zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

According to president of Swatch Group South-East Asia and country manager of Omega David Ponzo, Antiquorum's horological expert Brandon Thomas, Omega special projects manager Claude Guelbert and Nicholas Mauboussin of Antiquorum Paris, all four agree the best bets are the prototypes or one-offs, meaning they are truly one of a kind. Their favourites, in no particular order:
Alaska Project (Lot 211, est RM35,000); “A classic case of unnecessary interference when the good should be left alone! For two years, 1971 to 1973, Omega tried to improve its Speedmaster for NASA. After the Swiss patent was granted, this watch was triumphantly shown to NASA only to be told the space agency was perfectly satisfied with the existing Speedmaster and saw no need for any innovation! So this watch remains one of its kind as no other was made!”

MIR Watch (Lot 242, est RM70,000); “This watch spent 365 days onboard MIR Space Station from 1993 to 1994, the longest on record and still worked perfectly upon its return! A historically important watch.”

Gold Flightmaster (Lot 268, est RM75,000); “Only 200 were made in 1971, the first delivered to King Hussein of Jordan.”

Flightmaster X-33 (Lot 271, est RM50,000); “A 1996 prototype that features both digital and analogue time.”

Missions (Lot 235, est RM350,000); “This lot consists of 23 Speedmaster watches, each carrying the badge of all the Omega space missions from 1965 to 1973.”

Gold Observatory Tourbillion (Lot 109, est RM570,000); “Rare and important, this was made in 1947 and tested in the 1950 Geneva Observatory where it scored 812 points, the 10th highest.”

Marine Chronometer (Lot 188, est RM14,000); “Doesn’t look it but this is the world’s most accurate wrist watch! You can use this and dictate the time to TV and radio stations!”

Chocolate Dial (Lot 210, est RM18,000); “This stainless steel watch circa 1974 has an unusual black dial that slowly changed over time to dark chocolate upon exposure to sunlight!”

100-Year-Old Left Hand (Lot 33, est RM 12,000); “A century ago, watches were worn on the right wrist, regardless whether you were right or left-handed. Only later was it fashionable for men to wear on the left hand and women on the right hand. Also, watches were not wound on the wrist at that time.”

Ursula Andress Ring Watch (Lot 273, est RM220,000); “In 1969, Omega invited famed jeweller Andrew Grima to design 55 different watches, each absolutely unique. This 28-diamond, platinum and tourmaline ring watch was purchased by Ursula Andress, the first Bond girl who played Honey Ryder in Dr No in 1962.”

Casino Royale Planet Ocean (Lot 300, est RM30,000); “The actual watch worn by Daniel Craig during the filming of Casino Royale! He returned it to us rather scratched and dirty as he did most of the stunts! It has not been cleaned, serviced or refurbished for obvious reasons!”