So John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration Omega finally went for sale, not at ebay this time Purchased by Omega for their museum it went for $350,000 which was a bit less than I thought here.

Its a nice watch for sure, could do with a redial to make it minty [hehehehehe] but to be honest if I was President of the most powerful nation on earth a nice pie-pan connie would have been better!

On 9 November 1960, John F. Kennedy at 43 years of age became the youngest man ever elected to the office of President of the United States of America. At his Inauguration Ceremony, he wore his Omega and a photograph was published in LIFE magazine which prominently showed this watch on Kennedy’s wrist. The President continued to wear the watch and whenever he would see Stockdale he would make a point of showing him that he was wearing the watch, which he nicknamed ‘the Stockdale watch’.

omega.com

They don’t come much rarer than this one off and it has a nice bit of history behind it but somebody at Omega beat it with the ugly stick!

Already north of $13,000 with still over a day to go this could break $20,000. If Elton John played golf it could go for a lot more

A big thanks to Ryan for spotting this and dropping me the tip [all tips more than welcome].

This watch was won by the World Famous Davis Love III for scoring an Eagle on the 9th Hole a par 5 with an island green at the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City!!!!! Incredible watch. One Of One!!!!! HUGE Omega Solid 18kt Seamaster Professional 300m Chronograph watch.

eBay

26 October 2005 – What better way to celebrate ten years of partnership than to continue such a successful working relationship? Omega is pleased to announce the extension of its agreement with Michael Schumacher as an international ambassador for the brand. The seven-times Formula 1 World Champion and passionate watch collector is one of the longest serving Omega ambassadors and has already added a special touch to numerous international events organised by Omega.

Well its news but not exactly earth moving. What is more interesting is that photographers were on hand to record Schumacher’s visit to Omega Bienne and inadvertently revealed what looks at first glance to be plans for a possible Planet Ocean Chronograph. On the other hand it is just as likely to be another Speedmaster version, this one with an Orange bezel and a hat tip to the 1950’s [the “Speedmaster” on the drawings may or may not be a clue :)].

See for yourself.

Been waiting for this for a few weeks now and it finally arrived today. Well worth the wait!

The quality and feel of the leather is beyond compare and by the same people that do the leather for Ferrari. Now don’t get me wrong I love collecting Omega watches most of all but I have a real soft spot for genuine Omega storage and display stuff, it really doesn’t get any better than this.

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Dating from the early to mid-sixties this Seamaster 600 is really a very classy example of a vintage Omega. Still surprises me just how cheap these go for, you should be able to pick a decent example up for no more than £250 with a little patience.

I normally shy away from gold plated Omega’s but the combination of the low price and those rather funky elongated Arabic numerals turned my head, I’m glad they did.

Dressy in a sporty way and looks much better on the wrist than in the pictures. I recommend everybody has at least one

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I thought it was about time I took a bunch of shots of this one, getting close to when it needs to go away for a little TLC.

Restoration is a personal thing, my view is that you need to keep the watch as original as humanly possible. On this 2915, sat in a drawer since the 70’s, there is not a great deal that needs doing. It needs an original crown and one is on its way, I have acquired a full set of hands if needed, we shall see as I’m not 100% convinced that the sub hands need replacing. The original bracelet 7077 is on the way too. Dial needs a clean, maybe just maybe a relume in tritium, maybe not. That leaves us with the bezel, its a tough one to call and a personal decision but I feel that its either original or its not, that leaves me with the task, the near impossible task, of locating an original bezel. The only other possible alternative is to have an exact replica custom made, and I mean exact! Its the “right” thing to do.

Take a look at this bunch of pics, hopefully I will be back with some “after” shots sometime in the future. No rush though as the 50th anniversary is not until 2007 [the speedmaster 2915 was created in 1957], I’d just like it to be ready for then. The images in the pictures with 50 Club on them are from a promotion that Omega ran with its dealers staff in the early 1980’s , if you sold 50 watches you got to choose a free Omega for yourself up to a value of £175. I just thought it was appropriate for the 2915, soon to be a true member of the 50 club along with the 2913 and 2914, I’m tempted to include the Ranchero 2990 in that club too.

Enjoy!

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Hard to describe how snagging an early bracelet feels, not as nice a feeling as getting a watch…but almost. Its a sort of responsibility thing, trying to reunite a vintage watch with the correct bracelet just feels like the right thing to do. Bracelets are in many ways harder to source than the watches which results in a watch with the correct bracelet fetching quite a premium.

Take a look at this Omega 7912 bracelet, from early 1962 and issued first with the later Speedmaster CK 2998 and the Railmaster 2914, I don’t have either watch….but I have plans

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If Omega retain the “product placement” rights will they go with a new Bond watch? My money would be on the Planet Ocean, I think the old Bond watch is looking a little tired.

Now a special edition 007 James Bond Planet Ocean watch has a certain ring to it!

It seems fitting that the film industry’s biggest secret — who would replace Pierce Brosnan as 007 — was broken one day early by Daniel Craig’s delighted mother. Her name is Blond — Carol Blond. And it follows that the newly anointed Craig will be the first blond actor to play Ian Fleming’s dark-haired sadist.

Craig is not an obvious choice. Although possessed of a smouldering screen presence and piercing blue eyes, his nickname “Mr Potato Head” suggests that he lacks the clean good looks of his five predecessors as James Bond — Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Brosnan.

He likes his beer – not shaken, not stirred – Sunday Times – Times Online

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Sometimes you just have to go against the grain, and squeezing a 22mm chunky strap on a De Ville dress watch can sometimes work wonders.

What do you think?

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What with this little cracker and the “inspired by” Aqua Terra I’ve not been able to drag myself out of the 1950’s all week.

I think I’ll stay here a little longer!

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