OMEGA DeVille

The Omega De Ville was originally a part of the Seamaster range upon its introduction in the 1960’s but just a few years later, the model had gained such traction and notability for its simple and elegant style. This simplistic elegance, which differed from the diver based models of its time, is said to have been brought about by the fact that it was designed by a team in the cosmopolitan city of Geneva and not in the brands headquarters in Bienne.
In 1967 Omega launched the De Ville Collection. The De Ville has been a mainstay in the decades since and has evolved with the brands advances in watchmaking but maintains its refined and sophisticated design for which the collection is known.
The 1960’s and 1970’s particularly saw many design changes such as case variations, with round, square, rectangular and tonneau shaped cases all being part of the range. The dominance of the round case became more evident in the late 1980’s -1990s and has become the style that is most associated with the De Ville in the modern market with all watches in the most recent collections having classic round cases.
The De Ville Collection is now home to a number of Sub-collections, the collections in the most current De Ville range are Ladymatic, Prestige, Trésor and Tourbillon.
All timepieces in each collection, maintain the elegance that has come to be expected of the range. Despite this classic sophistication each piece maintains its own, unique identity.
The De Ville Ladymatic was originally launched by Omega in the 1955 and was a groundbreaking piece of its time, it was one of the first self-winding watches to be created specifically for women. The Ladymatic was reimagined and introduced as part of the De Ville collection in 2010. Instantly recognisable by its bracelet made up of wave edged links, a detail that is included even on watches that are fitted with a fabric or leather strap, the wave design is etched at the point where the strap meets the watch case. Omegas connection to the ocean is never far away and can be seen across the brands timepieces in many forms. The most current models are all fitted with the co-axial calibre 8520 & 8521 movements and despite the dress style, is 100m water resistant and ready for everyday wear. The Ladymatic is unique in its style, it’s doesn’t have the sweeping case leading to lugs for attaching the bracelet or strap as we see with other Omega collections, but almost giving the illusion of these two parts of the watch being very separate and barely making contact. As the name suggests and in line with its history, the Ladymatic is a ladies collection with a number of dial and metal options and varying levels of diamond set options.

The largest De Ville collection is the Prestige, a sleek and refined dress style watch makes the Prestige one of Omegas most popular timepieces. The classic and simple elegance of this range takes its lead from the De Ville models of the 1950’s & 60’s and this is the reason it has proven to be so popular since its release in 1994. It effortlessly lends itself to both casual day wear and evening dress wear and still provides the highest quality and performance, as has become standard for Omega. The De Ville Prestige’s slimline design along with varying metals, bracelet and strap options and case sizes from 24.4mm-41mm means that it really does offer a watch to suit all wrists. The most recent release of the third generation prestige has seen the case depth being slimmed further and its case and bracelet designs refined to be in keeping with the new slimmer profile.
The Trésor is another sub-collection of De Ville and is predominantly ladies collection with only a handful of gents styles in the range. Made up of mostly quartz models the name Trésor was originally used to describe the excellence and precision of the movement in the De Ville of the 1940’s, trésor meaning treasure. The Trésor collection is a beautifully elegant range that is specifically aimed and the new generation of Omega wearers , priding itself on its feminine lines and diamonds that sweep from case to lug on opposite sides of the case, the Trésor is a modern icon. The detail in the design of this collection is what makes it special, in addition to the graduated diamonds on the watch case , there is also a diamond set into the crown of each ladies De Ville Trésor which is surrounded by a red ceramic flower design and a treat that is just for the wearer is the mirrored case back with a delicate pattern which Omega calls ‘her time’ making this feature functional yet beautiful. The from the 26mm mini to the Power reserve model at 40mm, the Trésor is offered in a huge variety of coloured dials , straps and metals including the brands ‘Moonshine Gold’, ‘Sedna Gold’ and Steel.
The ladies collection are all fitted with the Omega 4061 quartz movement, all of which have the ‘long life’ promise which makes efficient use of the battery power and providing a 48 month battery life. The quartz movement lends itself perfectly to keeping the case profile as slim as possible, with the case thickness for all sizes measuring 9.8mm or slimmer, with the gents co-axial master chronometer pieces measuring 10.1mm and small second and power reserve models jumping to 10.7mm to house these complicated movements.

The most exclusive range in the De Ville collection is the epitome of everything that Omega has strived to achieve and the precision of timekeeping that it has become renowned. The Tourbillon is a small and exclusive collection that is aimed at the most discerning and avid of watch collectors, these limited and numbered editions are a true luxury timepiece. All handcrafted by a select group of Swiss watchmakers , this is the Omegas first Master chronometer, central tourbillon that is anti-magnetic upto 15,000 gauss. A true representation of the brands capabilities.