George13

In browsing various movements online, I've come across "AS" sometimes referred to as "Adolph Schild" and sometimes as "Anton". Maybe I've simply failed to see the definitive reference which gives the answer so I'd welcome being pointed in the right direction. Best wishes to all. George

Many thanks for this information, following my initial query about my mother-in-law's watch. Jenny was gifted it by her husband during a trip to Switzerland in, I think, 1946. This was due to the fact that Tom had spent more than a year interned there as an escaped POW and wanted his new wife to meet the family he had stayed with. They all became lifelong friends, and Tom is still around, now aged 102. Jenny's watch would have been from the lower end of the market, since they had really stretched things financially just to get to Switzerland. I'm now hitting myself on the forehead and saying "Doh!", having totally failed to pick up on the underline/overline of the Omnia mark and so reading it as "Omnta". However, the Gisiger & Greder story looks very interesting, and the company trajectory seems typical of many of the smaller Swiss manufacturers, mostly no longer with us. The under/overlined "Omnia" wordmark is definitely on this particular watch, so was in use, if not formally registered, by 1946. Again, many thanks for your help with this.

I've inherited my mother-in-law's little art deco Omnta, which her husband bought her in Switzerland circa 1946. It would not have been expensive. I'll try to take a decent pic, but I'm as much interested in the brand. Searches online produce several "Monta" - not what I'm after at all - and the only Omnta I get are the hefty 1970s models which appear to use the Baumgartner 866 movement. The "25" model at that time implies a 25th anniversary of the brand which would put it's foundation in the late-ish 1940s, thus making my little deco model quite an early one. I can't see it in Mikrolisk. Does anyone have any information on this brand please?

Thanks for the welcome guys. I'm in Edinburgh (all fur coat and nae...), and it IS sunny just this minute (Monday, 3.02pm). Nice to know the kilt contingent is here.

Hello all I’ve been hanging around here for a while, learning a lot, so I suppose it’s about time I said hello. I got interested in vintage watches 3 or 4 years ago, having one or two inherited ones (ladies Omnta circa 1946 anyone?) and also began to explore watches for sale online, starting with Longines and its associated companies (eg Record). I prefer the style of a simple dress watch, and don’t go for complications, with big divers looking a bit overpowering on my skinny wrist. I see my watches as a sort of art collection, showing changes in style over the years. It's also helpful that they tell me the time. I now have some examples of a few modest brands, mostly mid-century, partly due to budget limits (I’m an old codger). I like the style of watches from the period of Swiss watchmaking about 1945-1975, and don’t mind if a watch has lived a bit, as long as it's interesting and the underlying quality is good. A bit like myself, I'd like to think, though my wife would likely disagree! I may well be posting questions later, but you’ll be relieved to hear that they won’t be “How much is this old watch worth?”