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Omega Chronostop Driver, late 1960s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Omega (maker)
Date
late 1960s
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Stock no.
40960263
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40960263)
Catalogue title (original)
Omega Chronostop Driver (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40960263), this is a wristwatch by Omega, made in Switzerland, dated late 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 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

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

Omega made some really neat stuff in the 1960s. Case in point: The Chronostop 'Driver' Chronograph. This unusual model features a sideways-oriented dial, designed to be worn by drivers on the inside of the wrist. It utilizes a 60-second chronograph mechanism operated by a single pusher, ideal for timing laps or quarter-mile times while keeping both hands on the steering wheel. Go ahead, try it! We did! (Please just obey all local traffic laws!). This particular example, a Reference 145.010, dates to the late 1960s and features a 35 stainless steel cushion case with an acrylic crystal, a signed crown, and a lovely matte blue tritium dial with applied indices and a matching handset, and Omega's Calibre 865 hand-cranking chronograph movement within. This example is fitted with a correct stainless steel 'mesh' bracelet with a signed, elongated clasp — originally intended to take an engraving of the driver's blood type. (Or so the story goes!) We've offered a number of Chronostops in the past, but only a very small number of them have featured the driver-oriented dial and the correct bracelet. This is a special (and highly specialized) timepiece for the collector who prefers his watches unusual and rarely seen!

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Wristwatches

Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.

After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.

What to look for

  • The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
  • The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
  • Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
  • Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
  • Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
  • Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.

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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