The world of vintage watches, just like other antiquities, the rare things are more sought after and are pegged at higher values; the Omega Flightmasters, being rare and exquisite, are among these. These watches, which were a variant of the Speedmaster line, were engineered by Omega from 1969 through the early 1970s and marketed towards pilots as they were specifically designed for their needs.

The Omega Flightmasters were not the usual chronographs in terms of timekeeping that the company manufactured and were, by far the coolest and the most kitsch watches of that era. These chronographs had seven hands which were color coordinated; three crowns and two push buttons, (all to suit the pilots’ needs) making it the most complicated chronograph Omega had built till that time. The watch could measure time from 1/5th of a second to 12 hours on the chronograph.

Just like other Omega lines, the Flightmaster has a caseback inscription or medallion; there is a jet engraved on the back with the Omega symbol on top and ‘flightmaster’ (all small caps) written below it. There were only two original ‘flightmasters’ series produced and both of them had the signature 2nd  blue hour hand that resembled a jetliner. A rare but third all solid-gold Flightmaster was also made which is the heaviest watch that Omega has produced till date. Part of the weight was due to the gold case on gold bracelet design which also featured a gold caseback. Apart from that, both the variants had very little difference between them.

The Omega Flightmasters were fashioned from a single block of Swedish steel and also had an unique joining system that enabled it to function in complete vacuum. The GMT hand (that resembled a jetliner) was capable of telling time, at the same instance, of a different place which made the watch more alluring as this quality was considered a big feat at that time.

Omega Flightmaster c.911 (ST145.036)

This watch employed a manual wind caliber 861 base Omega movement that had a 12-Hour GMT hand complication and was originally produced at the Bienne in Switzerland. The hand movement, which was uni-directional, could be controlled by the crown located at 10 o’clock whereas the other crown on the left hand side that was located at 8.30, controlled the bezel that was, in a  unique type, under the mineral crystal cover.

Omega Flightmaster c.910 (ST145.013)

This Omega Flightmaster has the same base movement (caliber 861) as that of the c.911 with the only exception that the seconds sub-register that rests at 9 o’clock is modified and replaced with a 24-hour AM/PM indicator. Apart from that, the watch is identical to the other Flightmaster.

The Flightmasters have at times been referred to as ‘Monster’ sized watch which does not go well with the aficionados and collectors. Nonetheless, it remains every collector’s dream to lay his/her hand on one. Naturally, the price and value of these vintage watches is on a steady rise.

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