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  1. cristos71 Jul 28, 2013

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    I was curious about the "Swiss Made" generally seen under the 6 o'clock marker, when was this introduced?

    On the very early Omega wristwatches I have sometimes seen that this isn't there, is that then a guarantee of a redial or is it the case that the earlier the watch the more chance there is of a non "Swiss Made" but original dial?

    Chris
     
  2. John R Smith Jul 28, 2013

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    Not forgetting that you can also have "Fab Suisse" or just "Swiss" as well. Be nice to know just how and when these changes happen . . .
     
  3. MSNWatch Vintage Omega Aficionado Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    As far as vintage omegas are concerned, the late 1930s to early to mid 1940s was the transition as progressively more and more watches were marked swiss made (or swiss depending on the market). I would say by the late 1940s this marking was pretty much standard.
     
  4. ulackfocus Jul 28, 2013

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    Taking a guess here. I think SWISS started in the 40's when a large amount of gold cases were made in the US to house Swiss movements. Could be earlier in the 30's, but not on all watches. Before then, there might have been no writing on the dial denoting where it was made.
     
  5. cicindela Steve @ ΩF Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    A common redialing mistake is adding Swiss made to early forty's and thirty's watches.
     
  6. cristos71 Jul 28, 2013

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    Sorry, I should have been clearer, I meant all of the above.

    Do you have any scans of genuine non "Swiss Made, etc" dials from this period for reference? It would be very interesting to see if there are any dials out there from the transitional period identical but for the one having the "Swiss" marking and the other not.
     
  7. John R Smith Jul 28, 2013

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    Hmmm. I am not at all sure about this. So far, most of the inter-war years Omegas which I can find good pictures of do in fact have "Swiss Made" in the usual 6 o'clock position.

    Like this 1927 white gold example -

    1927 Omega.jpg

    Or this 1930s yellow gold one with enamel dial -

    1930s Omega 2.jpg

    And there are quite a few more, but you get the point. It seems unlikely that they can all be re-dials.

    John
     
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  8. MSNWatch Vintage Omega Aficionado Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    The period I pointed out was a transition when an increasing percentage of the omega dials had swiss made on it rather than not. But even earlier there were dials that had swiss made printed - more so for pocketwatches than wristwatches.

    The 1927 omega you cite is a redial while the second one is not.

    And yes I and others have many examples of early dials without swiss made printed - the assessment of whether it is an original dial or not depends on several factors with this being just one.
     
  9. cicindela Steve @ ΩF Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    Here's a couple of one style dial on 2 watches from the interwar years.
    479388382_o.jpg MIKE 5_z.jpg
     
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  10. John R Smith Jul 28, 2013

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    And here's another English (Dennison cased) Omega from ca 1932 -

    1932 Omega.jpg

    Again enamel-dialled, and with the "Swiss Made" script. I wonder if there were different conventions according to the country of destination? So perhaps the USA might be different form the UK, or France or Germany different again?

    John
     
  11. mac_omega Jul 28, 2013

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    The majority of my watches with Cal. 30, 30 T1, 30 T2, - and there are several of them - lack the words swiss or swiss made.
    They are from end of 30ies (Cal 30) and through 40ies (the other Cal. 30 iterations).

    IMHO there is absolutely no rule on this subject to unveil a repainted dial by the lack or presence of this script!
     
  12. cristos71 Jul 28, 2013

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    I would imagine that there must still be a cut off point after which all produced dials were signed "Swiss" etc.

    All of my Omega watches are post 1945 but as I am becoming more interested in the earlier references this information becomes more and more relevant before I take the plunge
     
  13. mac_omega Jul 28, 2013

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    I do not think so - I believe there is no "cut off point" as you call it - the change was gradually - you can even find 30 T2 Rg chronometers without the "swiss" script - it depended on the dial design, whether it was appropriate or not to print this additional script, also depended on the left space to do so.
     
  14. adam78 Adam @ ΩF Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    Here are a few of mine with and without "SWISS MADE" from the '30s-40s.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And from slightly before!

    [​IMG]
     
  15. MSNWatch Vintage Omega Aficionado Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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    If trying to find out a date you can use as a cut-off, a safe year would probably be 1950 - don't recall seeing an original vintage omega dial without the swiss made (or swiss) printing. That being said, this for me is one of the least helpful points in determining whether the dial is original or a repaint - in fact I would say 95% of the time, I have formed an opinion about the dial without even considering this point.
     
  16. cristos71 Jul 28, 2013

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    Thanks, these are great examples

    !950 sounds a good safe date and I totally agree that the dial being signed swiss made is not proof of an original dial, I learnt that quickly and of course the hard way!
     
  17. MMMD unaffiliated curmudgeonly absurdist & polyologist Jul 28, 2013

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    How 'bout we say 1950ish? :)

    [​IMG]
     
  18. UncleBuck understands the decision making hierarchy Jul 28, 2013

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    Dibs!!!!!! That white gold one gets me!
     
  19. ulackfocus Jul 28, 2013

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    That's really strange. Never seen one without SWISS on the left and MADE on the right side of the subdial.
     
  20. cicindela Steve @ ΩF Staff Member Jul 28, 2013

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