# Very Rare Omega Electroquartz



## dickstar1977 (Feb 4, 2008)

Hi all

As many of you know I am a real Omega nut, particularly the early electronic Omegas, things like the Megaquartz and the Electroquartz models.

For those of you who don't know a huge amount about them, the Omega Electroquartz was The first â€˜productionâ€™ watches appeared from Swiss makers in 1969 sharing what has now become the grandfather of quartz movements, the beta 21, a movement so advanced and expensive to develop and produce it took 16 independent Swiss watch companies working together including Rolex, Patek, IWC and Omega to develop the movement to a production model.

The beta 21 was a work of art, effectively a tuning fork watch, in a mechanical movement controlled by a quartz circuit with a frequency of 8192Khz or to us layman 8192 vibrations per second, at the time giving an unrivalled accuracy of circa 5SPM, far beyond that of even the best Rolex or Omega mechanical movement of today, even with all the coaxial technology etc this really still cant be rivaled.

Below is a beta21 in 1/75 18K gold IWC Da-vinci's I used to own but now owned by a fellow forum member:










So.....................

A few months back I got a chance to by an extremely rare variation of the Omega Electroquartz, one of circa fifty examples of an 18K model with a few special features! The first (other than the short production run) was the lack of date or second hand, the second is the chunk of solid smoked quartz for a crystal! I just fell in love with the case shape and just 70's look of it!










The case is a two piece 18K unit with an 18K dial, the movement is a variation of cal 1300 beta21, know as a 1302 (non date non second), the crystal is 'smoked quartz' and the watch was present original (the one fitted is a NOS replacement) with a dark brown croc strap and 18K buckle!



















The watch has just returned from full service at Swiss Time Services, totally overhauled and restored, although the crystal has a mark at 12 o clock, I felt it was excessive to pay the Â£550 Switzerland wanted to replace the crystal!










Over the moon at the work STS have done, the watch came with original box and papers all the way from Aus, gifted to an Omega dealer for 25 years service in 1976!

Anyway, thought I would share No:29 of a very short run of these 18K treasures with you










Cheers Tom


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Thanks for sharing, your experience & watch

Cheers Martin :thumbsup:


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## Larry from Calgary (Jun 5, 2006)

martinzx said:


> Thanks for sharing, your experience & watch
> 
> Cheers Martin :thumbsup:


 +1

:notworthy:

Larry


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## itsguy (Nov 16, 2009)

Clearly, everything about this is special, but for me its the solid quartz crystal that really gets me. Amazing. Congratulations!


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## AbingtonLad (Sep 8, 2008)

Supremely cool Tom! And very 70s, as you say :afro:

What size is this one? I'm guessing she's on the slim side, but it's difficult to tell. Is there a wee jewel in the crown?


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## dickstar1977 (Feb 4, 2008)

AbingtonLad said:


> Supremely cool Tom! And very 70s, as you say :afro:
> 
> What size is this one? I'm guessing she's on the slim side, but it's difficult to tell. Is there a wee jewel in the crown?


Thanks chaps

Quite the opposite, she's a bloody monster! The strap is 22mm lug fitting so that should give you an idea of the sheer volume of the case, will get a wrist shot and measurements tonight but it certainly is understated B)


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## GASHEAD (Aug 27, 2009)

That is one beautiful watch! Never seen one like it before - thanks for sharing.


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## martinus_scriblerus (Sep 29, 2008)

I have really enjoyed your posts in this forum. You certainly have a knack for ferreting out really cool old stuff.

I was mightily tempted when you had a couple for sale on the forum last year (I keep promising myself to buy only Hamilton electrics and landeron based electrics but find myself periodically straying).


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## dickstar1977 (Feb 4, 2008)

A wrist shot as promised:


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

Wahooo! Superb watch Tom! These are so very hard to find in any of their guises now, Im still after the chunky rectangular one, but the less said about them on a forum the better I fear, ahem...  Good catch mate!


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## dickstar1977 (Feb 4, 2008)

Thanks mate

I've got a little something to ship your way next week B)


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## JonW (Mar 23, 2005)

{claps hands like Marco from BB04 and squeals} 'Cooool!'


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## watchking1 (Nov 14, 2007)

Insane Tom. Absolutely insane.

How you find these super rare Omega with the full Monty :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:


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## Mechanical Alarm (Oct 18, 2010)

That's WAY too big for your wrist... you need to sell that to me!


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## nickkk (Feb 17, 2011)

very cool, forgive my ignorance but can i see an adjuster in the back there?

If the frequency/vibration is always the same, does it need adjusting just once when new?

or when wear in the mechanism occurs

(sorry if its a dumb question)


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## Redwolf (Jun 15, 2010)

man thats sweet!!

Wear in good health


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## Top Cat (Feb 24, 2011)

That watch looks great, it has a lot of character.


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