007 - Tissot PR516
A lot of us in the watch hobby are aware of the fact that Tissot and Omega are quite closely related, one good example is the Tissot 2481 which is the same movement as the Omega 1481. Even the 10xx Omega's can sometimes be found branded as Tissot.
I have this Tissot and while handling it recently I noticed that its bracelet clasp is signed Omega. Cool but I did not think anything about it... watch straps are easily swapped.
Over the weekend I decided to look into the quickset which wasn't ...quicksetting. On this calibre, the quickset is by pushing in the crown. I decased the movement and cycled the quickset, my initial guess was that the stem was cut a hair too short and the crown did not have enough travel to activate the quickset. With the movement out of the case and the crown having unrestricted movement the issue with the quickset remained so it needed some further investigation under the dial. As I am a bit swamped with watch work I decided to reinstall the movement and come back to it some other time.
On blowing the inside of the case out with my puffer, I happened to notice this, the little Omega cartouche in the middle of the crystal inner. You will find this on most original acrylic crystals. I've never seen this before on Tissots.
Next I re-examined the caseback...
Normal Tissot at first glance but it looked a bit unusual.
It seemed like it had been machined and then restamped. On closer examination, I can make out a mark in the area circled below, can you see it?
Its a bit hard to see in the pic and even with the caseback in hand you really need to have the light at the correct angle but the Omega logo can be faintly seen!
My guess is that there were a surplus of cases/bands which was diverted to Tissot which then machined off the existing markings and engraved their own logo and numbers.
Anyway hope you guys enjoy this insight into the Tissot/Omega relationship!
Anilv
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