zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

I was just musing in traffic the other day (since I lost the earpiece to my bluetooth headset and the darn thing is useless -- and I have been too lazy to find a -- gasp -- wired earphone I must have 6 or 7 of). I usually make two or three calls in my 30 minute commute, but have had time to think instead.

Men's watches have gone beyond the mostly tasteless excess sizes of the 1970s. (I will just keep buying vintage until this too, passes.) I understand that ladies are becoming some of my competition as they begin to buy vintage men's watches, as the size is now fashionable and the prices are much less.

But remember what your mother or grandmother wore, back in the day? Or if you are not old enough to remember, what you see in old movies, your old photographs and pieces you can get from Mom's jewelry box?

Ladies watches were delicate, tiny ornamentation and often timekeeping seemed a secondary function. Because they are out of style, often these are available as a great bargain. Teenagers and younger women (in my life) seem to enjoy some of the retro styles. So, I have collected a few, given many as gifts and have held onto a few unusual items.

So let's see a few of the tiny indecipherable ladies watches of a past era and some of the watches tied to your memory of Mom or Grandmom.

1924 Omega OJ 716 AI, calibre 23.7 T2, worn by my wife

transitional watch, the case is still hinged

Watches from the pre-WWII era were still large enough to be legible. This Gruen Guild went to my eldest daughter.

My youngest daughter took this one, a completely generic Swiss with an Efes marked movement. As you can see, water resistance is not one of its features

Ladies snap up the 1930s era thin Curvex styles

As well as post-war (1950s) styles from Gruen, which I haven't given away because all the girls want this one

But this is an Omega forum, and the point was that ladies watches were tiny. By the mid-1950s Omega succeeded in making tiny ladies automatics

To give this a sense of scale, look at other automatics from the same era in this group shot. The men's watches are both small: 32.5mm and 34mm cases. The ladies calibre 455 is dwarfed. The apparent improvement in women's eyesight had begun.

A half generation later in the 1970s, ladies watches are huge, comparatively. But look at what huge means . . . this one I gave to my sister in law, a nurse, as it was large enough to see and with a second hand, and easy to clean.

Ladies watches remain small, and even the large ones are small by today's standards. Both of these automatic Devilles are tiny now, the first from the 1960s and the second from the 1970s -- don't you recognize the echoes of the gold nugget jewelry in the last one?

See the group shot for a comparison

another 1970s's ladies automatic, another gift

Manual winds were even smaller

A 1966 calibre 690 backwinder my wife wears as jewelry

One of the many tiny calibre 480-485 jewelry pieces, this one my youngest daughters, 15.5mm wide

After the 1970s, quartz development made watches go larger until the technology once again allowed smaller watches. I have no ladies watches, nor have any gone through my hands since that era, except my wife's current holdings.

What do you remember -- show us some examples!!