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Vintage Omega De Ville quartz

Theotihuacan
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Hello, I'm new to the forum and just an occasional watch collector, nothing serious, I just like to get a beautiful watch from time to time.

Some time ago I bought in a pawn shop in my city in France this Omega De Ville, ~32mm, in quartz, with a 1420 movment. Given the serial number on the caliber and what I could find, it should have been made around 1982-84.
The case is 18k gold, as shown by the eagle hallmark on the back. The movent is held inside by an inner case in base metal. The interior of the back has an Omega logo that does not look like the normal one, a serial number, and the maker's mark (JP).
The back of the case is also stamped with "1420" for the movement and "Quartz".
The case is not what looks like a normal one for a De Ville (though I get there were different case designs). Could it be that it is one of those French-made Omega with a French-made case, and maybe dial?
I don't know if the case is original to the movment but the 1420 stamp would make me believe so.
Overall, does the watch seems to be legit?

20260310_105451.webp 20260302_165908.webp 20260302_165914.webp 20260301_125915.webp 20260301_125926.webp 20260301_130317.webp 20260301_130219.webp
 
JimInOz
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The watch is legitimate and looks to be in nice condition.
The case looks to be what is known as "local production" where the movement/dia/hands were imported and the local Omega agent had them assembled with locally made cases.

The JP makers mark rings a bell but I can't rmember exactly where I saw it. Will do some research.
 
JimInOz
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Could be Jean-Pierre Hagman whose signature stamp was a styalised "JHP".

Are you able to provide a better photo of the stamp?
 
Theotihuacan
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JimInOz JimInOz
The watch is legitimate and looks to be in nice condition.
The case looks to be what is known as "local production" where the movement/dia/hands were imported and the local Omega agent had them assembled with locally made cases.

The JP makers mark rings a bell but I can't rmember exactly where I saw it. Will do some research
Thanks for the answer! Interesting, I was not sure it was the case was localy made
 
Theotihuacan
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JimInOz JimInOz
Could be Jean-Pierre Hagman whose signature stamp was a styalised "JHP".

Are you able to provide a better photo of the stamp?
Yes, I'll try to take a better photo as soon as I can, thanks!
 
ErichKeane
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I don't see anything that claims that is gold, I would expect to see a hallmark there, the french 18k logo seems to be an eagle head, isn't it? Also weird that they'd do a gold case but not holder, those are typically the same metal in watches I've taken apart.

That said, PLEASE don't touch the movement with your bare hands like that. Its a great way to corrode/destroy them, and quartz movements are much less able to be repaired.
 
padders
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ErichKeane ErichKeane
I don't see anything that claims that is gold, I would expect to see a hallmark there, the french 18k logo seems to be an eagle head, isn't it? Also weird that they'd do a gold case but not holder, those are typically the same metal in watches I've taken apart.

That said, PLEASE don't touch the movement with your bare hands like that. Its a great way to corrode/destroy them, and quartz movements are much less able to be repaired.
To be fair both the BA letters prefixing the case number and also the eagle head mark he describes indicate the presence of 18K metal but I have to say the base metal movement holder is huge and must make up a significant chunk of the case weight. This was a trick seen in the old Chronographe Suisse cases where despite being hallmarked as gold, there was only like around 4-5 grams of the stuff present.
Edited:
 
ErichKeane
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padders padders
To be fair both the BA letters prefixing the case number and also the eagle head mark he describes indicate the presence of 18K metal but I have to say the base metal movement holder is huge and must make up a significant chunk of the case weight. This was a trick seen in the old Chronographe Suisse cases where despite being hallmarked as gold, there was only like around 4-5 grams of the stuff present.
I wasn't aware that BA meant gold! That said... I don't see the eagle head anywhere. Am I just being a big dummy here in missing it? I just see the omega logo with a pair of wings, but I don't see that associated anywhere with 'gold' from a google search.
 
padders
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The OP says he sees the eagle mark on the outside of the caseback. You can’t make it out clearly in his pic but there is a pair of stamps there above the text. That is typical for French items like Cartier etc. A notable example of the case metal letter code prefixing the case number is the solid gold Speedmaster the Astronauts were presented with has the BA 145.022 ref.

IMG_2895.webp
 
Theotihuacan
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ErichKeane ErichKeane
I wasn't aware that BA meant gold! That said... I don't see the eagle head anywhere. Am I just being a big dummy here in missing it? I just see the omega logo with a pair of wings, but I don't see that associated anywhere with 'gold' from a google search.
The eagle head is stamped on the case back, not inside. Sorry, it's not very clear in my pics...
It is stamped twice, even, to indicate that the front and the back of the case are gold.
 
Theotihuacan
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padders padders
To be fair both the BA letters prefixing the case number and also the eagle head mark he describes indicate the presence of 18K metal but I have to say the base metal movement holder is huge and must make up a significant chunk of the case weight. This was a trick seen in the old Chronographe Suisse cases where despite being hallmarked as gold, there was only like around 4-5 grams of the stuff present.
Yes, the holder is pretty huge. Like, almost as big as the outer case back. I have not wieghted the watch, frankly, but I guess that indeed, the gold weight must not be that great. The holder is seemingly brass though, so it should be less dense and lighter than the gold parts. The gold back and front are not that paper-thin though, like some old chrono suisse. I can't affect the back by poking in it with a finger, even with light force.
 
padders
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Theotihuacan Theotihuacan
Yes, the holder is pretty huge. Like, almost as big as the outer case back. I have not wieghted the watch, frankly, but I guess that indeed, the gold weight must not be that great. The holder is seemingly brass though, so it should be less dense and lighter than the gold parts. The gold back and front are not that paper-thin though, like some old chrono suisse. I can't affect the back by poking in it with a finger, even with light force.
Oh I’m not suggesting it’s quite that flimsy. I suspect the lugs there are solid unlike the the CS cases where lugs were hollow or cork filled. There is prob in excess of 10g of gold in the case even with the holder being so huge. CS used an extra brass inner back to allow them to fit a super thin flexible outer gold back. That one looks thicker.

It was an unfair comparison.
 
Theotihuacan
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Oh I’m not suggesting it’s quite that flimsy. I suspect the lugs there are solid unlike the the CS cases where lugs were hollow or cork filled. There is prob in excess of 10g of gold in the case even with the holder being so huge. CS used an extra brass inner back to allow them to fit a super thin flexible outer gold back. That one looks thicker.

It was an unfair comparison.
Haha no worries.
But, yeah, I had been wondering, how would I know if the lugs are hollow or not? Is there a way to know by observation, or will I only discover it if one were to break?
 
padders
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Theotihuacan Theotihuacan
Haha no worries.
But, yeah, I had been wondering, how would I know if the lugs are hollow or not? Is there a way to know by observation, or will I only discover it if one were to break?
Your lugs look too slender to be hollow box sections. I’ve damaged more than one C Suisse by being a bit ham fisted when changing straps. The ones with female spring bars are particularly prone to that. I bet your caseback alone has more gold than a full C S case
 
ErichKeane
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OH! I thought those were just scuffs on the case back! I even zoomed in! Thanks for the education all. That chart is neat!
 
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