Omega 1310 Megaquartz

Omega's first in-house quartz movement!

Description:

The Omega 1310 Megaquartz has the distinction of being Omega's very first wristwatch with an in-house produced quartz movement.

In the early 1970s, Omega made a significant investment in the development of quartz technology. This development was so expensive that it required a consortium of 20 swiss watchmaking companies to jointly fund the CEH research center (Centre Electronique Horlogerie) to develop the technology.

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Quartz wristwatches required the development of three separate new technologies to make them possible.

1. precision manufacturing techniques for creating precise quartz oscillators
2. integrated circuit technology to create the tiny computer chips used to count the oscillations of the quartz crystals
3. miniaturized stepper motors to move the hands in response in fixed increments in repsonse to the computer chip

Each of these technologies was a significant acheivement of its own. The first quartz prototypes were developed in 1962-1967 but it took until 1972 before these were released as a commercially available quartz watch movement, the Beta 21. Surprisingly, the last of these to be developed was not the integrated circuit, but was the stepper motor technology. The stepper motor technology wasn't available for the Beta 21 so that movement used an Accutron like indexing mechanism rather than a stepper motor like modern quartz watches.

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Omega used the Beta21 in its Omega 1300 Electroquartz watches, but this movement was so expensive to produce that Omega concurrantly developed their own in-house quartz movement. This movement came out a short time later in 1973, the Omega 1310 Megaquartz.

The 1310 Megaquartz features a unique mechanism for setting. On the right side are two recessed buttons. Pushing the lower one increments the date by one. Pushing the top one stops the second hand for precise synchronization.

This Omega Megaquarz model features a very 70s "TV shaped" case and an attractive dial. The dial is printed with round tick marks and has shiny silver markers placed at each hour which reflect the light along their sloped faces. This watch is rather heavy but is still amazingly comfortable due to the wide case back and well designed bracelet. The quartz movement is remarkably accurate and is nearly silent.

Condition:

Case: Very good.
The machined stainless steel case is in very good condition with only a few slight marks on its sides and top edges. The case back is in good shape but one screw is slightly mangled as shown in the photos. This doesn't inhibit removal of the case back.

Face / Hands: Excellent.
The face and hands are in excellent condition with almost no signs of age or wear.

Crystal: Very good.
The crystal is in almost mint condition with just one tiny scratch to the left. The front surface is shiny and nearly perfect otherwise.

Band / Bracelet: Very good.
The heavy stainless steel bracelet is in very good condition. The only flaw is that the pin for the top bracelet end is slightly bent, which doesn't interfere with its operation. The bracelet is complete, in excellent shape, and fits a full size 8.5" wrist.

Function / Accuracy: Excellent.
This watch functions perfectly and keeps fantastic time.