The Omega Pocket Watch Thread

DaveK · Nov 7, 2020

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a dedicated thread to Omega pocket watches here on the forum. If I’ve missed finding it, please let me know and I’ll revise the thread title.

I’ve seen a few of the same questions come up over time, so fun if we could share this boutique knowledge here. Some of the perennial questions seem to include: My movement isn’t signed, is it real? And, why is the dial not signed Omega? My limited experience has shown that it isn’t uncommon for a 1900s Omega pocket watch to not have a signed movement, but look close and you may see the logo on the balance cock. The serial # and other identifiers should then be on the dial side of the movement. So , interesting factoids and show and tell contributions would be nice to have here 🍿

Here is my first contribution. This c1907 19 lignes pocket watch that I am enjoying immensely 😀

Excuse the movement photo, terrible light outside today - it looks much better in person. Would a watch reasonably come back from service with the regulator this far over? I’ll have to ask my watchmaker the next time I am in.

A question that I have is, is there a caliber number for Omega watches of this era? The identifiers on the dial side of the movement (photo not available) include:

Brevet 8760. I understand that brevet means patent, so this is a patent #. I haven’t been able to find anything about the patent online
Balance bridge # 60.2
Case # 70936
Serial # 2767XXX

My watchmaker said this is a higher quality movement, but I don’t know what scale that is measured on. Any ideas?

Interesting comparison, @VintageOmegaLove, who posted his c1903 with the same brevet # and with serial # 2195XXX https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-pocket-watch-with-no-setting-lever-screw.121208/

I’m not a watchmaker, and I can only imagine the pride of wearing a watch that you’ve serviced yourself. However, as I posted this earlier on the WRUW thread, here it is being worn on a lanyard I made 🙄

View attachment 1098256

tdn-dk · Nov 7, 2020

Just sold this cal. 19, the early ones have movement serial number on the dial side

Case number 3522000, movement number 2773692 (dont have a picture of the dial side)

Canuck · Nov 7, 2020

Okay! I’ll play. I’ve shown this watch before. Many times. The founder of the watch company that became Omega was Louis Brandt. The firm was renamed Omega after his death. This is one of two Brandts that I have. The dial is marked Louis Brandt & freres as is the movement. The movement is a grade CCR with 19-jewels, patent regulator, Breguet hairspring, bi-metallic, temperature compensating balance wheel, jewelled safety barrel, adjusted for 5 positions, heat, cold, and isochronism. It was approved for use on numerous railroads in Canada, and I believe also in the USA. It is a companion to the grade CCCR model with 23-jewels. Six jewels in gold chatons. This picture was taken before the era of the mystery braid lanyard made by Dave.

Canuck · Nov 7, 2020

This is my second Brandt CCR. This one was bought as a basket case by a friend, for $25.00, in Portland, Ore., at an NAWCC mart, about 35 years ago. It had no hands, no case, and the balance staff was broken. He asked my opinion before he bought it. I was intrigued by the private label dial marked for the jeweller and watchmaker A. Logan,(circa 1905), in Greenwood, British Columbia. He bought it. Greenwood was the site of major copper mines, and was on the narrow gauge Pacific & Western railroad which hauled copper ore to Trail, B C for smelting. It was a major settlement until the price of copper plummeted, and the mines closed.

Greenwood is in the Okanagan area of BC, about 35 kms east of Osoyoos, and only a hop skip and jump from the U S border. It is a shadow of the town that it was, today. But quaint.

About 20 years later, my friend asked me if I wanted the watch. He had done nothing with it. I asked him his price. He wanted to give it to me. I told him I’d take it, but the price to him was $200.00! After some convincing, he accepted my offer. I did nothing with it either, for about 5 years. He called me one day to say he had unearthed a suitable case. That, he gave to me. The hands are wrong, the dial has damage, and I had to fabricate a balance staff for it as I was unable to locate one. Not perfect, but I like it!

OMTOM · Nov 7, 2020

DaveK
Brevet 8760. I understand that brevet means patent, so this is a patent #. I haven’t been able to find anything about the patent online

Regarding patents (the Brevet you refer to), 8760 was a Swiss patent which applies to many Omega watches from the early days – and refers to the method of stem-setting (as opposed to pin-setting or other methods that were common before and at this time).

There are different websites which will help, but here’s one that I use:
http://depatisnet.dpma.de/

And this may be an easier way in:
https://depatisnet.dpma.de/DepatisNet/depatisnet?action=einsteiger

Because it’s a Swiss patent, enter ‘CH8760’ into the ‘publication field’.

The watch you show has an Omega movement and dial but is not an Omega case: it will have been cased locally after delivery (to US?). The movement is fairly standard – with decoration that was typical for US exports, because that’s what was expected there: movements for most markets were not ‘decorated’ like this.

The calibre looks like a 19’’’LOB (the L stands for Lépine – ‘open face’, the O is for Omega – the company provided other brands, the B is the grade/quality – see comments from Canuck who shows a CCCR).

Your guess of 1907 is reasonable – but it could easily be 1903: judging the year by the movement number is not possible: movements were made in batches and used over a range of (sometimes many) years. In this period, Omega watches were listed/dated according to the Omega case number (that’s what’s in the Omega Archive).

I would not be surprised by the regulator setting (within a ‘normal’ range).

It looks a lovely gold pocket watch – and judging by the worn crown has seen some loving service.

DaveK · Nov 7, 2020

Canuck
... I was intrigued by the private label dial marked for the jeweller and watchmaker A. Logan,(circa 1905), in Greenwood, British Columbia...

I still have that A Logan research to do for you 😬 Looking forward to it though 📖

cosma · Nov 7, 2020

My pocket Omega.

Canuck · Nov 7, 2020

FIFY.

Canuck · Nov 7, 2020

A 1907 newspaper advertisement by A Logan, Greenwood, B C.

bubba48 · Nov 7, 2020

DaveK · Nov 7, 2020

OMTOM
Regarding patents (the Brevet you refer to), 8760 was a Swiss patent which applies to many Omega watches from the early days – and refers to the method of stem-setting (as opposed to pin-setting or other methods that were common before and at this time).

There are different websites which will help, but here’s one that I use:
http://depatisnet.dpma.de/

And this may be an easier way in:
https://depatisnet.dpma.de/DepatisNet/depatisnet?action=einsteiger

Because it’s a Swiss patent, enter ‘CH8760’ into the ‘publication field’.

The watch you show has an Omega movement and dial but is not an Omega case: it will have been cased locally after delivery (to US?). The movement is fairly standard – with decoration that was typical for US exports, because that’s what was expected there: movements for most markets were not ‘decorated’ like this.

The calibre looks like a 19’’’LOB (the L stands for Lépine – ‘open face’, the O is for Omega – the company provided other brands, the B is the grade/quality – see comments from Canuck who shows a CCCR).

Your guess of 1907 is reasonable – but it could easily be 1903: judging the year by the movement number is not possible: movements were made in batches and used over a range of (sometimes many) years. In this period, Omega watches were listed/dated according to the Omega case number (that’s what’s in the Omega Archive).

I would not be surprised by the regulator setting (within a ‘normal’ range).

It looks a lovely gold pocket watch – and judging by the worn crown has seen some loving service.

Thank you for the insight. The patent info was easy to look up with the website you provided. I purchased the watch from an auction in the US, so being US cased is most likely