Don Aldo
2
Gorgeous watches, Bill!
When I visited the Omega Museum back in December '06, I had the chance to see and document some other Omega pilot/military watches that I hadn't yet heard about or seen on the internet.
This one button chronograph wristwatch (with the Omega cal. 28.9 or Lemania cal. 13CH) was worn by officers and pilots who flew on Italo Balbo's historic Rome-Chicago flight.
And here's an onboard aircraft chronograph clock which was also used by these same commanders and pilots (I don't know about the 'calibre 39mm' which the blurb at the museum mentions but it wouldn't surprise me if the base ebauche were the Lemania cal. 19NT):
Here's a pic of a 1930s Omega pilot watch. To the left of the pilot watch is a funny looking watch head with a 24 hour dial: as far as I know such watches could be used when taking pictures during aerial reconnaissance. A composite shot would be taken of both the terrain below and the watch plus any relevant handwritten notes - that way one could have one picture where one could see both the land that had been scouted, the time when the photo had been taken, plus any additional notes.
Here's a close-up of that little 24 hour clock/watch:
At centre is the US Signal Corps issue Omega wristlet, among a pile of other 'trench' watches (behind and to the left is one of Omega's first wrist watches, manufactured in 1902:
And of course, here's the RAF Omega '53 (thin arrow) which we've all seen before but the twist on this one is that it seems to be on its original strap - or at least it just seems that way to me because the strap seems to match the one used in the accompanying vintage ad to the right:
And here's a shot of the British army issue WWW Omega - which seems to be on a dark green strap:
One of the oddest military timepieces I saw at the museum was this one button 30 minute timer. I have no idea if or what the caseback markings are on this piece but it certainly is quite interesting:
I own a similar timepiece which uses, as a base ebauche the Lemania cal. 15 CHT (or the Omega cal. 33.3) and here are some pics of mine:
And here's an Omega military issue timepiece that the museum doesn't have but which I have in my collection. It's a tiny little pocket watch with a diameter of 30mm. Here's some info which I received from Omega's vintage watch service a few years ago regarding the movement:
mvt N° 4'618'619
manual winding movement of caliber 13''' SO - quality ANN
manufactured in 1912
I hope you've enjoyed this trip through Omega military/pilot esoterica!
