Omega 2791-6

In the aftermath of World War II, Omega, the prolific Swiss manufacture that had poured most of its production efforts into military-grade wristwatches for pilots and officers, dusted itself off and dived headlong into producing consumer pieces once again.  But unlike the pre-war years, Omega sought to build watches that could be worn in more everyday conditions, watches that could look good on the wrist while also standing up to the onslaught of travel, weather and daily use.  

Many of the watches produced in the years immediately following the war were infused with the lessons that Omega had learned while producing reliable wristwatches for servicemen; they used stainless steel cases with simple, stalwart movements, kept dials uncluttered and legible and dotted them with radium for added visibility in low-light environs.

Even with these style notes coming right out the war-time guidebook, Omega took care to make their new consumer pieces beautiful, using yellow and pink gold to cap their stainless cases, and introduced a variety of fancy lug styles.  While the noteworthy Seamaster line was being driven largely by Omega's automatic movements, other pieces, like this one, were filled with simpler, durable manual-wind movements, making the the overall product more economically approachable to the average consumer. 

Coming at a time when gentlemen's pieces were generally smaller - about 32mm - The Omega Ref. 2791-6 was seen as a large sized watch at a hair over 35mm.  By today's standards, however, it wears perfectly, it's lyre-shaped lugs tapering suggestively and its patinated moiré dial nodding gently to Omega's earlier Art Deco styling. 

With a stalwart Omega manual-wind, 17-jewel Caliber 267 movement, this watch is perfectly appointed for the contemporary wrist and ready for decades more reliable service.