Omega Automatic De Ville question from a newbie

[petesbween]

Hi everyone,

Just discovered this forum, amazing! I am a vintage audio buff and it's great to see the same level of enthusiasm for time pieces.

My dad passed away and left me several watches. One of them is a very cool Omega Automatic De Ville. I am trying to find info about Omega (a link on Omega history?), when this one was made and if it was very common. Also I've seen a lot of De Villes that are also Seamasters, and wonder what the difference is. I found these pics on photobucket.com that look exactly like it, even the numbers on the back are the same. Thanks for your help!

[ulackfocus]

Hi. The reference (model) number of 165033 was made from 1967 to 1972. It should have a caliber 552 inside, which will have a serial number on it that can be used to tell the year the watch was made. That case opens from the front though so have a watchmaker do the work - the crystal & bezel are taken off and then the crown & stem are removed to pull the dial / hands / movement out. Nice watch and even better that it's an heirloom.

[petesbween]

Thanks very much! I'll have a pro check it out.

[gatorcpa]

Here is the information on your watch from the Omega Vintage Database:

Omega Vintage Watches - Collection | ST 165.0033

You didn't say anything about the case material. This model was made in steel, gold-plate and solid gold. There really isn't a whole lot of difference between a DeVille and a Seamaster DeVille, except to say that while all Seamaster DeVilles were in water-resistant cases, not all DeVilles were water resistant. Really more of a US marketing thing at that time.

Yours is one of the water resistant ones,
gatorcpa