Calibre 330 — Omega's first bumper automatic

In brief

In 1943 Omega built its first self-winding calibre, and this was it. The 330 opens the 30.1 mm series with 17 jewels and 19,800 vph, driven by a partial winding weight that bounces between two sprung buffers instead of sweeping a full circle.

Short history

Omega's automatic watchmaking starts here. The 330 launched in 1943 as the first generation of a technology the brand kept in production right through the decade, until the full-rotor automatic arrived in the mid-1950s. Take the back off a watch running this calibre and the two sprung stops that give the bumper its name are there in plain sight.

Watches that used it

• Omega automatic watches of the 1940s