Omega Omega Speedmaster 863 Model Ref 3592.50 Glass Back NWW 2143
Omega Speedmaster 863 Model Ref 3592.50 Glass Back
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch 863. It is a 48 xxx xxx serial number meaning it dates between 1988 and 1997. Probably 1996 to 1997 since in 1996, the 3592.50 used a new caseback without “Apollo XI” engraving and with a new style bracelet, reference 1499, which is the first of the more solid, chunkier bracelets. It’s a rare watch and approximately 1000 pieces were produced with this reference number. It is marked out by this number it has the classic hesalite acrylic crystal and sapphire glass case back. The movement is the Omega Calibre 863 which is based on the Lemania 1873 movement. The movement is a gilt movement and superseded the earlier copper colour movement. It has the tritium dial which has a nice fade to the tritum. During production the 3592.50 reference changed the dial to luminova so the tritium dial on an already rare watch is even rarer. All functions working correctly, keeping good time. No box or papers.
MOVEMENT
Calibre: Omega 863 Manual-winding chronograph movement
Base Lemania 1873
Jewels 18
Frequency 21,600 V/ph
Power reserve: 45 hours
Hand decorated gilt movement
CRYSTAL
Hesalite (acrylic) crystal with OMEGA logo in the centre
Sapphire Crystal to case back
WATCH CASE & DIAL
Case: Steel Case
Diameter: 42 mm
Between lugs: 20 mm
Dial Colour: Black
BRACELET
Material: Stainless steel
Buckle type: Foldover clasp
Buckle material: Stainless steel
Key Characteristics
Additional Product Details
Omega Watches. Founded at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1848 by 23-year-old Louis Brandt who assembled key-wound precision pocket watches from parts supplied by local craftsmen. He travelled throughout Europe selling his watches from Italy to Scandinavia by way of England, his chief market. After Louis Brandt's death in 1879, his two sons Louis-Paul and Cesar, troubled by irregular deliveries of questionable quality, abandoned the unsatisfactory assembly workshop system in favour of in-house manufacturing and total production control. Due to the greater supply of manpower, communications and energy in Bienne, the enterprise moved into a small factory in January 1880, then bought the entire building in December. Two years later the company moved into a converted spinning-factory in the Gurzelen district of Bienne, where headquarters are still situated today. Their first series-produced calibres, Labrador and Gurzelen, as well as, the famous Omega calibre of 1894, would ensure the brand's marketing success. Louis-Paul and Cesar Brandt both died in 1903, leaving one of Switzerland's largest watch companies - with 240,000 watches produced annually and employing 800 people - in the hands of four young people, the oldest of whom, Paul-Emile Brandt, was not yet 24. Considered to be the great architect and builder of OMEGA, Paul-Emile's influence would be felt over the next half-century. The economic difficulties brought on by the First World War would lead him to work actively from 1925 toward the union of OMEGA and Tissot, then to their merger in 1930 within the group SSIH, Geneva. Under his leadership, then that of Joseph Reiser beginning in 1955, the SSIH Group continued to grow and multiply, absorbing or creating some fifty companies. By the seventies, SSIH had become Switzerland's number one producer of finished watches and number three in the world. Weakened by the severe monetary crisis and recession of 1975 to 1980, SSIH was bailed out by the banks in 1981. Switzerland's other watchmaking giant ASUAG, principal producer of movement blanks and owner of the Longines, Rado and Swatch brands, was saved in similar fashion one year later. After drastic financial cleansing and a restructuring of the two groups' R&D and production operations at the ETA complex in Granges, the two giants merged in 1983 to form the Holding ASUAG-SSIH. In 1985 the holding company was taken over by a group of private investors under the strategy and leadership of Nicolas Hayek. Immediately renamed SMH, Société suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie, the new group achieved rapid growth and success to become today's top watch producer in the world. Named Swatch Group in 1998, it now includes Blancpain and Breguet. Dynamic and flourishing, OMEGA remains one of its most prestigious flagship brands