Posted by UPDATE – April 2017
I have received credible information that this dial is not authentic nor any type of test or prototype dial. It is a modded watch, put together well after the 1970s with a homemade dial. I won’t get into any further detail because I don’t want to put the owner or my source on blast.
Last week I wrote about some dials that didn’t make it to my 1040 dials Collector’s Guide. Most of these were obvious redials, but there were two “fume” dials I consider to be potentially, plausibly, somewhat, legit. I’d need some confirmation from a credible source before elevating them to legitimate, but I consider it possible that these were prototypes or test dials produced for Omega in the 70s that leaked out into the world.
The “Destro” (left-handed) version in particular has some attributes that make me think it might have been the work of Omega or one of their suppliers rather than some creative modder. In last week’s post, I described this dial as the normal movement and dial layout flipped 180 degrees. However, it isn’t quite as simple as repainting the dial and then wearing the watch upside-down. There is at least one, and perhaps four additional modifications required beside installing the prototype, test, or refinished dial upside-down.
Above image source: watchprosite.com, posted by nilomis
First, you need a new date wheel. The date on the two photos of this watch I’ve seen is properly oriented for a display at 9:00. So this isn’t the mere case of someone fabricating an upside-down dial and installing it on an other-wise normal 176.009. If so, the date would be upside-down. Somebody had to source or manufacture a date wheel that fits and is oriented correctly for 9:00 display, and it would have to fit a cal. 1040. Normally a “destro” modification intends to use the same original dial layout. For a cal. 1040, that would mean the usual 24 hour indicator at 9:00 and chronograph hour recorder at 6:00. That would require a new date wheel too, to get the dates to line up properly in the window. This situation is entirely different, since the intention is not only to move the crown and buttons to the left, but to move the subdials to 12 and 3 rather than 6 and 9. In other words, this is a highly specific modification.
Second, the 24 hour dial is now upside-down relative to how it normally functions. A cal. 1040 movement, when functioning correctly, synchronizes the date change to when the hour hand and the 24 hour disc are both pointing at the “top” of the dial. I’m not a watchmaker so I’m not sure whether this would require just reinstalling the 24 hour disc 180 degrees so the arrow points “down” at date change, or if further adjustment is required to ensure the date change happens at 24 (midnight). It is unknown if the example pictured had this adjustment made.
Third, the hands need to be reset to sync with a date change at 6:00 rather than 12:00 – meaning 6:00 when the crown is to the right as on a standard 1040. Again, this may or may not have been done to the example pictured. My understanding is that this would be a relatively simple and common adjustment.
Fourth, I’m not 100% certain that the feet of 1040 dials are symmetric. If not, then for a dial to fit upside-down on the movement, the feet have to be altered in order to be installed any other way than the standard.
These steps are just to get the watch functioning properly as pictured. I’d argue that the toughest part of this mod is creating a dial that looks somewhat professionally done. As I mentioned last week, there are a few things going on with this dial that don’t quite mesh with the typical 1040 dial conventions. It doesn’t say “AUTOMATIC” anywhere, there’s no 12:00 marker, it might not say “SWISS MADE”, the hour markers are not found on any other 1040, and there’s no visible lume (unless the lume is on the applied markers, which would also be unique). And of course they could have been changed later, but the hands seem out of place for a brownish-grey dial. But even with these red flags, this is still the most plausible, and puzzling dial not on the Collector’s Guide. Someone went through some effort to create this piece.
Main image source: watchprosite.com, posted by nilomis