For the Love of the Bracelet - Omega's Snake Bracelet era
A couple of years back, while in search of a cabochon crown watch I could actually afford, I stumbled upon a 1977 Omega DeVille. At the time, I hadn’t really wondered too much into the DeVile line; this would be the very first one I owned. A few days later, the watch, shipped from Singapore, arrived in a little bamboo box covered in bubble wrap. That was the moment I fell in love.
The Omega vintage database lists the bracelet as a ‘soldered bracelet’, but a more apt name is Snake Scale - once you see that, you can't really unsee it. But the name is misleading if it makes you think rigid, formal, unwearable. The six-sided links sit flush with one another, catching the light like something reptilian. It's essentially a Milanese mesh expressed as individual links, which means it drapes. It moulds around the wrist the way a leather strap would after a few months of use. For something that’s metal and slim, it's absurdly comfortable.
Like any obsessive, I've had more than a few of these through my hands now — DeVilles, Constellations, manual winds, quartz pieces, men's or women’s models. The bracelet is always the same, comfortable and easy to adjust.
It has a seatbelt clasp - you adjust it, you wear it, you're done, no taking it to a jeweller to get it cut. Now flip that clasp over, and it's busier than any other part of the watch. There's the Omega name, the brand's symbol sitting inside a triangle, and a reference number — always starting with 3 on the men's pieces, 5 on the ladies'. Then there's the material stamped into it, stainless steel on most examples I've seen, though yellow gold versions exist if you're willing to look. And then, slightly separate from all of that: the number 11, inside a circle.
I'll be honest — I have no idea what the 11 means. I've looked, I've asked, and the answers I've got back have been vague enough that I don't trust any of them. A production code, maybe. Something to do with Swiss material grading. If you know, genuinely, I'd like to hear it.
I suspect the bracelet wasn’t made in-house by Omega. While my focus has been on vintage Omegas, you do see examples of Universe Geneve Cobras, Patek Philippe Ellipses, or Audemars Piguet of that era with the same bracelet.
