As above, I was thinking of looking for a birth year watch. Obviously, 1957 Seamasters and Speedmasters are way out of my budget!
I’ve seen one somewhere described as an 'oversize/jumbo' I think and that was 38/39mm. Don’t know exact model name/number or whether it was produced in 1957 though.
You will struggle to get anything nice in 37mm at your budget, there is a pretty big premium on the few watches in that size. More realistic is 34/35mm
The dress Seamaster line is probably your best bet. The 50s Geneves are quality watches but difficult to find in good condition and you'd be lucky to get a decent one in-budget. No-name Omegas are also worth considering as sometimes they came in quite nice cases. This 266 of mine is from 1954-55. What with being all dial it wears quite large and I also like the distinctive lugs. It's in near mint condition and came in at just under £300 on a crappy bracelet which I replaced. After service the total cost was about £500 and it's keeping time to about 3 secs per day.
They're the models that don't come from a specific collection like Seamaster, Constellation, etc., and they're often also called "Generics"
The US collection for 1955 is available at @mondodec 's website, here: http://omega-constellation-collectors.blogspot.com/2016/03/omega-norman-morris-catalogue-1955.html I don't think the collection changed much by 1957.
That is a great read but it is worth bearing in mind that what was current in the US market and the UK market (where the OP is) in the 1950s will have differed considerably, particularly in the gold and gold filled/capped cases as there was a lot of local production. P Morris did his own thing, the UK got Dennison cased models and other countries got others too. I wonder how many he shows there are Swiss production.
You can look after a nice Omega Seamaster Calendar. 35mm, real nice dials and cases. I.e. my Seamaster Calendar has the Ref. 2848. Found mine for a good price and with serial number around 1577xxxxx, it should be produced around 1957. https://omegaforums.net/threads/ome...-black-gilt-dial-with-several-problems.85932/
Ultima, Globemaster and the Chronometers are Swiss production. For the rest, on a model by model basis. gatorcpa
Makes sense. There is a very interesting looking dog leg chronometer model without branding there on p24 (model 9052) which I have never noticed before, rather looks like a very early precursor to the later Connie designs. I wonder, with it being from 1955 would a few (most?) of those listed there still have bumper movements. That was the year I believe when the transition to full rotors started in earnest.
I went on the same quest, as I'm a child of '57 also. The closest I found was this watch. The movement was probably manufactured in 1957 because it's the year the factory that made the Cal.520 was closed down permanently. But the official Omega Vintage Watch database indicates that this particular reference -- 14722 -- was produced in 1959.
@Steve Essex you might find the two tables at the foot of this page useful. I thought I had seen a table somewhere of calibre production start and end dates some time ago, but can't find it now. http://www.chronomaddox.com/OmegaCaliberList.html#Movements Through the Years In case you didn't already know, approximate serial number dates are here (below Rolex). https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/serial-numbers
To be accurate in the terminology, the Seamaster and Speedmaster were not dress watches. Have a look at the US collection for 1955 mentioned above, all the dress watches are gold or gold filled and the Seamaster is a tool watch: These magnificent watches of precision accuracy are perfect companions to the world traveler, the man who lives or works and in areas where dust, moisture, or rapid temperature changes are prevalent. Hardly a dress watch environment. Have you seen the list of old catalogs at the bottom of this website?