French market one-button chrono - iconic enough that Omega itself did a historical reissue of it (Museum Watch # 3). Given its age, it is in very very good shape. Darned rare too...

...the experts will be along in a minute....

 

Do not touch that dial!

 

The question is more, "Is it worth not sending it to Switzerland and having it re-done." The answer is yes, Do Not send it., have a watch like this refinished can cut half or more of the watches value. In some cases watches lose many thousand in value. The collectability of a watch depends on rarity, condition and originality. The watch should be service by a watch maker who is knowledgeable ans sensitive to these points.

 

Holy crap, look how clean that thing is!?

(qualifier: 90% of these things look terrible, this one, for its age and hopeless water-tightness is amazing)

 

According to the Omega Vintage Database, this watch is Ref. CK 2048 from the late 1930's.


Reference

CK 2048​

International collection

1937​

MovementType:

Manual winding (mechanical)​

Caliber number:

33,3 CHRO Lemania​

17 jewels​

Created in 1933​

Functions

Tachymeter, Chronograph​

Case

Stainless steel​

Case back

Press-in​

Dial existing with different designs
Crystal

Not available​

Bracelet

Leather​

Water resistance

Not available​

I was able to find a 2008 auction record from Christies showing one that sold for a little less than $30K. I'll let the rarity of this piece speak for itself.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/watches/omega-a-fine-and-very-rare-stainless-5065186-details.aspx

OK, so maybe that one had a premium due to the black dial, but it was 2008. Values have steadily risen for rare watches since then.

I wouldn't chance sending to Omega.

That is quite a find!
gatorcpa

 

vspadeasr, we could certainly use some more pictures if you would be so kind...

Achim, I made the remark about french market because of the "Fab. Suisse," and meant it only apropos of this particular example. I did not mean to imply that the reference overall was for ze french. Good to know about the "berlin olympic" name.

 

Think of the the telemetre as a range finder. It is calibrated to the speed of sound. Start the chronograph when you see the flash and stop it when you hear the report. It tells you how far away the event was. Useful for lightning, artillery, etc.

The blue registers are your standard old tachymeter that just goes around more than one rotation. The railroad track register is the first rotation, and the spiral - which you will note begins at '60' - takes over from there. Thus, three full rotations of the second hand = 20 units per hour.

Don't overlook the outer decimal scale. This watch has all 3 of the common accessory registers that chronographs can have - decimeter, telemeter, tachymeter.

 

Much like an iphone is today, in 1937 this would have been a pretty impressive piece of technology to have strapped to one's wrist, and those features may have actually been quite useful.

 

You can get them but you have to chose among the three. Each is available as a separate bezel.

 

Why choose when you can merely wear three watches.

 

Precisely. More watches is always the solution.