OMEGAMANIA
Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Apr 15, 2007
LOT 106
?DDR SAVONETTE?
Omega, No. 2520357, case No. 5192558, Ref. 843.2. Made in 1916 for the
Russian market.
Very fine and exceptionally rare, hunting-cased, 18K yellow gold, keyless pocket
chronometer, one of a series of 60 examples of ?20??? DDR savonnette? movements produced. This watch
is sold with a box, Certificate of Authenticity and 2-year Omega guarantee.
CHF 15,000 - 20,000
EUR 10,000 - 13,000 / USD 12,000 - 17,000
Sold: CHF 22,420
C. Four-body, ?bassine?, solid, polished, hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel with bold Paris numerals, outer black minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds dial. Blued steel ?Breguet? hands. M. Cal. 20 SO DDR NN, maillechort, fish scale decoration, 23 jewels, 18 in gold chatons, Guillaume balance with gold and platinum timing screws, 2 diamond endstones, blued steel Breguet balance spring, excentric cam regulator, gold wheel train. Diam. 54.7 mm. Property of a German Collector
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2 |
Very good |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
The present lot is equipped with the famous DDR caliber and received a ?Bulletin de Premiere Classe? from
the Observatoire de Neuchatel on December 20th, 1915. The DDR caliber is without doubt one of the finest
calibers produced during the 20th Century and was largely responsible for Omega?s reputation as
makers of the finest precision watches at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Cal. 20 SO DDR NN
S = Savonnette
O = Omega caliber
DDR = 23 jewels, 18 chatons, 2 diamond endstones, Observatory chronometer snail regulator.
NN = New Negative time-setting
Guillaume balance In 1899, Dr. Charles Edouard Guillaume noticed that steel with an addition of 44.4% nickel had a negative square coefficient of thermal expansion. This alloy, combined with brass in bimetallic lamina, makes its expansion close to quadratic. Balances with bimetallic rims made of anibal (anibal, an alloy invented by Guillaume, stands for Acier au Nickel pour BaLanciers) and brass are usually called Guillaume balances, or, as their inventor called them, integral balances. When combined with special balance springs, they exhibit remarkable temperature stability, on occasion not exceeding 1/50 second per day at 1oC.
Guillaume balance In 1899, Dr. Charles Edouard Guillaume noticed that steel with an addition of 44.4% nickel had a negative square coefficient of thermal expansion. This alloy, combined with brass in bimetallic lamina, makes its expansion close to quadratic. Balances with bimetallic rims made of anibal (anibal, an alloy invented by Guillaume, stands for Acier au Nickel pour BaLanciers) and brass are usually called Guillaume balances, or, as their inventor called them, integral balances. When combined with special balance springs, they exhibit remarkable temperature stability, on occasion not exceeding 1/50 second per day at 1oC.