Vintage Omega De Ville Pocket Watch 131.1714 Cal. 601 Manual Wind 1969

SPECIFICATION

Reference: Omega De Ville 131.1714
Movement: Cal 601
Age: circa 1969
Case Size: 44mm
Case Thickness: 8.5mm
Condition: used Omega Pocket watch
Box & Papers: No
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Warranty: 12-Months Warranty

POINTS OF MENTION

• In lovely pre-owned condition, with light wear from use
• Traditional stainless steel snap-back pocket watch case
  
• Clean time-only dial layout
• Most hour indices now show the underlying gold tone
• Fully serviced manually wound movement
• Signed Omega crown
  
• Signed Omega crystal

The Omega De Ville 131.1714 pocket watch

Is a wonderfully elegant late-1960s pocket watch that captures the clean and increasingly minimalist design language Omega was exploring during this period.
Its 44mm stainless steel case has a slim, uncomplicated profile, giving the watch a far more modern appearance than the heavier and more traditional pocket watches of earlier generations. The result is a beautifully refined piece that feels equally at home with formal tailoring today as it would have done when first produced.
The dial is particularly attractive in its simplicity. A raised Omega logo sits at 12 o’clock, balanced by the solitary “De Ville” script at 6 o’clock. With no date window or unnecessary dial text to interrupt the design, the watch has a wonderfully calm and symmetrical appearance.

Inside is Omega’s calibre 601, a 17-jewel manually wound movement beating at 19,800 vibrations per hour. Better known for its use within Omega wristwatches, the calibre’s slim construction made it ideally suited to this unusually sleek style of pocket watch. It provides approximately 48 hours of power reserve when fully wound.
The movement has been fully serviced by our in-house watchmaker and is ready to be enjoyed once again.

About Omega's return to a pocket watch and the De-Ville name

By the end of the 1960s, the pocket watch was no longer the everyday necessity it had once been. Wristwatches had long since become the dominant way of carrying time, yet changing fashions created a small but fascinating revival in interest.

The mid to late1960s saw a return to expressive menswear, including three-piece suits, waistcoats and more adventurous formal tailoring it became to be know as the 'Peacock Revolution' . A slim pocket watch could once again form part of that look, although the large and often substantial pocket watches of previous generations did not always suit the cleaner lines of the era.

Omega’s approach was distinctly modern. Rather than returning to a large traditional pocket watch movement, the company housed its compact calibre 601 within a purpose-built 44mm case. This allowed Omega to create a pocket watch that retained the character and ceremony of an earlier time while remaining slim, practical and unmistakably contemporary.

The reference is known as both 1714 and 131.1714, with surviving examples found in stainless steel and precious-metal cases. Comparable examples confirm the 44mm case format and use of Omega’s manually wound calibre 601.

The De Ville name is particularly fitting. Originally associated with Omega’s more refined Seamaster models, De Ville developed into an independent collection centred around elegance, simplicity and sophisticated dress design. This pocket watch represents an unusual extension of that philosophy beyond the wrist.

OUR THOUGHTS

This is a wonderfully unusual piece of Omega history.

Where many pocket watches look firmly rooted in the early decades of the twentieth century, this De Ville feels distinctly modern. Its slim stainless steel case, restrained dial and beautifully simple proportions give it a timeless quality that remains remarkably wearable today.The use of the calibre 601 also makes it an appealing and practical vintage piece. It combines the charm and ritual of carrying a mechanical pocket watch with one of Omega’s most dependable manually wound movements.

Whether worn traditionally with a waistcoat, carried as an occasional dress piece or simply enjoyed as part of an Omega collection, it is a fascinating reminder that even during the age of the wristwatch, Omega was still finding inventive ways to keep the pocket watch alive.