A Breakthrough For Omega: The 1951 Omega Seamaster reference 2627

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Saying that the reference 2627 was a breakthrough for Omega is a bold statement. Omega had achieved incredible feats in the watch industry up until this point, and their innovation continued straight through to this day. It is also a bold statement because the breakthrough that Omega made, which had to do with the date complication, really was not something new in the watch world. But breakthroughs can be described in many different ways. It does not always have to be a first for the industry, or a huge new innovation. Sometimes impacting other areas of an industry in different ways can be equally as important.

Before diving into 1951 and the watch at hand, we must first go back to 1948. 1948 was the year that Omega launched their longest running line of watches, the Seamaster. The Seamaster’s were based on the designs made for the Bridge Royal Navy towards the end of World War II. The original models had O-ring gaskets used to keep the watches waterproof and were developed to be used in Submarines during the war. The Seamaster has obviously evolved into so many different models and incorporate many movements, like the infamous co-axial escapement, but more on that for a subsequent article.

1952 was the first year that Omega released the reference 2627 Omega Seamaster. Up until this point, Omega had no released a watch that featured a date complication. Other brands had done this though, namely Rolex had released their first Datejust in 1945 that had an automatic movement with a date window on the dial. Date complications can be seen on dials of watches well before this though, like in the 1930’s. But for Omega, this reference is historic. It was the first time that Omega decided to compete in the space of having a date on the dials of their watches.

This completely changed the aesthetic of the dials of their Seamaster models. When a watch company does something like this, it can be a nervous time because who knows how the market would react. Luckily, watch complications were genuinely used as tools during this time period, so the reference 2627’s date window at 6 o’clock was extremely useful.

Now to describe this reference a bit more in detail - the reference was brought to market in a 35mm case, either in stainless steel or in a 14k gold-capped case. The lugs are long and chamfered and have spring bar holes in them which makes it easy to switch out straps. The dials of the references came in a few variations; black and white dials are the most common but there are some versions of the 2627’s that feature honeycomb dials that are extremely desirable by collectors. The version we are looking at today has a white dial that has retained its original shine showing just a bit of age, giving it a creamy hue.

The reference features gold applied hour markers and has an applied Omega logo. Below the logo, the Omega name and ‘automatic’ is printed in black text. Towards six o’clock, above the date window, ‘Seamaster’ and ‘Calendar’ is printed. Now looking at this text with a loupe, the Seamaster Calendar is a darker font than the Omega Automatic text, so it is likely that this section of the dial may have been reprinted.

Now onto the date wheel. The date window is framed by a gold frame. The easiest versions of the reference 2627 featured a square date window. In 1953, Omega changed the window to feature a trapezoid shape. This version of the reference has the square date.

You are likely questioning why this watch has a date of 1951, when the reference was released in 1952. Well that is because this is a very early version of the 2627. Leading up to the release in 1952, the cases and movements were likely produced in 1951, and so there are some 2627’s out there with serial numbers that place the production year in 1951. Needless to say, it makes this watch even more important as it was one of the earliest versions of this groundbreaking reference for Omega.

Behind the stainless steel screw-down caseback is the caliber 353 movement; the beating heart that makes the date complication come to life. The caliber 353 is a bumper automatic movement that was one of two movements fitted in the reference 2627. The other caliber was the caliber 355. Obviously it features the date complication, and brought the brand into the discussion when it came to watches with the date complication.

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