Took a gamble: 1937 Omega Chronograph barn find contents; in need of some TLC but what a rarity

Evening all

Thought I would share this with everyone, I took a gamble last week on something rather special, she's going to need some work as I think the dial may be beyond reasonable salvage and definitely going to need a service but she's running and in real 'barn find' condition

It's a 1937 Cal 28.9 T1 Chronograph, those who know these early chrono's will know how crazy rare they are, for every ten 33.3's you see I don't think you will see one 28.9.

I've neen hunting for a nice T1 or T2 single pusher for a little while, this one popped up in france, one single dodgy picture and no real description, I knew what it was so I made the owner an offer they couldn't refuse, it arrived today



The dial is completely original but in a bad way on the right side (which I suspected from the pics) the logo also looks like it has been re applied.



The movement is completely original, incredibly dirty (as you can see) but running intermittently and the chrono is working and resetting.



Case is super original and appears to have never really been polished!

View attachment 104751

The last 28.9 I had was a year long labour of love and I expect this one will be too! I am hoping a fellow forum member I know might be able to help with a NOS dial but if not I think as much as it may pain me I may have to have the dial restored



Thoughts and feedback welcome! Quite a contrast to the 18K lump I've also just bought

I will keep this thread updated as things progress, at the moment she's clearly in need of some TLC but have no doubt in my mind she will come back a treat

Cheers Tom

Lovely find Tom, looks like it might have been worn by Claude Cabret on his fateful midnight swim in the Seine 😀

What a great find. I love those old watches.

Since you already have one in restored condition, why not just do a sympathetic cleaning of this one and keep it close to as found condition?

Where the heck to you find all this stuff? I second that, clean the case, service the movement and keep the dial as it is, at least until you'll find another dial, which I'm sure you will.

Thanks chaps

Ha ha, trawling eBay mostly, these treasures do come up occasionally but this one was somewhat harder to procure than most! I was concerned I was stepping on other forum members toes trying to buy it but the seller said the best offer other than mine they had was euro 500, so I offered them a lot more than that and took my chances

Thats exactly the plan with this one, service and clear and thats it, although I will have the hands repainted white I think

mvmt. is a lemania 15TL base calibre. looks good ! case good. dial can be rescued, I guess.if you need help with that, send it over. I`d remove the later omega logo and have bethge or causemann in Germany add the old logo in gilt. will be a beauty, when ready. congratulations. I have the 2 pusher from 1936. kind regards. achim

Thanks Achim

I may well take you up on the dial! I do love your pilots watch, it s stunning looking example too, aren't many of these left in the wild anymore

Hope to see some pics when it's been cleaned up!

Will do, I will post some shots of it when it back, I am now chasing down a 28.9 with a silver dial which I have heard of in Switzerland, this 28.9 collecting is getting quite expensive.......

+ 1 😀)))