In brief
With the 286, the centre-seconds side of the 30 mm family reached its final specification: a flat hairspring and Novochoc shock protection, the same pair of upgrades the 269 had brought to the sub-seconds calibres. Jewel count and beat rate stayed where they had always been, at 17 jewels and 18,000 vph.
Short history
Omega's own technical guide of 1963 explains the origin plainly: the 286 is the calibre 285 renamed after it received a flat hairspring and Novochoc shock protection. Together with the 269 it forms the technical end of the 30T2 family, which Omega withdrew in 1963 in favour of its full-rotor automatics.
Why it matters
The 286 and its sub-seconds counterpart, the 269, mark the point where the 30T2 family stopped developing — the last revision before Omega replaced these hand-wound calibres with full-rotor automatics.
Watches that used it
- Omega dress watches of the early 1960s