At the Geneva Watch Auction, Phillips auctioned off the steel prototype of an Omega wristwatch tourbillon for CHF 1,428,500. The watch, sold after a 19-minute bidding battle, broke the world record for an Omega sold at auction. It features a tourbillon escapement with a Guillaume balance and is the first prototype of a series of Omega wrist tourbillons from the late 1940s that unfortunately never saw the light of day.
The 37.5 mm watch, powered by Omega's manual '30 I' calibre, has a dial and buckle with the brand's logo and is accompanied by an extract from the brand's archives confirming 1947 as the year of production and that it is the only complete Omega '30 I' Tourbillon wristwatch in existence.
In 1947, the company created 12 Tourbillon Calibre '30 I' movements with a diameter of only 30 mm to compete in the 'wristwatch' category during the precision competitions organised by the Geneva, Neuchatel and Kew Teddington Observatories. Between 1947 and 1952, the 12 calibres participated in several competitions and in 1950 achieved the highest result ever achieved in the 'wristwatch' category in Geneva.
This model, which had remained hidden for decades, was produced directly as a wrist tourbillon in 1947 and was not part of the 12 movements known to date, a fact that underlines even more the importance of its discovery for the brand's history.
