Vintage Trench Watch(?) - Looking for more info...

crcollard · Feb 8, 2019

Hello! I’m a lurker but don’t often post so I hope it’s okay that I’m posting this here. I’ve recently acquired what I believe is an Omega trench watch although I’m not sure that’s the right classification. I’ve included pics of the watch here. The serial # on the movement is 3874002 which, I believe, dates it around 1906-1910 but the # on the case is 8284756 which, if using the Omega lookup, puts it around 1934. That said, the case doesn’t have any Omega markings - just Scepter - which looks like One of Star Watch Co’s Case brands who may have done work for Omega. I have had the watch serviced and it’s keeping good time. I’d be curious to know more about the watch... is it fully Omega? Is it an Omega movement in a random case? Franken? Are my dates accurate? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Foo2rama · Feb 8, 2019

Case serial in this case(no pun intended) isn’t related to Omega serial numbers. The case is more indicative of a pilots watch with the big crown and similar to the Majetek czech flight watches of the time.

As for originality that’s out of my knowledge.

crcollard · Feb 8, 2019

Foo2rama
Case serial in this case(no pun intended) isn’t related to Omega serial numbers. The case is more indicative of a pilots watch with the big crown and similar to the Majetek czech flight watches of the time.

As for originality that’s out of my knowledge.

Thanks for the quick reply. That’s sort of what I figured on the case as it relates to the serial # but wasn’t sure. I’ve seen similar with the Omega branding on the case though normally with different lugs. I did see this posted somewhere on the forums which had me wondering if it was the same watch / case (although the lugs are different)...

JimInOz · Feb 8, 2019

This watch is different to the modern "marriage watches" where old pocket watch movements are put in modern production cases, usually originating in Europe.

IMO the original movement has been re-cased, probably in the 1930s (just a guess). It wasn't unusual to have pocket watch movements re-cased to meet the new "wrist watch" fashion, and trench watch cases with their wire lugs would possibly be re-cased to provide a stronger more contemporary watch.

The case serial is stamped on all parts of the case as these were literally hand made and fitted for a specific watch. Unless you can find an archive of Scepter case numbers, dating the case will be difficult.

I would be quite happy to own it.

JimInOz · Feb 8, 2019

PS: What is the diameter of the movement in millimetres?

doog · Feb 9, 2019

As JimInOz says, if you can measure the diameter of the movement as carefully as possible you can give yourself a ballpark to search in. These early movements were traditionally sized in ‘lignes’ which can be (roughly) calculated from the mm measurement. 1 ligne being 2.2558mm, so multiply your mm size by 0.4433 and you’ll have a rough idea of the lignes. There were vast variations of calibres pre-WWI but yours appears to be a high specification as it’s marked Adjusted to 2 positions and has a swan-neck regulator. Hope that helps a bit. There is a permanent link to the official Omega list of Calibres here https://omegaforums.net/posts/540643/

Vitezi · Feb 9, 2019

Calling @Tire-comedon 😀
Some cushion-cased examples shown here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/oldie-ww1-wrist-watch.24871/

crcollard · Feb 9, 2019

JimInOz
PS: What is the diameter of the movement in millimetres?

Thank you for the reply and the info. I don’t have a caliper but using a ruler and eyeballing it, it appears to be about 27mm across, maybe a bit larger. I’ll dig around to see if I can find a caliper and get something a bit more accurate.

crcollard · Feb 9, 2019

doog
As JimInOz says, if you can measure the diameter of the movement as carefully as possible you can give yourself a ballpark to search in. These early movements were traditionally sized in ‘lignes’ which can be (roughly) calculated from the mm measurement. 1 ligne being 2.2558mm, so multiply your mm size by 0.4433 and you’ll have a rough idea of the lignes. There were vast variations of calibres pre-WWI but yours appears to be a high specification as it’s marked Adjusted to 2 positions and has a swan-neck regulator. Hope that helps a bit. There is a permanent link to the official Omega list of Calibres here https://omegaforums.net/posts/540643/

Thank you! I was able to get a rough measurement around 27mm, maybe a bit bigger, I’ll see if I can’t find my caliper. I guess that would put it at 12 ligne? I’ll try looking around a bit more - thanks for the link.

Vintage Trench Watch(?) - Looking for more info...

crcollard

Foo2rama

crcollard

JimInOz

JimInOz

doog

Vitezi

crcollard

crcollard

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