A Closer Look: The Omega ‘Geneve’ Watch
In the distant watch-nerd past known as B.I., (before Instagram) the main source of horology info came from online forums and message boards. Back in the day on these forums, if you had an Omega, it needed to be a Speedy. If it wasn’t one of those, then a Seamaster would suffice. There were even a few people that stuck up for the Constellation, as sometimes that watch came with a chronograph-grade movement.
(Also, a lot of people like that pie-pan look, for reasons unbeknownst to actual good taste.)
On those same forums, almost no one seemed to give props to the rather simply-named Omega Geneve line of watches. But why?
It all got started in the early 1950’s when Omega began adding the word ‘Geneve’ to their 30mm watches. A watch of that type set records in the Geneva Observatory trials in 1953, and the marketing department decided to commemorate the occasion with a bit of a dial ‘flex.’
But that was as ‘big’ as the Geneve-branded Omegas ever got.
The success of their Professional line (Seamaster, Speedmaster, and Railmaster) in the late ’50s unfortunately hurt the marketing of the Geneve line. This disparity was then reflected in retail prices. But if you’re a lover of design and precision, these sometimes-forgotten pieces hold a whole lot of value.
Geneve-branded watches used the same movements as almost all other Omega timepieces; they just weren’t purpose-built for sea depths or space flights. Some can even be found with chronometer-spec movements if this is what you desire. But back to the design; Omega Geneve pieces were always meant to be the ‘essence of what an Omega was.’ Compared to some of their more specialist pieces, the design of the O.G.’s were usually more pared-back in a way. Cleaner. The cases were usually slimmer, the watches usually had more negative space on the dial.
None of these qualities are bad.
Did I mention that you can still find them all over the place under a grand, and in a lot of places under 500 bucks? Yep, containing the same movements as the more-famous Omega watches. More unassuming, more under-the-radar, more low-key. Minimal-style design. And cheap. This is a can’t-lose formula if one was to ever exist! (Wish I was getting paid for the amount of hyphens used in a paragraph, btw., I’d be the LeBron James of this situation r/n.)
Anyway, the Omega Geneve watches are cool. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. You can find them in 50s and 60s staidness, 70s funk, and 80s computer cool styles. Plus about 25 other styles I don’t have an interesting nickname for. I do have a nickname for the watch btw; the Omega O.G..
(Every hip vintage watch has a nickname.)
Pick one up if you can; and when I say ‘if you can’ I’m being extremely rhetorically silly because there’s no such thing as a waitlist or whatever for one of these watches. They’re just cool because they’re cool.
(If you’re interested in vintage watches as well as design, art, and architecture…follow us on Instagram + check out our webpage! Shout out to our new contributor and Norwegian homie @vintagekrono on IG: the photo of the blue Omega Geneve at the top of the page is his!)
