Geneva, Nov 09, 2025

LOT 420

OMEGA, SWITZERLAND, “GRADE VERY BEST”, POCKET CHRONOMETER, CALIBRE 43.15 S; LIMITED PRODUCTION OF 300 PIECES, 14K YELLOW GOLD

CHF 6,000 - 10,000

HKD 59,000 - 98,000 / USD 7,500 - 12,500 / EUR 6,500 - 10,800 / JPY 1,140,000 - 1,900,000

Sold: CHF 6,875

A very fine, rare and important, 14k yellow gold, manual wind hunting-cased keyless pocket chronometer, one of a series of 300 pieces made in 1921. White enamel dial with suspended “Breguet” numerals, with the word “Chronomètre” in red at 12 o’clock, with subsidiary seconds at 6.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3-8

Good

Slightly scratched
Movement: 3-6*

Good

Slightly oxidized

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Omega, Switzerland

Model “GRADE VERY BEST”

Year Circa 1921

Movement No. 5983856

Case No. 7609713

Bracelet 113 gr.

Caliber 18’’’, calibre 43.15 S, “Grade Very Best”, rhodium-plated, 23 jewels, going barrel with safety pinion,gold train of wheels, gold screwed-chatons (setting), straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensated balance with gold poising screws and blued steel Breguet hairspring, index regulator with swan-neck spring and precision-regulating device for fast / slow by means of an eccentric snail, adjusted to 6 positions and temperatures.

Diameter 52 mm.

Signature Dial, case and movement

Notes

Cal. 43.15 S “Grade Very Best”

The “Grade Very Best” replaced the “DDR” as Omega’s highest quality chronometer movement in July 1922. This calibre was made in 600 examples: 300 “Lépine” movements (for open-face watch) and 300 “savonnette” movements (for hunting-case watch).

The term “Very Best” was trademarked by Omega for dials, cases and movements in 1904.

The present watch cost 1 085 Swiss francs in 1929.By way of comparison, that same year Tiffany & Co. sold a Patek Philippe minute-repeating perpetual calendar pocket watch with moon phases, split-seconds chronograph and 30-minute counter for 2 835 Swiss francs, and a standard 18K gold hunting-case pocket watch with 20’’’ movements could be bought for 385 Swiss francs.

The fact that this watch cost nearly 40 % as much as a highly complicated Patek Philippe and over four times as much as that company’s standard production is due to the cost of manufacturing such a high-precision movement.

Precision movements are made to much smaller mechanical tolerances than standard watch movements and often take as long to manufacture and regulate as complicated movements. Precision watches were also prized possessions and were often reserved for the manufacturer’s best clients.