Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Omega 'Jumbo' Calatrava, 1930s
- Maker / attribution
- Omega (maker)
- Date
- 1930s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 37.5 mm
- Stock no.
- 40960040
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40960040)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Omega 'Jumbo' Calatrava (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40960040), this is a wristwatch by Omega, made in Switzerland, dated 1930s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 37.5 mm. 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
Founders Select Oversized? Check. Arabic quadrants? Check. Black luminous dial? Check. Printed chapter ring? Check. Its watches such as this one - from the 1930s! - that prove Omega's had it the whole time. Absolutely stunning piece. -James Lamdin There is something about a silver sector-dialed timepiece that gets the blood of every watch enthusiast pumping. It might be the casually cluttered nature of the dial configuration with the added chapter ring and graduated scales, it could be the slightly 'sportified' nature of printed Arabic quadrant indices, or it could even be the subtle tonalities of silver that play against each other, adding a visual depth and allure that only a true enthusiast can explain. This particular Omega 'Calatrava' dress watch dates to the 1930s and features what would have been considered an oversized 37.5mm snapback case, housing a deep glossy black dial with painted radium indices and a matching sword handset and Omega's hand-cranking Calibre 26.5 movement within.fitted in an oversized 37.5mm stainless snap back case. Remaining in very good, untouched condition, this piece harkens back to the last days of peace in Europe before the start of the Second World War, and wears its patina gracefully as an unmolested talisman of times past. From its crisply printed stylized logo to its oversized subsidiary seconds register, this is without question a very special watch for the discerning collector who understands the undeniable charm and character that it unapologetically offers.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
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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