OMEGA 1040 SEAMASTER MkIII CHRONOGRAPH 1972
One of my favorites... a massive block of stainless in a Flightmaster design... the Seamaster Automatic Chronograph Mark III. Fitted with one of the best automatic chronograph movements ever made the Omega 1040 caliber which is a slightly modified Lemania 1340 with added 24h indicator at 9. There are many detailed reviews on these movements so please follow the highlighted links to a whole bunch of specialized chrono websites. I honestly wanted to buy a Flightmaster but I ended up with this beauty, fairly identical case ref. 176.0002 but with automatic winding and at half the price of the cult caliber 910 pilot watch. The Flightmaster will have to wait another decade before I'll be able to afford one ;)
The bidirectional rotor has real micro ball-bearings so it rotates smoothly and quietly and most important of all it does not wobble when exposed to shock. The 1040 movement is highbeat with 28.800 bph and was very expensive to produce so they were only made from 1970 until 1975. The chrono layout is unusual as there is no subregister for single minutes... instead these are indicated with the long arrow hand with orange tip with each full revolution equal to one hour. Completed hours are then added on the bottom 6 o'clock subregister "totalizer". This Mark III is truly a collector piece and experts say that you just can't go wrong by starting a chrono collection with a 1040. I guess I was lucky... but the 910 Flightmaster is still on my wishlist.
Keywords: omega seamaster, automatic chronograph,
mk III, 176.0002, 1040, lemania 1340
Market value: 1000-2500$ (condition, box)