19th May, 2022 9:30
Jewellery, Silver & Watches
A WW2 Omega Pilots watch K.501, with a hand-wound Swiss movement caliber 23.4SC T1, the first movement Omega release with a central sweeping second hand, in a steel 30mm case with a tropical dial and Arabic roman numerals on a generic black leather strap.
Model: K.501
Caliber 23.4SC T1
Estimated year of manufacture:1939-1943
Purchased: 1944 in Rhodesia by a British Pilot upon gaining his wings
Serial: 9607458
Case No: 10354382
The watch was purchased new by the vendor's father in law.
It comes with the original purchase receipt from T.Frobes & Son LTD, Abercorn Street, Bulawayo, Rhodesia, purchase date: 13-1-1944
It also comes with a receipt guaranteeing the watch mechanically and its waterproofing for twenty years, also dated 13-1-1944
"Vernon Stewart Gibson joined the RAF as a fifteen-year-old apprentice at RAF Halton training as an airframe
and engine technician. He was in the 33rd intake at Halton and celebrated as being one of the
“Trenchard Brats”.
At the outbreak of war, he was posted to the Gower in South Wales repairing Spitfires and
Hurricanes returning them to service.
In 1943 he was selected for flight training in Rhodesia and gained his wings in January 1944.
To celebrate this he bought the Omega watch recommended for pilots from Forbes of Bulawayo.
Vernon didn’t get to fly ops in WW2 instead being attached to Transport Command, but later flew
operationally in Harvards in the Mau Mau campaign, gaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
He also served several years in Aden and India, mainly in administrative and HQ capacities.
Later he spent many years as a flying instructor with the Central Flying School at Little
Rissington, Oxfordshire.
His final years of service were mainly in
Air Traffic Control ended in 1968 at RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire.
Vernon passed away in January 2010 in Bedford hospital at the age of 90 yrs."
All provenance supplied by the vendor
Sold for £700
Condition Report
The watch appears to be in good working order, long term tests have not been performed and accuracy cannot be guaranteed a full service is avised on purchase
Wear consistant with age
A WW2 Omega Pilots watch K.501, with a hand-wound Swiss movement caliber 23.4SC T1, the first movement Omega release with a central sweeping second hand, in a steel 30mm case with a tropical dial and Arabic roman numerals on a generic black leather strap.
Model: K.501
Caliber 23.4SC T1
Estimated year of manufacture:1939-1943
Purchased: 1944 in Rhodesia by a British Pilot upon gaining his wings
Serial: 9607458
Case No: 10354382
The watch was purchased new by the vendor's father in law.
It comes with the original purchase receipt from T.Frobes & Son LTD, Abercorn Street, Bulawayo, Rhodesia, purchase date: 13-1-1944
It also comes with a receipt guaranteeing the watch mechanically and its waterproofing for twenty years, also dated 13-1-1944
"Vernon Stewart Gibson joined the RAF as a fifteen-year-old apprentice at RAF Halton training as an airframe
and engine technician. He was in the 33rd intake at Halton and celebrated as being one of the
“Trenchard Brats”.
At the outbreak of war, he was posted to the Gower in South Wales repairing Spitfires and
Hurricanes returning them to service.
In 1943 he was selected for flight training in Rhodesia and gained his wings in January 1944.
To celebrate this he bought the Omega watch recommended for pilots from Forbes of Bulawayo.
Vernon didn’t get to fly ops in WW2 instead being attached to Transport Command, but later flew
operationally in Harvards in the Mau Mau campaign, gaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
He also served several years in Aden and India, mainly in administrative and HQ capacities.
Later he spent many years as a flying instructor with the Central Flying School at Little
Rissington, Oxfordshire.
His final years of service were mainly in
Air Traffic Control ended in 1968 at RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire.
Vernon passed away in January 2010 in Bedford hospital at the age of 90 yrs."
All provenance supplied by the vendor
