Omega Automatic Cal.28.10 RA 9ct 1947

Omega Watches

Since the company was founded in 1848, Omega has pioneered a huge range of technical innovations in watchmaking. Britain’s Royal Flying Corps chose Omega watches in 1917 as official timekeepers for its pilots and again in 1940, RAF Pilots watches were supplied by Omega. The 1940s also saw the first tourbillon wristwatch and the first of the famous Seamaster watches, whilst the 1950s and ’60s introduced the legendary Constellation, Speedmaster, Seamaster 300 and Railmaster. Over these years, everyone from John F. Kennedy to Elvis wore Omega watches on official duties. What’s more, in 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra took his Omega Speedmaster into space on NASA’s Mercury Sigma 7 mission, and in 1969 two Omega Speedmasters were the first watches to arrive on the moon, worn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Description

This watch contains Omega’s first automatic movement, the Cal.28.10 RA, which was produced from 1942 to 1949. This movement became the Cal.342 in 1949 which then remained in production until 1955. This highly successful movement, with a power reserve of 42 hours, became the foundation of Omega’s automatic movement family with 1,300,000 produced, of which 500,000 were Chronometers. This series powered many thousands of the early Omega Seamaster and Constellation watches and much of the modern-day success of the Omega company we know today can rightly be attributed to this movement.

The Dial

The original, unrestored and untouched silver dial carries wonderful ‘arrowhead’ and stud hour indices with the indices being  swept by the original unrestored ‘leaf’ hands. This wonderful dial also carries a perfectly proportioned subsidiary seconds dial at 6. The dial is beautifully balanced and the style is clean and elegant, with a slight military influence.

The dial simply carries the Omega brand and Omega Automatic signature, with ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom.

As mentioned above, the dial here is completely original, unrestored and untouched. We have left this completely alone to retain its originality and charm, as it is in outstanding condition for a watch of this age. Usually we restore the dial as part of the overall restoration process of each watch we sell. This is because watch dials over 50 years old tend to become very unsightly due to damage from sunlight, moisture and pollution which takes the form of fading, staining, spotting and pitting. Watch dials also become very easily marked when a watch is dismantled for servicing and this is often evidenced in the form of scratches. Here however, the dial is simply outstanding, with wonderful signs of ageing shown in the slight crazing and spotting.

 The Movement

As discussed above, the Omega Cal.28.10 RA was Omega’s first automatic movement and and one which later evolved into the highly successful Calibre 330 series of automatic movements. This became the foundation of Omega’s later automatic collection and was directly responsible for the huge success of the  Seamaster and Constellation family from the middle of the last century onwards.

The beryllium bronze movement is in superb condition and is marked ‘Omega Watch Co’, ‘Swiss’ and ’17 Jewels’ with the Calibre number 28.10 RA and the serial number 10615081, which dates the manufacture of the watch to 1947.

The movement has been fully overhauled and serviced by our vintage Omega specialist watchmaker and the watch winds runs & sets smoothly and is keeping excellent time. Following its service, it has been calibrated and is currently running arrow straight at -16 seconds/day! This excellent for any watch of this age and has been verified on our electronic timegrapher instrument. The watch also has an excellent power reserve of 42 hours. We are therefore more than happy to offer 12 months warranty on the movement of this watch*.

*Please note, our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the full list price is paid.

The Case

The very elegant 9ct yellow gold case measures 32mm in diameter, excluding the correct Omega winding crown, making this a mid-sized wristwatch for the period. The case is of a three-piece construction with a press-fit case back which is of full thickness and has never been engraved. This is tight-fitting and presses down with a pleasing and reassuring click.

The ribbed case profile and overall design carries a good deal of 1940s style with nicely crafted lugs which shows the case to be of obvious high quality and sophistication.

The watch has been very well cared for and after a close inspection has simply required a careful clean and a gentle polish to bring it back to its current, almost as new condition. The case, the case-back and bezel are all in superb condition with no marks or scratches visible to the naked eye. Even under high magnification, it is very hard to find any signs of wear, indicating this watch has seen very little use and has had a charmed life.

As this is a Dennison made case, inside the case-back all is as expected and correctly signed: ‘Dennison Made in England’ and ‘A.L.D’ with the  case serial number 225134 and the case reference number number 12308. The case also carries Birmingham 9ct hallmarks. Dennison and Sons in Birmingham and Shackman and Sons in London, both produced top quality cases for almost all of the watch brands you see on this website.

Please note – as ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap & Buckle

A new high quality brown leather strap has been fitted, along with an Omega gold-plated buckle. However, if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to oblige free of charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown and black in stock in plain padded leather, crocodile skin or lizard skin, but can also obtain most types and colours at short notice.

The Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, all the numbers and markings on the watch are correct, dating the watch to 1947.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

The high quality hardwood presentation box shown in the photographs is included with this watch.

In Conclusion

Here we have an exceptionally high quality vintage wristwatch with one of the most important automatic movements of all time.

Omega watches of this quality and rarity will always remain collectable and values will remain strong, so this watch will make an excellent investment and family heirloom piece. Even though vintage Omega prices have risen markedly of late, we feel excellent examples such as this still remain undervalued. Each year as the world market for fine vintage watches grows ever wider, limited availability means prices are surely destined to climb ever higher!

A word about our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach inevitably means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are a number of well-known stores in West London which are very successful, charging between two to three times the price you see here. We therefore consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.

We are happy to accept PayPal as this is the quickest method of payment. However, if you would wish to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to pass on a 3% transaction saving to you. Paying by bank transfer for a 3% saving will not affect your 12 months warranty. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or International Bank Wire Transfer, we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and unfortunately out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges, however attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those that happen to visit the UK on occasion we are of course more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and your watch directly to you there.

Please note, we also welcome part exchanges and if you have a watch or small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss.

We will be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.

If you have any questions please call on Landline 0207 727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.

We await your call and we will be happy to answer any questions and offer advice about this or any of our watches listed for sale. If you would like some general advice regarding any aspect of vintage watches, including buying, selling, or collecting vintage watches, we will also be happy to hear from you.

Finally, please enjoy some time spent viewing our other fine vintage gold watches.

Thank you.