A very nice men’s vintage Omega 2179/3 in a 35 mm stainless steel case from 1945 – This watch was among the very last to be made during the Second World War in Europe.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
If you ask Omega nicely, and include 120CHF (about £95), they will produce an extract from the archives for you. This watch has just such an item, and states that the watch was made on 7th May, 1945 – this was the same day that the Germans surrendered, and VE Day was on the 8th.
CONDITION
The watch carries the Omega in house 30T2 manual wind movement. The highly collectible ‘Dirty Dozen’ military watches use a different variation of the same movement (with sub seconds).
When we have checked Omega’s online resources, they say that this watch was made for the US Army. There are no markings on the back of the watch to indicate this example was ever issued though.
This is a beautifully proportioned watch. The dial is very clean, and doesn’t have radium on the numbers according to our geiger counter. This may be original, or the watch may have had a dial restoration – it is very good if it is a refurb, and we are trying to find more information on this. The hands also may have been repainted or replaced – the yellow second hand looks good, but doesn’t look like something the US Army would specify. The stainless steel case is great, especially as so many watches of this period had nickel based cases to save the metal for the War effort. The large crown appears original, and does have some cosmetic damage but work perfectly. The manual wind movement is running sweetly. The strap is a modern item chosen to resemble the one on the Omega website drawing of this watch, but changing this is easy via the 18 mm drilled lugs (whereas British Army watches were specified with fixed bars, limiting your choice of strap).
This watch will be supplied with the Omega Extract from the Archives, and our Certificate of Authenticity.
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SIZE
Width with crown 37.8 mm
Width without crown 35.0 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 42.1 mm
Case Thickness 11.6 mm
Bracelet maximum length n/a
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
