Vintage 1970s Omega Genève Day-Date cal. 1022 w/Beautiful BLUE Dial

Up for sale from my personal collection is this wonderful, uncommon circa mid-1970s, all-stainless steel Omega Genève Day-Date ref. 166.0174/366.0833 with original and beautiful blue sunburst dial. This watch features a very attractive and full-sized round, sweeping 36mm case with original, long integrated 1186/215 bracelet. Overall, the watch is in Excellent vintage condition with a case that shows sharp definition and appears unpolished. And the very special original Near Mint+ blue sunburst dial with original tritium lume plots is what really pushes this watch over the top. This Genève also features the highly regarded caliber 1022 23-jewel movement under the hood, boasting both quickset date and rapid day advancement. This circa 1975 Omega has a more timeless design than many of its more funky brethren of the period, making it just as stylish and fashionable today as it was when it was originally released nearly 50 years ago. It’s an absolute pleasure to wear, very ergonomic, and that lovely vibrant blue dial never fails to draw the eye.

The asking price for this super cool vintage Omega Genève is $1,475 USD OBRO, which includes fully insured domestic US shipping. International shipping will be +$75 due to increased shipping fees. Bank Wire or other direct transfer always preferred but Paypal is OK on this watch at +2% to the buyer (no F&F). Payment must be made in US DOLLARS. Watch will ship upon full clearance of the funds, as well as any necessary bank vetting.Feel free to contact me via DM or at [email protected] or [email protected]


CASE & CASEBACK: Highly attractive and ergonomic integrated bracelet case design, with classic round face & bezel but more avant-garde sweeping, downward sloping wide lugs. All-stainless steel, it measures a very versatile and wearable 36mm wide (not including slightly recessed crown) x 42mm long x a slim 11mm to the top of the crystal. The case does not appear to have been polished and the original sharp edges and brushed finishes to the top & sides are still present. There are some nicks and marks from the years — Excellent unpolished vintage condition overall. The slightly domed, polished bezel also has a couple of minor scratches & marks. Note that this bezel is of the pressure-fit variety and not formed as part of the mid-case, making this a true 3-piece case design. The outer caseback has scuffs and scratches but the famous encircled Omega logo is super crisp. There is an inscription of a (Finnish?) name & date of 1979, which, with today’s technology, could probably be eliminated fairly easily if one wished, though it has a certain charm and mystery. All that said and taking into account the engraving, Very Good unpolished condition for the external caseback. The inner back is very clean and bears the correct double reference 166.0174/366.0833, the case maker’s “LL” signature (for Louis Lang, I believe, which seems to have been a specialist for Omega in this era of technically complicated integrated bracelet cases) and all the other correct nomenclature of the period. It screws down smoothly and tightly, just as these water resistant, well engineered and substantial screw-back cases were designed.

DIAL & HANDS: The star of the show on this Genève is, of course, the beautiful electric blue dial with sunburst finish. Since the bezel is relatively narrow, the dial represents as quite large and also features highly legible white-filled silver bar markers and white-printed dial text & minute ticks, as well as white bordered day & date window frame. This is a luminous dial with all the original tritium lume plots still intact and aged to lovely cafe au lait tone. Overall, the dial is genuinely in Near Mint+ original condition, with barely any signs of age. That’s quite rare for blue dials of this period, as they tend to develop galvanic reactions/discolorations, especially where the lume dots have been applied. The attractively slim luminous-filled, white baton-style hands and white sweep seconds show a bit more age and are more like Very Good, with a bit of deterioration to their luminous fill in particular. Simply a really handsome and appealing dial if you’re a fan of blue dial watches, as I am, making it an absolute pleasure to admire on the wrist!

CROWN: Period-correct (I believe) slightly recessed, signed Omega knurled steel winding crown is Excellent+. The crown sits snugly against the case, winds smoothly, pulls out to first the quickset date and then the time-setting/quickset day position, as it should.

CRYSTAL: I can detect no Omega symbol on this crystal so, I have to assume it is aftermarket. It is definitely older and shows some polish-resistant marks/scratches from the years — Very Good non-OEM condition.

MOVEMENT: Under the hood is Omega’s excellent 23-Jewel caliber 1022 full-rotor auto movement. It’s a very slim and efficiently designed movement and features not only a true quickset date complication in the first detent position but also the ability to rapidly change the day of the week, as well, by winding the hands backwards in the time-setting position. This is quite quirky and takes bit of getting used to, as it’s very easy to overshoot the day when correcting the time, but it’s also quite a welcome shortcut when the day and date are heavily out of synch. The movement serial number of 39,428,xxx dates to circa 1975. I had this movement fully serviced some years back and it is still running very well, with strong power reserve, accurate timekeeping and proper function of both quickset date mechanisms.

BRACELET: This lovely Genève comes on its correct ref. 1186/215 “No.11” Stainless Steel Oyster-style bracelet. There are superficial scratches to the bracelet, as well as the Omega-signed deployant buckle, and it shows typical light to moderate stretch for its age — Very Good vintage condition. This bracelet is quite long and will fit a maximum of about a 7.75 inch wrist, with plenty of micro-adjustment holes on the clasp for sizing down from there. A lot of Omegas from this era have lost their integrated bracelets, which are basically impossible to find in the wild. Best to buy one that’s correct and all together to begin with!

As a matter of policy I make NO guarantees for the water resistance of this watch in any way, shape or form.

This cool Vintage Omega Genève is offered with a 3-day inspection period from the date of receipt and may be returned for a full refund less any shipping costs incurred by the buyer. This refund is unconditional and once I get the watch back in exactly the same condition as it was sent to you, your money will be refunded. Of course, once the 3 days are over the sale will be considered FINAL.

Thanks for looking,
T.
[email protected] or [email protected]

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