Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: Vintage Omega constellation C Case

Friday 21 June 2024

Vintage Omega constellation C Case

This is another Vintage Omega constellation C Case in rare Rose gold together with my favourite Vacheron 6694 “Batman”. There are many Omega C case in steel and yellow gold. The white gold and rose golds are relatively rare.

Here we have a 18k rose gold 1960s Omega Constellation C-Case 168.027 with a satin-brushed and polished 34.5mm stainless steel C-shaped case and it will comfortably sits on your wrist like a cushion.

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, and all the gold Constellations of that time had the Observatory of Geneva's 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 1964, Omega introduced its first Constellation with the “C” case, due to the case resembling two mirrored Cs, the “C” case was a modern move away from the popular round Constellations of the 1950s. The curvaceous flanks have a polished bevel edge leading to a lug-to-lug length of 40.5mm and a case thickness of 10mm ensuring a comfortable fit on your wrist.

At 3 o’clock a framed date window. At 12 o’clock an applied Omega and “Automatic Chronometer Officially Certified” printed in black. Below at 6 o'clock “Constellation” and an applied star completes this sophisticated dress watch. On the reverse a screw-down case back with an embossed Observatory and eight stars, inside an automatic Omega Cal. 564, 24 jewels, 19,800 beats per hour.

There are two groups of collectors. One group will hate its design while the other group will embrace it. I must say that the design is quite avant-garde as it goes against the traditional round, square or rectangular. Even in the modern era of 2024, there are still group of people who can’t accept its design.