Developmet of the CH27/321

[george_]

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The story most have read in one form or the other is how Omega started using the caliber 321, at the time known as 27CHRO C12, for their chronographs in the mid 1940s.

To cut a long, and well documented, story short; the 321 ended up in the NASA Apollo program inside the standard issue astronaut wristwatch, in the form of the mighty Speedmaster.

The development of the 27CHRO C12 movement was conducted by Albert Piguet from Lemania.

There are a multitude of explanations on what Omegas role in the development was. The story, as documented by Omega themselves in their reference book “Omega Saga”, is as follows:

After the great depression in the late 1920´s and early 1930´s the Swiss watch industry was going through their worst crisis prior to the Quartz onslaught of the 1970´s. So in 1930 Omega and Tissot joined together under a common umbrella called SSIH (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère).

Lemania was at the time known as a relatively small volume, but high quality, manufacturer of complicated watches like chronographs. These where both wristwatches as is our focus here, but also various timekeepers for military, aviation and automotive purposes.

As times grew even harsher, Lemania decided to join Omega and Tissot in SSHI in 1932.

The deal was that Lemania would get fresh capital and access to a wider and stronger sales organisation, and the other brands within SSHI would get access to the technically advanced movements made by Lemania. Mr. Marius Meylan, CEO of Lemania, was granted a seat at the board of SSHI at the time of merger, and Omega suddenly had access to top grade chronographs, allowing them to become the official supplier to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Omega has been the official Olympic timekeepers ever since!

Within SSHI at this time Omega was the luxury brand, Tissot the budget alternative and Lemania the technically advanced “tool watch” supplier.

This story lead us back to the development of the caliber 321: Lemania started the manufacturing of the CH27 as early as in 1941. In 1942 the first Omega version was shown as the 27CHRO (later named 320 and 321).

Omega themselves states the movements as having been designed and built by Lemania so little room for discussion here.

The 320/321/CH27 was manufactured for the next 25+ years. Outside of SSHI various versions of the chronograph movements was used by other companies. Even Patek Philippe, Audmars Piguet and others have used the Lemania CH27 as basis for some of their finest chronograph movements.

Breguet has a version for sale with a Tourbillion escapement as well for those of you with really deep pockets.

The Lemania 27/3000 – Omega 32x/381 connection

In order to make a definitive connection between the 321, and my claim to other related movements, I would like to draw the attention to another complicated movement introduced in 1947, the Omega 381 (27DL) Cosmic moon phase triple calendar.

Omega confirms in “Omega Saga” that the 381 was quote:“constructed by Albert Piguet in Lemania, being derived from the 27CHRO”.

Now, comparing the two (321 vs 381) will reveal a lot of differences. I am not claiming that these movements are identical. But according to statements by Omega themselves, and by comparing several of the special design features, it will become evident that these are indeed related movements.

[george_]

The following is a list of Lemania 27 (Omega 27CHRO) derived calibers as far as I have been able to work them out:

Lemania S27 17 jewels, Breguet spiral – Listed by Ranfft as “base calibre for the 27mm chronographs from Lemania and Omega”
Lemania S27T1 17 jewels, Breguet spiral – Prepared for date feature.
Lemania DS27 17 jewels, Breguet spiral – With date feature.
Lemania 2990 17 jewels, Breguet spiral – Same as DS27
Lemania CH27 17 jewels (caliber 2310, Breguet spiral – Same as Omega 320)
Lemania CH27 C12 17 jewels, (caliber 2320, Breguet spiral – Same as Omega 321)
Omega 27 Chro T1 PC AM 17 jewels (caliber 320: 2 register chronograph, Breguet spiral)
Omega 27 Chro C12 T2 PC AM 17 jewels (caliber 321: 3 register chronograph, Breguet spiral)
Omega 27 D PC AM 17 jewels, Breguet spiral (caliber 380 – never in serial production)
Omega 27 DL PC AM 17 jewels (caliber 381 – Cosmic Moon Phase, Breguet spiral)
Lemania D27 17 jewels – Equivalent to Omega 380, Breguet spiral
Lemania 3000: sub second, 17 jewels, Breguet spiral.
Lemania 3010: sub second, 21 jewels, Breguet spiral.
Lemania 3040: sub second, 21 jewels, Breguet spiral.
Lemania 3050: sweep second, old type / 3060: sweep second, new type, 17 jewels Breguet spiral)
Lemania 3100, 3110: sub second, 17 jewels flat hairspring
Lemania 3150, 3535: sweep second, old type / 3160, 3170, 3540: sweep second, new type , 17 jewels flat hairspring
Lemania 3300: sub second, date, 17 jewels flat hairspring
Lemania 3600: Automatic version of caliber 3000, sub second. 21 jewels, Breguet spiral
Lemania 3610: Automatic version of caliber 3060, sweep seconds. 21 jewels, Breguet spiral
Lemania 3615: Automatic version of caliber 3060, sweep seconds. 21 jewels, Breguet spiral, Date function.
Lemania Today

Lemania continued to be a part of the SSHI until the early 1980s when the Quartz crisis forced the restructuring of the company. Lemania was sold out of SSHI as a management buy-out, and renamed Nouvelle Lemania. SSHI later became the Swatch Group.

