1969 Omega De Ville Date Chronograph Blue 146.017
Ref: 146.017

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with an original vintage Omega box and outer box, no original paperwork is provided with the watch. The watch comes paired with its original stainless steel Omega signed bracelet which will fit up to a 7.25inch wrist. The watch is from Circa. 1969 and is in worn vintage condition so signs of wear and age will be seen, scratches to the case and bracelet. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

In 1967 Omega launched the De Ville as a stand-alone line, a much more streamlined, varied, and younger feel than the Seamaster, it soon became Omega’s best-selling collection. We have here a rare Omega De Ville Chronograph whose production run was only 2 years, its 35mm stainless steel case shares the same DNA as the Seamaster of the time, a 40mm lug to lug the polished and brushed case with gently curved lugs ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. On the right side, we have the pushers and a slimmer signed crown. The thin bezel holds its original Acrylic Crystal. Now for the star of the show a vibrant Electric Blue dial that catches the light in an exciting way as you turn your wrist to check the time, around the outside edge sits the Tachymetre, fine tritium-coated baton markers for hours. At 3 o’clock a recessed 30-minute register with concentric circle patterning, giving the impression that it is smaller than the left one, at 9 o’clock the continuous 60 seconds register has a simple crosshair design along with unusually the date window due to the movement used. White fence hands alongside the chronograph seconds hand complete this incredible dial, its symmetry is just perfect, Omega really nailed it. On the reverse, a screw-down case back, inside a manually wound Omega Cal. 930, 17 jewels, based on the Lemania 3872 that comes from the same family as the famous column wheel Cal. 320, 321 found in Speedmasters, Seamasters, and many others, the 930 is lever action and instead of the usual hourly totaliser has a non-quickset date function. The watch comes paired with its original Omega 19mm stainless steel bracelet with a signed folding clasp.

Personal Note

The Brand

Formerly known as the La Generale Watch Co. in 1848 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 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 an astronaut's first choice. 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 Horloger (CEH). Prototypes began to appear in 1967 with their production starting 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 rebranded itself from SMH to the Swatch Group. Then, in 1999, they purchased and integrated Breguet into the Swatch Group.