Ode to Omega: Saying goodbye to a brief yet intense affair with an Omega De Ville

A little over a month ago (or exactly a month and two days ago) I excited bought a manual wind rectangular Omega De Ville from 1978. You can read about that here. It was an instant love affair. I couldn't get enough of it. I spent the entire month of March just finding new straps for it, nothing fits just right but I wore it constantly. I loved it. Still love it.

But as I indicated to WatchCrunch several times already in various places and comments, I flew to Rome for business at the end of the month for a week and travelled by bus from Rome to the South of France. I brought with me only two watches:

The Omegas in my collection. As much as I love the Seamaster (so of course it would join me in my first trip to Europe after 8 long years), and while it will always be my first love, I found myself wearing the De Ville far more than it. The De Ville just felt right in chilly Rome. But both are lovely.

In Rome, I purposefully looked for a nice Italian strap to go with the De Ville. Found it and 3 days into my two week odyssey the De Ville was PERFECT. A 1978 manual wind Omega De Ville with black Italian artisan strap--I had never been so excited to flex anything in my life.

But the heart is fickle and resolve is always easily destroyed by temptation. In comes the 1950s Zenith Stellina.

You can find the post explaining that one here. This is not about the Zenith afterall. This is about the Omega De Ville.

So, I went to Montpellier in the south of France. What I didn't bring up in any of my posts or WRUW or comments is that I went to Montpellier because my girlfriend lives here. On the very first day I arrived in Montpellier I showed her the Zenith and, like most partners to watch collectors, she sneered and made snide comments about how many watches do I actually need.

While living in France, she had bought two watches, an ICE and a Mauboussin. Both are fashion watches (nothing wrong with that) and those two alongside a Philip Stein I got her for Christmas are all the watches she had. She showed me all three watches in a jewelry box she kept atop a cabinet.

I don't know what it is, maybe it was exhaustion from my 22-hour bus ride or jetlag but right there and then, seeing her after a long time of not seeing her, without giving it a second thought, I gave her my Omega De Ville. I said she deserved something a bit more prestigious than what she wore most of the time. She was annoyed that it wasn't quartz, that she has to shake it and set it up every time she wore it but accepted the gift. It has not left her wrist since Saturday (that's her wearing the Omega by the way).

Not really sure if she actually loves it or she's just patronizing me but I think she does. I offered to replace the Italian strap with the one that came with the watch when I left the Philippines. She was quick to say NOOOOOOO, saying she preferred the Italian strap. Who wouldn't?

I love that I was able to give such a beautiful watch to my girl. But I hate that I had to give up such a beautiful watch to anyone.

This post is really just to say goodbye to a quick yet intense love affair with the De Ville. I won't forget you. RIP.