OMEGA De Ville Chronograph Ref.145.017, 1960s

— The moon's own bloodline —

Where the Speedmaster tells the grand story of space, the De Ville speaks for the refinement of the city. Ref.145.017, made at the end of the 1960s during Omega's finest period, carries calibre 860 — the movement that took the lunar calibre 861 and removed the 12-hour register, sharpening the watch into something purely elegant.

A matt black dial with no tachymeter, two sub-dials, and a 35mm case pared back to essentials. A chronograph, and yet unmistakably a dress watch.

— Two circles, and the space around them —

Two sub-dials, placed with nothing wasted on a taut matt black dial. Without a tachymeter scale the face stays clear and intelligent. At 35mm the case never overstates itself, and slips easily under a shirt cuff.

— A pedigree hidden in the case —

The case was made by EPSA (Ervin Piquerez SA), the specialist behind the Super Compressor and other high-performance water-resistant cases, and carries their stylised diving-bell stamp.

The feel of winding the crown and the discreet beat of a mechanical movement give this watch something beyond the reading of time.