GURZELEN PATENT 19”’ 1885

Lépine calibre, digital display of hour/minute, analogue display of seconds (small or large hand). Time-setting button.

Louis Brandt & Frère, 1891

Polychrome translucent enamel dial with zones, light-coloured centre for the surrounding Roman numerals, midnight blue around the edge for the hand-painted jacks (allegorical characters) which sound the hours of death and life. On the left, the god Chronos with his scythe strikes the hours (low note) on a bell located at 12 o’clock. On the right, two cherubs strike the minutes (high note) on a bell located at 2 o’clock. The quarter hours are struck simultaneously by the two bells. 18-carat red gold bassine case with ridge. 19”’ lever calibre.

Louis Brandt 13”’, 1892

1st minute-repeater wristwatch in the world. Lever-escapement Lépine calibre, cut bimetallic balance, winding crown at noon, push-piece time-setting, enamel dial, Roman numerals, sunk small seconds dial, blued steel pear-shaped hands, 18 k pink gold case with slide-piece on case-band for winding and triggering the hour, quarter-hour and minute repeater.

Dome engraved: “Outside competition. Member of Jury. Paris 1889 – L. Brandt & Frere – Bienne (Switzerland) – 1, Rue d’Hauteville, Paris”.

First OMEGA wristwatch, 1900

Lépine movement, 0.900 silver double-hinged case, fixed central attachments for bracelet-strap, blank floral shield on guilloché-worked back, enamel dial, railway minute track, skeleton Arabic hour numerals, blush pear-shaped hands.

This is not only the first wristwatch manufactured by OMEGA but one of the first industrially made wristwatches in the world.

OMEGA wristwatches, 1902

OMEGA wristwatches with crown at 9 o’clock, 1902 / 1910 Lépine movement, gents’ 15”’ (dating from 1902) and ladies’ 12”’ (1910) calibres, with stem and winding crown at 9 o’clock: these new “wrist” watches were frequently worn on – or even inside – the right wrist when they first out.

White enamel dial, Roman numerals, railway minute track, semi-heavy pear-shaped hands, double-hinged 0.935 silver bassine case, soldered wire loops for bracelet strap. Made especially under the brand name of an English client, the watchmaker Edwin J.Vokes, in Bath, or for Parisian department store Kirby Beard (most important OMEGA retailer from start of century to Second World War), they are among the first wristwatches manufactured by OMEGA.

OMEGA 19”’ Grade DDR, 1905

This highly precise, extraordinarily fine-finished chronometer represents the best factory-produced quality ever achieved around the turn of the century: silvered nickel Lépine movement, 23 jewels, first class diamonds and rubies, two of which are on the barrel arbor; Maltese Cross stop; endstones on the pallets, the pallets-wheel and the balance (set with diamonds in this case).

Pallets with balanced counter-poise. Rubies set in screwed gold collets, gold balance-screw. Extremely precise adjustment by swan-neck regulator with graduated snail.

OMEGA “Modern Art”, 1907

Left: Men’s hunter, cal. 17/19”’ SOB, gilt dial mentioning the name of a Hungarian retailer (H. Nemès, Budapest, 23 Erczsébek Körüt), 900 silver lentil case covered with niello, carnation decor, with blank coat of arms in pink gold inlaid on the lid, Greek motif on the case middle.

Right: Ladies’ jewellery hunter, cal. 12”’ SOB, yellow and pink gold case, enamel and diamonds, floral decor.

Labrador 19”’, 1910

Hunter, 0.900 silver case, pounced ornament with blank shield on the back. Center-aiming Roman numeral hour markers, red Arabic numerals 13 to 24, pear-shaped hands.

Finely finished movement with 3 screwed gold collets.

“Iris, Zeus and Hera”, 1914

Unique piece in 18 k gold covered in ochre and black enamel, made for the 1914 Swiss National Exhibition in Bern. Meticulously crafted movement in gilt brass, 15 jewels, including five on screwed gold collets, fine spiral adjustment. Design inspired by Greek mythology.

Dial decorated with palm leaves in the center, Arabic hour markers, gilt OMEGA hands.

Military watches, 1916

Military watches from WWI. 13”’ SO calibre. White enamel dial, Arabic numerals and radium skeleton hands, chrome-plated metal or silver case with soldered wire lugs for leather strap.

Manufactured in 1917, the watch on the left was worn by the communication troops of the American armed forces who joined the Allies in July 1918. The watch on the right is equipped with a tempered steel protective guard.