Omega

Team, This sunny morning, where we transition from the Winter to Spring, I dear friend show me this watch: The Omega Montreal Olympic Games of 1976, case ref. 396.0839 with a caliber 1611. Normally I don't pay attention to quartz watches but this one is r...  

I only saw two of those and I like to share the 70's madness here. Imagine yourself dressed 70's styled wearing the Albatross! "Nico, the ladies man"!!! Quite cool, for that crazy time. Cheers, Nilo

From Omega? The Ploprof, for example. Best, Nicolas

That there are lots of watches, from Omega and others, that are much cooler from our XXI century perspective. But in 70's ... - Progressive Rock - Saturday Night Fever - Quartz watches Cool at that time. Cheers, Nilo

Nice watch... It's hard to find this model in good condition... Really good catch!!

. . . ahead of its time. It should've been dedicated to Michael Groß, the West German Olympian . . . . . . who won several medals in the '80s. His nickname was 'The Albatross'. :-) ...  

Art, My Olympics knowledge is so limited that I could not associate the name to the watch. Ironic fact: The Albatross watch don't seem to be waterproof. Thanks for the great clarification. Cheers, Nilo

. . . since Michael Groß was only twelve at the time of the '76 Olympics. His fame came in '84; that's why I said the Omega was 'ahead of its time'. I think the reason for the unusual name is the extreme width of the case, and nothing more than that. Art ... 

With a single "s" at the end, that is the German spell for the English "Albatross" but no explanation about the name origin was given. Notice that some references states that the "Albatros" is the name of the movement 1611 and not from the watch, that on ... 

. . . in colloquial English refers to something unusable due to obsolescence. If the context for usage of he term is, "That movement is an albatross," then the connotation is negative. Let's see if Omega can shed some light . . .

From the horse's mouth: (Source ) (Source - Internet) Notice the battery clamp format - hence the Albatross (Albatros in German). Cheers, Nilo ...  

. . . and yes, the clamps look very much like the wings of a bird.