Wristwatches · Wrist-watch
Omega 'Automatic Genève' stainless steel wrist-watch
- Maker / attribution
- Omega Watch Company (Made by)
- Date
- c. 1970 (purchased new)
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Place
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wrist-watch
- Materials / technique
- stainless steel
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 34 millimetres (bezel) Width: 36.50 millimetres (case)
- Holding institution
- British Museum
- Accession / object no.
- 2015,8020.2
- Credit line
- British Museum, London
- Catalogue title (original)
- Omega 'Automatic Genève' stainless steel wrist-watch (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by British Museum (object number 2015,8020.2), this is a wrist-watch by Omega Watch Company, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1970 (purchased new). The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: stainless steel. Recorded dimensions: Diameter: 34 millimetres (bezel) Width: 36.50 millimetres (case). The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Description — British Museum
Omega 'Automatic Genève' stainless steel wrist-watch. Stainless steel case. Stainless steel strap (not original). Blue dial with dashed minute markers and black inlaid luminous baton hour markers and luminous hour and minute hands. Sweep seconds hand is orange. Omega symbol at 12o'clock. Movement Calibre 552, 24 jewels. Bi-directional automatic winding. Four arm 'gluycdur' beryllium balance.
Inscriptions & marks
inscription; dial; Ω; OMEGA; AUTOMATIC; GENÈVE; T SWISS MADE T; 'OMEGA' in gold, rest in black. Also gold omega sign at 12 o'clock, and star shape at 6 o'clock; annotation; strap; STAINLESS STEEL; MADE IN ENGLAND; D.S&S; 1560; annotation; Inner case back; Ω; OMEGA; WATCH Co; ACIER; INOXYDABLE; FAB.SUISSE; 165.041; 'Ω' 'omega' and 'watch co' all inside a triangle.; Beneath text is keyhole symbol.; annotation; inner case back; 454; 895; 29984; scratched into case back. '2' is back to front.; annotation; movement - oscillating weight; OMEGA WATCH Co SWISS; circle beneath text; annotation; Movement - rotor bridge; TWENTY-FOUR; 24 JEWELS; annotation; Movement - train wheel bridge; 27933194; Ω1; 551; '1' is within omega symbol; inscription; case back; ASSOCIATED MANUFACTURERS LIMITED; PRESENTED TO; I.A.TERRY; 1945-1970
Provenance
Donated by:, I A Terry
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Automatic (self-winding) watches
Self-winding watches use the wearer's motion to wind the mainspring. Abraham-Louis Perrelet and Breguet made 'perpétuelle' pocket watches with oscillating weights in the late eighteenth century, but the principle only became practical in the wristwatch. John Harwood patented a bumper automatic in 1923; Rolex's Perpetual rotor (1931) winding in one direction, and later bidirectional rotors (Eterna, Felsa Bidynator), established the modern form. Micro-rotors (Universal Genève, Buren) and peripheral rotors made automatic watches thinner.
What to look for
- A semicircular rotor turning 360° over the movement, or a 'bumper' weight that rebounds between springs.
- 'Automatic', 'Perpetual' or 'Self-winding' on the dial.
- A sealed screw-back case, since automatic watches are wound less often by the crown.
Dating clues
- Bumper automatics: 1923–c. 1955.
- Full rotors: from 1931 (Rolex); widespread after c. 1950.
- Micro-rotors: from 1954–1958.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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