In 1992 Nouvelle Lemania was bought by company Breguet, and in 1999 Breguet was bought by the Swatch group making the full circle!

As a part of rebuilding Breguet as a extreme luxury/high-end brand the Swatch group renamed Nouvelle Lemania into Manufacture Breguet. The name Lemania is, for now, no longer in use.

Note: The information in this article is based on my own findings and opinions. I am a private collector, and has no commercial interests within the watch industry.

Any further information or comments related to the contents of this article is very much appreciated.

[george_]

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[george_]

Changes from the Lemania 2310/Omega c.321 to the c.861 included:
 
The chronograph function was simplified from column wheel to a Shuttle/Cam system.
The balance wheel was changed from a screwed balance to a smooth balance
This allowed an increase in the frequency from 18,000 bph (2.5 HZ) to 21,600 bph (3 HZ)
A flat balance spring was utilized...
Another change was made to the shape of the bridge from it's previous "Arched", "Wishbone" or "Y" shape to a Trapezoidal shape...
The revised movement was accepted for use by Omega, who started equipping Speedmasters in the October/November 1968 timeframe. The revised movement is known as the Lemania 1873 or Omega 861.



c.863:

Starting with a comemorative edition in 1980 marking the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing Omega used a highly decorated version of the c.863 movement with Côtes de Genéve on the bridge in conjunction with a special crystal display back to show off the movement. In 1987 the Display back model became part of the product line. Current Display Back models use the Rhodium plated c.1863 movement (see below)...

c.864:

A special chronometre grade version of the base c.861 movement has been made available for limited production runs for commemorative models off and on from 1992 through 1994 (at least).

c.865:

For some unknown reason (perhaps wishing to create an association) Omega named the Chronostop movement the c.865. The Chronostop has no real relation to the other models in the c.86x line other than Omega made and sold them.

c.866:

A moonphase calendar complication version of the base c.861 has been produced for a special production run of 2,000 in 1985. Omega recently sold a white gold/white dial version of the moonphase and currently has a stainless steel/white dial version, both of which use the new Rhodium (c.1866) version of the c.866 movement.

c.867:

A specially prepared hand made version of the c.861 made in 1994, that is a full-skeleton version of the c.861 created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the hand-wound chronograph movement. Production was limited to 50 units...

[george_]

The changes from the calibre 321 to 861 were more for the purposes of manufacturing efficiency and cost reduction, and the difference between the 861 and 1861 is that the parts are all rhodium-plated, rather than being copper-plated or bare metal. The changeover from 321 to 861 was in 1969, and the changeover from 861 to 1861 was in 1996. That's what the leading "1" numeral indicates. Along the way, there were a few minor variants produced, such as the c864 movement, which was a chronometer version of the 861, and the c1863, which is a "display back" version of the c1861. The 1863 simply replaces a couple of non-metallic parts with metal ones that give it a cleaner look, because the movement is installed into a watch case with a transparent caseback

the CH27 C12 and 321 are the same thing...

[george_]

Al is correct that there are a lot of similarities between the two calibres, with the 27 CH C12 being the "grandfather" of sorts to the 321. When comparing the 27 CH C12 17p to a 321 (whose "scientific name" is the 27 CH C12 T2 PC AM 17p), the differences between the calibres are as follows:

[1] basic movement is the same, with a three-register chronograph and start/stop + reset pushers, with 17 jewels (the "17p" designator).
[2] the 321 (27 CH C12 T2 PC AM 17p) adds the following attributes to the 27 CH C12 17p movement:
Non-magnetic balance-hairspring assembly (the "AM" designator)
Incabloc shock-protecting device (the "PC" designator)
Updated hour recorder mechanism when compared to the 27CH C12 17p, and minute recorder jumper superseded by an adjustable jumper operated from a wire-spring (the "T2" designator)

The 27 CH C12 17p was introduced in 1942. The 27 CH C12 T1 PC AM 17p was introduced in 1945, and, and the 27 CH C12 T2 PC AM 17p, which we know as the 321, was introduced in 1946. The 861 was introduced in 1968, and the 1861 was introduced in 1996.