...amel-Steel-Case-Orig-Cond-ca1900/264973810024



This one is labelled L's Henri Brandt.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ls-Henri...Fonds-Military-Rare-Trench-Watch/274720196475


And this one appears to have been chrome plated at some point but you can still make out the original finish.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OMEGA-Watch-Trench-Military-WW1-cca-1914/164757110196

What do people think, do they look like early wristwatches or are they converted fob watches, I haven't seen this sort of finish before do you think it was deliberate? Black with gold highlights makes sense.

Thanks. Carl.

The reason I am particularly interested is because I have the watch below. It is by the General Watch Co, at this time also owned but the Brandt brothers, and has all the same characteristics.

(Since posting this I have spoken to David Boettcher who pointed me towards this page on his excellent site which explains how the finish was created. https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/watchcases.php#blacksteel It's interesting that it seems to have been the finish deliberately chosen for Louis Brandt & Frere for their early wristwatches, almost all the earliest ones I have seen have this finish.)

I have owned the watch for a year or so but it is only recently that I have managed to put dating evidence together from other sources and I now believe I can date this watch to 1904/1905.

Does anybody know if the Omega museum has any information on the earlier brands of the Brandt brothers?



Thanks. Carl.