Omega Papillon Solid Gold Vintage Watch 162.003

Silver papillon dial, gold hands

18k solid gold watch case with screwdown caseback

34mm

Automatic movement, cal. 561, chronometer grade, serial: 22254707

New, Italian handmade, black pigskin leather strap

Overall the watch is in mint condition. Dial and hands are in mint condition. The watch case is in mint condition, unpolished. The movement is in excellent condition. The watch was just serviced by our watchmaker, runs with an amplitude over 300°, thus is in very good running condition, keeping very accurate time (+2s/d). The watch was unearthed as a drawer found in Rome, Italy. Rare & stunning!

Somewhat surprising perhaps is to learn that Omega felt an occasion worthy of a special commemorative watch was when they received the Golden Mercury prize in 1965. The Golden Mercury prize is the equivalent of an Oscar for commerce. Today the organization resides in Paris and appears to mainly give the award to larger east European companies following the fall of the Iron Curtain. Back in the sixties Omega got the prize for “their exemplary activities favoring the Italian economy and the efficiency of their sales network”. Only issued once annually worldwide the Golden Mercury award was considered quite an achievement. The award caused the official Omega importer for Italy at the time, Carlos De Marchi, to have Omega make a small series of 200 special watches made in 1966 to celebrate the occasion. The watches were not individually numbered as we would expect today of a limited edition watch.

2750€