1940s steel vintage Omega WW2 Pilots watch

Date:             1943

Case:             Steel back, 33.5mm

Movement: Omega 30T2

Dial:             Arabic numerals

Lugs:            18mm

A fabulous example of a WW2 Pilots vintage Omega watch for the civilian market!

A 1943, stainless steel vintage Omega watch. The case measures 33.5mm in diameter with 18mm lug size. The case is signed Dennison, Made in England, reference 13322 and numbered. The manual wind 30T2 calibre movement is signed Omega, Swiss, numbered, with 16 jewels. The dial, with original patina, has black Arabic numerals, with centre sweep seconds and fine blued steel ‘poires indes’ hands. The dial is signed Omega above the centre.

 

The “30” series of movements, of which the 30T2 is the most famous, was first manufactured in 1939. So accurate and reliable was this simple manual movement that it launched a whole family of 15 and 17 jewel movements. The movement went through several evolutions, starting off with a 15 jewel movement before being “upgraded” to a 17 jewel, shock-protected movement with a balance regulated with screws and fitted with a Breguet overcoil balance spring. After 1949, Omega changed their movement nomenclature, the 30T2 became the 26x-28x series of movements, and the final descendant is the calibre 286, whose manufacture ceased in 1966. In short, most every manual-winding Omega in this more than 25 year period, from Calatrava-style references to manual winding Seamasters and Rancheros, all shared the same movement DNA. This sharing of the movement across broad model lines gives rise to a wide variety in terms of cases and dials, part of the attraction of collecting these 30T2 models.