Brought to you by Berry Harleman - Watches Expert
This week we have an extremely rare Omega Seamaster XVI in our auction, one of just 100 in existence! These watches were Omega’s first Olympic commemorative wristwatches rather than pocket watches. They were created to honour the 1956 summer games in Melbourne, but the design had to be changed before they could be sold commercially. The Seamaster in our auction is one of the so called ‘pre-commercial’ prototypes. Keep reading to find out more about why this watch is so unique and why this design couldn’t be sold commercially.
The Olympic Games
Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympic games since 1932 and has been creating commemorative watches for these events since the 50s. The Melbourne Summer Olympics was unique in itself because it was the first summer Olympic games to be held in the southern hemisphere and the games took place during the local summertime in November and December.
Image Source: melbourneartnetwork.com.au
25th Anniversary
In 1952, Omega was awarded with the Olympic Cross of Merit for their outstanding service to the sports world. They decided to use this design to produce an extra special commemorative watch to honour their 25 years of official service to the Olympics, which coincided with the 16th summer games in Melbourne. The result was this stunning design featuring the Cross of Merit and the interlocking Olympic rings.
The Redesign
Two different styles of dials were created: one with red rings, which is on our auction, and a slightly rarer version with different coloured rings. Adding more colours is a more difficult process, so the multi-coloured rings edition is considered to be slightly rarer. The red rings version however, is still an exceptionally rare watch with a great story. What’s so great about it? Omega wasn’t allowed to use the Cross of Merit commercially, so they weren’t allowed to produce their original design. This means that these 100 prototype watches were either never on the commercial market, or were recalled. The watch was redesigned to feature the Roman numeral XVI on the dial in place of the Cross of Merit and this new Seamaster XVI design was released for commercial sale.
You may want to add this rare Seamaster XVI to your collection now that you have the chance! Because there are only 100 made, they're not up for sale very often. You can own a piece of Olympic and Omega history for the right bid, but don’t wait too long, this Watch auction ends on the 18th of June and who knows when another will show up on the market.