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Author
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Topic: Omega timepieces' early use in flight
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drifting to the right
Member Posts: 156
From:
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 07-12-2023 01:20 PM
  
Omega timepieces have a long and successful association with spaceflight, as has been often discussed on this forum. A little research also reveals that it was additionally witness to the early days of military aviation. In 1916 at the height of WWI the British Army procured the Mark V watch, a modified pocket watch, from Omega and three other Swiss manufacturers for use in aircraft. They were made of nickel or steel for endurance, and most were 30 hour, nonluminous (most flights daylight), with a dark dial and white hands & numerals for quick visibility. Many had an elongated winding stem to fit into the instrument panel and are thus dubbed,"cockpit watches." The watches were property of the Army Royal Flying Corps (precursor to the RAF), and pilots had to sign for them before each flight. They were expected to be returned, the only acceptable excuse being a crash beyond enemy lines! Has anyone been fortunate enough to obtain one of these? |
Philip
Member Posts: 6221
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-07-2023 03:06 AM
At the beginning of WW I, RFC pilots had to buy their own watches, some used the well-known 46 mm solid Silver cased Omega Aviator chronograph with push button at six o'clock position.During Covid-period I figured out the complete story of how such an Omega aviator watch got into the hands of British officer/diplomat Thomas Edward Lawrence aka "Lawrence of Arabia". An Omega chronograph which resurfaced in Britain during summer of 1979. This historic 46 mm enamel dial big crown aviator chronograph was bought by the Omega museum during an auction in November 2000. Last but not least, Omega commemorated this military chronograph model by creating 18 replicas or homages of the watch 105 years later, in 2018. These homages used actual 18‴ CHRO chronograph movements from 1913. | |
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