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Opened July 1999, zOwie is the Internet's first and longest running discussion forum dedicated to Omega brand watches.

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Re: Omega quartz
In Response To: Omega quartz ()

: Anyone have any Omega quartz out there? If so, let's see them
: please.

I have a few Omega quartz, but none of the really early ones, or of the really significant ones. (Jim Moose . . . where are you? This is a pointed reference at you!)

I once described this one as the watch I should have gotten at high school graduation in 1977:

A quartz chronometer, in those days, the public had no real conception of the inherent accuracy of quartz and the chronometer certificate was a selling point, rather than the "gilding of the lily" most see it as today.

Roger (Agmod) you may have prompted me to pull out the camera. I realize I have never really taken other than identifying shots of my quartz. So there may be more photos later, depending on how the weekend goes . . .

Omega moved on in their development and exploration of quartz . . . . . these two were released in 1981. They experimented with cramming in more functions, with making the watches more functional and presentable, and with showing how the form could actually be dramatic and interesting.

First, a reversible watch, call it a "quartz Reverso", with an analog face on one side (note the strong similarity of style of this and the quartz chronometer above) . . . . . .


. . . . .and digital functionality on the other (dual time zone/date, alarm, chronograph and countdown timer)


And the dramatic and interesting form?

Only 2.6mm thick, the La Magique lives up to its name

And, yes, you can see right through it.

Omega was not complete with their pushing of the limits of quartz technology. In 1988, no one else had made a quartz watch with an analog presentation of chronograph timings to 1/100th of a second. This Seamaster, in the Polaris case design, was the first. This one was a numbered limited edition for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and Calgary.

Note the decimal outer scale for the 1/100th of a second readings

Here you can see the "rattrapante-style" hand set, with the lower hand moving to the 1/100th of the second when the hands are stopped.

There have been few Omega quartz that have interested me since these early explorations, so I have no more . . . .

. . . but I would love to see what interests you!!

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