Vintage style watches: a blast from the past at Baselworld from Omega and Zenith

By Rebecca Doulton

Retro, classic, old-school – whatever you want to call it – vintage-style watches that look like they were born anywhere between the 1950s and 1970s are dead cool.

Recently, we have seen a real revival of them thanks to Piaget with its groovy stone dials and imaginative cases. But there has also been a return to those classic watches you might have seen on your grandfather’s wrist or, for a more contemporary reference, on one of the male characters in the hit TV series Mad Men. I am referring to the antithesis of the watches with thousands of functions on the dial that populated the watch world a few years ago. These watches are classic dress watches – slim-cased timepieces with classy dials, lean indices and hands, and just the right amount of information a human being can digest without requiring a PhD in astronomy.

Omega watches has always featured smart dress watches with this profile in its De Ville collection and this year introduced the Globemaster, a 39mm men’s watch with the iconic pie-pan dial made famous by the Omega Constellation models in 1952 and the fluted dial of a Vintage Constellation watch of 1968. They might look like oldies but these vintage-style watches are the recipient of Omega’s latest technology and have earned the title of Master Chronometer. This new watch certification – known as METAS – takes testing beyond the standard COSC chronometer tests and subjects the watch to magnetic fields of 15,000 gauss.

Presented in stainless steel, two-tone gold and steel combinations, and Omega’s Sedna gold, the sub-brushed blue dial – an on-trend colour at Baselworld 2015 – features the applied indices and date window at 6 o’clock, with luminescent hour, minute and seconds hands. The Co-Axial Master Chronometer calibre 8900/8901 powering these vintage-style watches can be viewed from the caseback.

Zenith watches also opted for a vintage look for its new Elite 6150 model. Running on an ultra-thin calibre and a mere 3.93mm thick, these vintage-style watches feature a robust 100-hour power reserve. The sleek silver-cambered dial with its baton hour markers and graceful 42mm case, with a thickness of just 10mm, is destined to become another Zenith icon alongside its sporty brother El Primero. In the same vein, Zenith watches El Primero Chronograph Classic shows how a chronograph can double up as a dapper gentlemen’s dress watch in this handsome 42mm rose gold or stainless steel case, beating at the same high frequency as its intrepid brother.

Omega Globemaster comes in a variety of metals including Omega’s proprietary Sedna gold, as well as yellow gold, stainless steel and two-tone combinations of steel and gold. The 39mm case features the hallmark fluting on the bezel, an inheritance from the Vintage Constellation watch of 1968.
El Primero Chronograph Classic 42mm in steel

Zenith

£ 6,100
The Zenith Elite 6150 hails the return of a formidable Zenith movement first launched in 1994 to sit alongside the iconic El Primero calibre. The new Elite 6150 has increased the power reserve from 50 to 100 hours, all within a sleek 42mm cambered case.
Elite 6150 42mm in steel

Zenith

£ 5,600
Zenith El Primero Chronograph Classic is one of the most handsome chronograph watches on the market today. With its lean 42mm rose gold case and cambered dial with bi-compax display, this watch is a classic for tomorrow.
Globemaster Master Chronometer in steel

Omega

£ 4,785
The grand return of dress watches continues this year with powerful, state-of-the-art movements housed in vintage-style cases. The new Omega Globemaster erupts on the scene with its 39mm case and pie-pan dial, which featured on the original 1952 Constellation model.