Springtime
This is my first post. Hello fellow Crunchers!
Today was a good day. I got my beloved vintage Omega automatic bumper back from service after 5 weeks AND a heavy rain last night washed away much of the pollen that has been coating everything.
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Kim
Welcome to my WatchCrunch profile.
Member since
Last active: 5 hrs ago
6.69” / 17.00 cm
Oh wow that's stunning. Did Omega service it for you?
Oh wow that's stunning. Did Omega service it for you?
Thank you! No, a local watch repair small business handled it. I bought the watch from them about 10 years ago. I wish I had asked them to identify the movement and year. I think it is around 1950 and a 351 movement? I don’t want to open up the watch to look for fear of scratching it.
Maybe @Bridge_Too_Far can help me know more about this particular model?
Haha well from what I can see it's a reference G6525-1 bumper from the early 1950's. Models I have seen with this dial configuration have been from 1953 and I'd wager it's very much from that era.
It's my understanding that it has a 14 karat gold case and some have claimed theirs are 18 karat gold but without seeing the hallmarks it would be safe to assume this is 14 karat (14 wears stronger than 18 anyway) and your dial is all original and very clean but with a beautiful aged patina.
The calibre 354 movement was a staple of the era and was the movement Omega chose for the launch of their new Constellation dress watch in 1952. When maintained these movements still keep good time even 70 years later. I would note though that the calibre 354 movement came in two versions, an export version for the United States that was not COSC compliant and the European version which is COSC compliant. Omega felt it could land these to the USA a lot cheaper without undergoing COSC certification and had the movements set up in the USA instead of doing it all in Switzerland. I'm still trying to work out how to tell the two types apart so unfortunately cannot offer an opinion on that.
In either way COSC compliance 70 years ago on a manual winding watch is probably not relevant in the sense of daily wear. It's an absolute classic and you really don't see too many of them still out and about and being worn. Hats off to you for wearing vintage classic. It's watches like these that gave Omega great inroads into the US market post WW2 and helped establish the name that they enjoy today.
Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing your beautiful watch with us.
Welcome to the playground!
Beautiful watch you have there👌
Haha well from what I can see it's a reference G6525-1 bumper from the early 1950's. Models I have seen with this dial configuration have been from 1953 and I'd wager it's very much from that era.
It's my understanding that it has a 14 karat gold case and some have claimed theirs are 18 karat gold but without seeing the hallmarks it would be safe to assume this is 14 karat (14 wears stronger than 18 anyway) and your dial is all original and very clean but with a beautiful aged patina.
The calibre 354 movement was a staple of the era and was the movement Omega chose for the launch of their new Constellation dress watch in 1952. When maintained these movements still keep good time even 70 years later. I would note though that the calibre 354 movement came in two versions, an export version for the United States that was not COSC compliant and the European version which is COSC compliant. Omega felt it could land these to the USA a lot cheaper without undergoing COSC certification and had the movements set up in the USA instead of doing it all in Switzerland. I'm still trying to work out how to tell the two types apart so unfortunately cannot offer an opinion on that.
In either way COSC compliance 70 years ago on a manual winding watch is probably not relevant in the sense of daily wear. It's an absolute classic and you really don't see too many of them still out and about and being worn. Hats off to you for wearing vintage classic. It's watches like these that gave Omega great inroads into the US market post WW2 and helped establish the name that they enjoy today.
Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing your beautiful watch with us.
Excellent information.
Did the American versions have less jewels than the European ones? Vaguely remember reading something about that, something to do with tax (?)
I'm probably wrong, but keen to learn. Thank you 👍🏻
Beautiful watch, most envious 😜😍👏🏻👏🏻
Beautiful watch! I have an Omega bumper from 1947 that I love. Yours is such a great looking watch. I'm still on the lookout for a solid gold case watch from that era. I just haven't found one as nice as yours.
Haha well from what I can see it's a reference G6525-1 bumper from the early 1950's. Models I have seen with this dial configuration have been from 1953 and I'd wager it's very much from that era.
It's my understanding that it has a 14 karat gold case and some have claimed theirs are 18 karat gold but without seeing the hallmarks it would be safe to assume this is 14 karat (14 wears stronger than 18 anyway) and your dial is all original and very clean but with a beautiful aged patina.
The calibre 354 movement was a staple of the era and was the movement Omega chose for the launch of their new Constellation dress watch in 1952. When maintained these movements still keep good time even 70 years later. I would note though that the calibre 354 movement came in two versions, an export version for the United States that was not COSC compliant and the European version which is COSC compliant. Omega felt it could land these to the USA a lot cheaper without undergoing COSC certification and had the movements set up in the USA instead of doing it all in Switzerland. I'm still trying to work out how to tell the two types apart so unfortunately cannot offer an opinion on that.
In either way COSC compliance 70 years ago on a manual winding watch is probably not relevant in the sense of daily wear. It's an absolute classic and you really don't see too many of them still out and about and being worn. Hats off to you for wearing vintage classic. It's watches like these that gave Omega great inroads into the US market post WW2 and helped establish the name that they enjoy today.
Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing your beautiful watch with us.
I am an absolute awe of your knowledge and can’t thank you enough for sharing it! This information is fascinating and the fact that you took the time to share it means the world to me.
I loved this watch from the minute I saw it, and even though I didn’t really have the budget for it at the time I had to buy it. I guess it was just calling to me. It is even more precious to me now that I know more about it.
Again, thank you so much!
Beautiful watch you have there👌
Thank you!
Beautiful watch, most envious 😜😍👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you!
Beautiful 🫠
Beautiful 🫠
Thanks! I think so, too 😌