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This is part 3 of this series, which covers post-war ads from the “Dirty Dozen”. The first installment, which can be read here, covered Buren, Cyma, Eterna and Grana. Part 2 covered IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lemania, and Longines. This final installment covers Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex.
Omega Advertisement From The 1950s
You could argue that the 1950s was the foundational decade that shaped the modern Omega we know and love today. It introduced the first Constellation model in 1952 – a chronometer fitted with the calibre 354 movement. This is now one of Omega’s oldest collections. The famous domed, “pie pan” dials found on 1950s and 1960s Constellation models have been reborn somewhat with Omega’s current Globemaster collection.
Omega also introduced its Professional line of watches in 1957. This trilogy consisted of the Seamaster 300, Speedmaster, and Railmaster. While the Seamaster was technically around since 1948, the Seamaster 300 is the watch that was introduced in 1957 as a dedicated diver. In other words, it was the first true, dyed-in-the-wool Seamaster dive watch.
Record Advertisement From 1953
Like Omega, Record was able to produce a large amount of watches for the Ministry of Defense. It churned out approximately 25,000 watches, making it one of the larger producers of the twelve companies that comprised the “Dirty Dozen”.
The watches Record contributed to the Allied forces were made with cases of a chrome-plated alloy, making them difficult to find in good shape today. Record went on to make headway into the American market for railroad pocket watches, producing movements for the Ball watch company.
In 1949, Record released the Datofix, a complicated calendar watch, complete with moonphase, with an in-house movement. Some would say Record was a high-end movement-maker back in the day. It was one of the few (the others being JLC, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin) capable of producing such complicated watches in-house at that time.
Record was eventually purchased in 1961 – by none other than its fellow Dirty Dozen-member, Longines. It operated as a relatively independent brand under Longines until the Swatch takeover in the 1980s. Record was going through a tough time, and was inevitably shut down in 1991.
It’s another watchmaker that’s relatively unknown today, but should be much more acknowledged than it is. Some would even argue that some of Record’s chronograph movements in the 1930s were so good, they were comparable to Patek Philippe!
Timor Advertisement From 1949
A well known name in the UK at the time, Timor secured a contract to produce watches for the Ministry of Defense, churning out roughly 13,000 watches.
The company ventured into complex, mechanical alarm watches in the 1950s. After the 1960s, however, the brand pretty much disappeared. Timor was recently resurrected, and more about the modern company can be found here.
Vertex
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a vintage Vortex ad for the life of me. Sorry for ending on such an empty note. Vertex was a very interesting brand, though, and was actually the only British watchmaker in the original Dirty Dozen. Like Timor, the brand has recently been resurrected by Don Cochrane, the great-grandson of Vertex’s original founder.
Know more about Omega, Record, Timor, and Vertex and want to add to the discussion? Please post a comment below!