I should have looked harder... found this on WatchUSeek Forum. I'm going to call boutique back and order the book, they said it will be in store within two days. I appreciate all your help and understanding for my redundant thread... but, I'm learning still.
Source:
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/review-omega-a-journey-through-time.924373/#post-6841919
"Last week I
posted that I purchased a copy of
Omega: A Journey Through Time at the NYC boutique. I have spent virtually every night this week going through the book after my children went to sleep, so I thought I would post a brief review.
On the whole, I would absolutely recommend
Omega: A Journey Through Time to anyone who is interested in Omega Watches and its' history, and I would label it a "must own" for anyone interested in collecting vintage Omega watches. The book is an invaluable resource of photos and information about (almost) every model of watch ever produced by Omega. Almost all the thousands upon thousands of photographs are in full color, which call full attention to the many design elements and the simple, timeless beauty that drove many of us to purchase our first Omega watch.
The book is broken up into thirteen chapters, with the earlier chapters chronicling the company history, sister brands, pocket watches, and early innovations. The later chapters contain sections on clocks, individual creations (including some pretty amazing "one-off" watches), the relationship between Omega and the Olympics, and a very useful chapter exploring calibers. While almost all of these chapters are interesting, it is the middle chapters, then, that will most appeal to the "average" vintage collector, with its focus on the Speedmaster, the Seamasters, Connies, Railmasters, and general automatic, manual, and quartz watches. Each chapter is profusely illustrated with hundreds of photos of different examples of watches, along with a brief description of each watch. (The book, it should be noted, does not really have running text as much as it has thousands of captions to its photos, so one does not really "read" the book as much as one "peruses" it.) For me one of the most pleasant features of the book was the hundreds of contemporary advertisements littered throughout the book, many showing a watch with the band for which it was originally intended. A collection of these ads would be useful to the vintage collector even without the other great photos.
(photo from KYMWatchblog.com)
A commentator on my earlier thread said it right: The book is so beautiful that it is dangerous. My list of future wants expanded by about ten after going through
Omega: A Journey Through Time.
That being said, the book is not without its flaws. First, although I am collector of rare and used books, and am accustomed to paying high prices for books, $400 is a lot of money for many people. It goes without saying that the book is not for everyone. I was also concerned that, for the price, the book is not especially well-made. It is certainly large (almost 1,000 pages) and it is printed on high-quality paper which best displays the wonderful photographs. But after only a few careful readings I felt the spine begin to crack. As a long-time reader and handler of rare books, I know how to care for books, and a more careless reader could destroy a copy after only a few readings. It is true the book is exceptionally large and heavy, and that spine damage in books is sometimes common. But for $400 (not actually an outrageous price for what should be a high-quality art/coffee table book; if you don't believe me, go to the gift shop at your local art museum) the book should be well-made.
However, these problems are ultimately minor. The book is a must for those interested in vintage Omega, whether one is actually a collector or not. The author, Marco Richon, has done a wonderful job of finding all of these watches, having them photographed exquisitely, and placing them in their proper historical context. I know that it is a book I will refer to again and again for many years to come.
