1968 Omega De Ville Square Gold Plated 26mm 111.071

Here we have a distinguished 1968 Omega De Ville 111.071 featuring a 26mm Square gold-plated case that sits comfortably on your wrist with angled straight lugs. The straight flanks lead to a lug-to-lug length of 34mm and a case thickness of just 6mm, providing a perfect uncuff profile. A signed coin-edged crown on the right side. Slender chamfered edges bezel holds a box crystal above a white dial. Applied facet-edged gold baton indexes radiate around the dial, with black paint filling the cardinal point batons that mark the hours. As you rotate your wrist, they play with the light. Black stick hands sit majestically in the centre. At noon, we have an applied gold Omega with "Omega" printed underneath, and at 6 o’clock, De Ville completes this sophisticated dress watch. On the reverse, a stainless steel snap-off case back engraved with ‘ As Always Val 23.8.71. Inside a manually wound Omega Cal. 620, 17 jewels, beating at 19,800 beats per hour, first introduced in 1960. It comes paired with a 19mm well-suited leather strap and pin buckle.

This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and, therefore, comes with no original Omega box or paperwork. It comes paired with a 19mm well-suited leather strap and pin buckle. The watch is from Circa. 1968, and is sold in worn, vintage condition. Overall, it is a lovely, original example. As you can see from the photographs, the case back features an engraving. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

For under £500, this 1968 Omega De Ville Square is hard to beat, especially if you are after a quirky vintage watch. Gold-plated and 26mm, this wears great on the wrist, and the contrast with the strap is great. This is the reference 111.071 and powered by the manually wound Omega Cal. 620, featuring a lovely silver dial which has developed a subtle warm hue of patina. I would not hesitate to add this beautiful vintage watch to your collection today!

Reference : 111.071
Movement : Manually Wound Omega Cal. 620
Age : Circa. 1968
Year : 1968
Case Size : 26mm
Case Thickness : 6mm
Lug to Lug : 34mm
Lugs : 19mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : None
Case Material : Gold Plated
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

Formerly known as the La Generale Watch Co. in 1848, it was founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds. When he died in 1879, his sons carried on his dream. In 1880, they moved to 96 Rue Jakob-Stampfli, where they remain today. The brothers produced their first mass-produced calibre, the Labrador, in 1885. Just a few years later, in 1892, they produced the first minute-repeater. In 1903, they renamed the company Omega until 1982, when they officially changed their name to Omega SA. During WW1, Omega watches were used as official timekeepers for the Royal Flying Corps and the US Army. In 1930, Omega and Tissot merged together to form Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH). In 1931, another group was formed - Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). Where SSIH was primarily French-speaking, ASUAG was founded by the more German-speaking members of the Swiss watch industry. In 1948, they introduced the first edition of one of its most symbolic watches: the Seamaster. Omega first introduced the Constellation in 1952. At the time, it was Omega's flagship timepiece. The first models had a Cal. 354 bumper movement in them. Later, in 1955, Omega introduced the Automatic Cal. 50x, followed in 1959 by the Cal.55x (no date) and 56x (date) versions. Many of the Constellations came with pie-pan dials, diamond indexes, and fancy lug configurations. All the gold Constellations of that time have the Observatory of Geneva's hand engraved on the back. The stainless steel and stainless steel/gold versions had a gold medallion on the back with the Observatory of Geneva. The eight stars above the Observatory stand for the many exploits of Omega in the world Chronometer competition. Celebrating the fact that all Constellations are Chronometer Certified. In 1962, when astronaut Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster on his Mercury Sigma 7 Mission, making it the first Omega watch to enter space. After rigorous tests, NASA used Omega for all their Apollo missions, including the 1969 Moon landing of Apollo 11. Today, Omega is still the first choice of astronauts. In 1969, President Nixon famously said it was “too valuable” and turned down the first-ever all-gold Speedmaster Professional Deluxe. As a response to the ever-growing threat of electronic watches to the manufacturers of mechanical watches, Omega and many Swiss brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe formed Centre Electronique Horologer (CEH). Prototypes began to appear in 1967, and their production started in 1968. Then, In 1972, Omega introduced the reference 198.030, which included the Omega calibre 1250, a ‘tuning-fork electronic movement which was made under licence from Bulova. Later we saw a merger of SSIH and ASUAG into SMH, or Société de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie. This merger took place in 1983. In 1992, the company acquired Blancpain, and in 1998, it officially branded itself from SMH to the Swatch Group. Then, in 1999, they purchased and integrated Breguet into the Swatch Group.