Movement Symbol: Omega

Submitted by pato242 on July 21, 2012 - 7:46pm

Hi all ,

I have just got hold of  a Bulova 666 and i brought it from a respectible watch maker in Australia ( i have posted a few photo,s of it ) i noticed when looking at the specs it said Omega movement ? as i am still learning about movements, collectable watches , ect . I just wanted to know if this was a mistake . but now i don,t think so . i just had a look at a 1940 unknown and it says it has a Omega movement .so can any tell me did Bulova use Omega movements and are they more collectable and how can u tell What sort of movement ???

Thanz Pato

plainsmen
Posted July 21, 2012 - 7:48pm

The Omega symbol... is what we're talking about here.  Bulova used a date stamp on it's watches.  The Omega SYMBOL... is stamped into the 1940 watch to indicate it's date.  It's a Bulova movement.  Similarly a Shield symbol was used for 1939... a T symbol for 1942... etc.

OldTicker
Posted July 21, 2012 - 7:53pm

Maybe Rev Rob would know if Bulova used a Omega movement in its later 70's & 80's watches, but the Omega symbol was only used to date the Bulova watch movements in 1940 & 1930.

pato242
Posted July 21, 2012 - 9:07pm

Ok thank u for clearing that up for me ?

DarHin
Posted July 21, 2012 - 9:29pm

OT, I was thinking the same thing. I looked in my Besfit catalog and Dr Ranfft's site to see if the 11BLACD was based on an Omega movement but the Bestfit catalog doesn't even list the 11BLACD. Dr Ranfft has the 11BLACD but doesn't reference a base movement.

OldTicker
Posted July 21, 2012 - 9:55pm

Sorry for the confusion pato, I was thinking this was dated 1977, not 1969 when I made my last post...but it could be based off of a Omega movement or shared by the same movement manufacturer, seems that the technology used in these types of watches were used in other brands of watches as well, a watchmaker like Rev Rob, Mike from Timemachines or Jeff from Timerestoration are better qualified to answer the question...

These are the Omega Symbols that Plainsman & I were referring to that are stamped on the older movements.

Reverend Rob
Posted July 21, 2012 - 10:32pm

Omega is not affiliated in any way with Bulova, and you would not find an Omega movt in a Bulova, unless someone put it there after the fact. Bulova used movts based on many Swiss ebauches, and owned the Swiss factory where they were modified. They also owned the US factory where mods were done in later years, and produced wholly US made and designed movts as well.  Ebauches used by Bulova included FHF, FEF, Aurore-Villaret, A. Schild, ETA, Junghans, Felsa, Glycine, Sonceboz, Le Phare, Peseux, Venus, Buren, and even Gruen.  Currently, Bulova is owned by Citizen/Miyota. 

The only major company* who can claim to have used movts either based on, or wholly manufactured by Omega is Tissot, and that would have been many years ago. 

*edit: There are other, lesser known companies which also used Omega ebauches, some of which were owned in part by Omega, like Tissot. 

OldTicker
Posted July 21, 2012 - 10:43pm

See...most of the confusion has already been cleared up...LOL!

pato242
Posted July 22, 2012 - 2:41am

Right that,s that !   Cheers all , I will say it again Sweet site very informative

Good onyas  if any one has a few tips it would be kool as what sort to collect and dare i say even other brands    (  i have a nice Sicura and a almost good as new Orfina 27j and a Ceres swiss looks good about 1960, plus Citizen ,Seiko, Trident,chronos and a few others ) so sorry if i have upset any one but any info is good info 

Thanx Pato

Nemesis
Posted August 26, 2012 - 6:02pm

Hello,
Omega used a movement based on a Bulova tuning fork movement,
Totally awesome and mega accurate for its time, but the Bulova 218 calibre will always be the jewel in the crown for me, i have several of these all humming away beautifully, i believe now Bulova use Citizen movements for there precisionist line. Modern times i suppose.

Reverend Rob
Posted August 26, 2012 - 6:54pm

Good point, Nemesis. The so-called "Rolls Royce" of tuning fork movements, the ESA 9162/9164 was used in Omega as the F300, and also in Tissots, Baume and Mercier, Longines Ultronic, and Eterna Sonic. This movement was also designed by Max Hetzel, who previously worked for Bulova starting in 1948.