Omega 1947 Tourbillon Wristwatch Prototype

Technical characteristics

Type

Tourbillon watch

Auction Venue

Phillips Bacs & Rosso Geneva Auction Six

Place recorded

Switzerland

Intended Purpose

Prototype never meant for sale

Movement Calibre

Calibre 30 I

Year of Production

1947

Maker / attribution

Omega

Design

Visible features

• Light-toned dial with applied Arabic numerals at 12, 3, and 9 and dart-style hour markers • Outer railway-style or segmented minute track • Engine-turned subsidiary seconds dial positioned above 6 o'clock • Dial printed beneath 12 o'clock with the Omega symbol, 'CHRONOMÈTRE', and 'OMEGA' • Polished silver-toned metal case with faceted lugs and a fluted winding crown at 3 o'clock • Mounted on a dark brown leather strap

Visual Observations

Visual inspection shows a light-toned dial configured with applied Arabic numerals at 12, 3, and 9 and dart-style hour markers. Below 12 o'clock, the dial is printed with the Omega symbol, 'CHRONOMÈTRE', and 'OMEGA'. An engine-turned subsidiary seconds dial sits above 6 o'clock, encircled by an outer railway-style or segmented minute track. The watch features a polished silver-toned metal case with faceted lugs and a fluted winding crown at 3 o'clock. The piece is mounted on a dark brown leather strap.

Prototype Identity and Production Context

According to auction cataloguing cited by the source, this watch represents a pre-series wristwatch prototype produced by Omega in 1947. Omega had originally created twelve Calibre 30 I tourbillon movements measuring 30mm in diameter specifically to compete in the 'wristwatch' category of timing trials at the Geneva, Neuchâtel, and Kew-Teddington Observatories, with none intended for public retail. While seven of the initial twelve competition calibres were later rediscovered and cased by Omega in 1987, historical documentation and drawings preserved at the Omega Museum indicate an initiative to house a 30mm tourbillon in a wristwatch case. This discovery brought the known count of Calibre 30 I movements to thirteen, with the present piece identified as a surviving prototype resulting from that development program.

Historical Background and Archival Sources

The conceptual motivation for casing the Calibre 30 I tourbillon is tied to a 1947 letter written by Marcel Vuilleumier, the head of the Watchmaking School of the Vallée de Joux, preserved in the Omega Museum. In it, Vuilleumier emphasized the imperative for the Swiss watch industry to focus on precision instruments and suggested developing a tourbillon wristwatch in response to foreign competition. Archival holdings also yielded a contemporary 1947 technical drawing outlining a wristwatch prototype case intended to house the 30mm Calibre 30 I movement. The auction house cited this drawing as material evidence that development progressed beyond bench testing into physical pre-series watch assembly.

Identification

Source note

Facts transcribed from the linked source listing or collection record. Attribution and specifications are source-reported and have not been independently authenticated.

Catalogue references

No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.