Vintage OMEGA Ranchero ‘Seamaster’ Stainless Steel Ref. CK 2990-1
£9,000
A stainless steel ‘double-signed’ wristwatch, made in 1958 and delivered to Germany
£9,000
| Stock No. | A9965A Exhibit No.6 Collection No. 130 |
| Brand | Omega |
| Year | 1958 |
| Movement | Calibre 267 manual winding, 17 jewels, 18000 VpH, with hour, minute, and subsidiary seconds |
| Case Material | Stainless steel, Omega-signed crown, snap-on caseback, outer marked WATERPROOF, the inner stamped 2990-1 |
| Dial | Matte black, signed Ω, OMEGA, Ranchero, 30 mm, and Seamaster below, radium luminescent indices, Arabic hour numerals at 3, 9 and 12 o’clock, and subsidiary seconds, further signed SWISS MADE at the bottom |
| Condition | Presented in excellent, pre-owned, condition with an attractive and warm, deep yellow radium lume patina, matte black dial, and ‘Broad Arrow’ handset. Unusually, as well as ‘Ranchero’ branding, this example has the additional ‘Seamaster’ logo printed above the small seconds register. The case shows signs of wear expected for watch of this period and has been sympathetically polished, but retains thickness to the lugs on all corners. All in all, this is a very attractive example of a not commonly-seen, desirable, reference. |
| Dimensions | 35 mm diameter, strap circumference approximately 200mm |
| Bracelet | Aftermarket brown leather strap with Omega-signed pin buckle |
| Handset | Steel Broad Arrow hour and dauphine minutes, radium-lumed, with small counter-balanced tapered seconds |
| Accessories | Accompanied by a red Omega-signed presentation box with red velvet interior, with Omega Extract of the Archives confirming production of the watch on December 2, 1958 and its subsequent delivery to Germany |
| Signed | Case, crown, dial and movement |
| Bezel | Stainless steel plain bevelled |
Further Information
Ranchero ‘Seamaster’ ref. CK 2990-1
In 1957, Omega introduced their three specialised professional tool watches that were destined to become legendary. But at this time, Omega was already working on a fourth watch that naturally drew inspiration from the professional range, but was designed as an all-purpose, price-conscious, timepiece – the Ranchero. Manufacture began in 1956, but the Ranchero first appeared in Omega’s catalogues in 1958, as Reference 2990 (as the current example).
The Ranchero case was simpler than its tool-watch siblings, featuring a stainless steel 36 mm case with a flat press-in caseback. The case’s tall lip-edge allowed the back to snap into place with a gasket, giving water resistance of 30 metres and, in keeping with the Ranchero’s multi-purpose market, it was relatively slim at 10 mm. The watch was powered by the reliable hand-wound calibre 267 movement, and there was a choice between matte black or white dials, which owe much to the Railmaster, with radium luminescent triangles at the cardinal hours, but differing in its subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. The thin crystal, coupled with the slim case and bezel, gave the dial clarity, while the hands featured were those found on all the the tool watches: radium-lumed, Broad Arrow hour and dauphine minutes.
In 1958, two more versions of the Ranchero were added, the CK and PK 2996, in stainless steel and rolled gold. The movements used in these variants were the hand-wound calibres 284 and 285, both with centre sweep, rather than subsidiary, seconds. All of the calibres used, descend from Omega’s reliable 30 mm movements (30T1 and 30T2), and ‘30 mm’ was placed on most of the dials.
The Ranchero was considerably cheaper than its three tool relatives, and it was sold on a leather strap rather than a steel bracelet; a US Omega price list from August 1959, shows the watch starting at just $69.50, while the Railmaster was $130, and the Seamaster 300 and Speedmaster were priced at $180 and $195 respectively. Sadly, this forward-thinking all-purpose approach by Omega came to very little, the Ranchero watch was not a great success and struggled to sell, but nevertheless it spawned a multitude of all-purpose budget-conscious watches by different companies, aiming at the same market.
Today, with a myriad of all-purpose watches to choose from, it seems surprising that the Ranchero failed to succeed, but a portion of the blame has been laid at the door of the name, Ranchero. The Omega Museum states that the watch encountered resistance in Spanish-speaking countries from potential customers who were put off by its name that means ‘Ranch Hand’ in Spanish.
Omega was quick to discontinue production, but then came the process of releasing existing stocks. To assist, Omega merged some into the successful Seamaster line, so that dials are found with only the Ranchero or Seamaster branding, but a few desirable watches are signed with both names. Apart from a brief revival for the Belgian market in the 1970s, that was the end of the line for the Ranchero name.
The Ranchero’s ever-increasing popularity in recent years, together with its evident links to Omega’s legendary 1957 Trilogy of tool watches, has given rise to a number of related ‘terms of endearment’ amongst collectors, such as ‘the fourth musketeer’, and ‘the fourth man’.
This interesting and rare 1958 wristwatch has the desirable Broad Arrow handset found on earlier Rancheros and is powered by the initial, calibre 267, movement. In this instance, the Ranchero branding on the dial was combined with Seamaster, and this double-signed variant was intended for the European market and delivered to Germany.
