Omega Lady vintage square Yellow Gold, late 1950s

Identity

Omega square watch for women, yellow gold, late 1950s. Mechanical hand-wound movement. 18-carat yellow gold case, 15 × 15 mm, sculpted lugs, brushed case back, Ω monogrammed crown. Mother-of-pearl dial, applied gold Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o'clock, applied gold arrow-head hour markers, square hour markers at 3 and 9 o'clock, gold dauphine hands. Mineral glass. Plum leather strap, pin buckle.

Watchmaking Context

Omega was founded in 1848 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, from the counter established by Louis Brandt. His sons industrialized production and set up the manufacture in Biel. In 1894, the Omega caliber — a precision movement with crown winding and time setting — was so successful that the house adopted it as its name. Omega then built its reputation on chronometry and careful series production. Alongside its men's watches, it developed a line of women's watches in various shapes: square or rectangular gold cases, sculpted lugs, dials with applied hour markers. These watches were based on the manufacture's small shaped calibers, including the hand-wound 244 family, produced from 1938 to 1959. Sold without model names, they were distinguished only by their case reference, stamped inside the back.

Personality

The lugs fold over the strap in four faceted claws and extend the square of the case well beyond its fifteen millimeters. The case back is brushed while the rest of the case is polished, a distinction in finish that is only visible when the watch is turned over.

Watch serviced. Normal patina and wear of time. Delivered with the Contre-Temps box and the 12-month Contre-Temps warranty certificate.