The PHILLIPS New York Watch Auction: XIII takes place on 6-7 December 2025, at our Park Avenue headquarters. The auction includes more than 140 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogues we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale right here, including the 1958 Omega Constellation Grande Luxe seen below.
– By Logan Baker
The Constellation once sat at the top of Omega’s catalogue.
Before the Speedmaster went to space and became a cultural symbol, Omega built its reputation on precision timekeeping. That effort shaped the Constellation, a watch that represented the firm’s most serious attempt to stand beside the leading Swiss houses in accuracy and design.
Omega launched the Constellation in 1952 as the follow-up to the Centenary, the solid gold limited-production wristwatch released in 1948 for the company’s centennial anniversary. Louis Brandt founded the Biel workshop in 1848, and the Centenary marked that milestone with a design by René Banwart, who also created the 1948 Seamaster and later founded Corum.
Omega produced around 6,000 Centenary watches, and the model proved so successful that it became the foundation for the Constellation. The Constellation sat at the top of Omega’s offerings in the 1950s thanks to its finish and chronometer-grade movements. Omega offered several grades, with the highest being the Constellation Grande Luxe, positioned above the Deluxe, and available in gold or platinum.
The best examples from this period remain some of the most refined chronometer wristwatches of the mid-20th century. Among them, the Constellation Grande Luxe holds a special place. Every once in a while, a Grande Luxe turns up that changes your sense of what Omega was once capable of. The platinum Ref. PA 16.331, offered at the upcoming Phillips New York Watch Auction: XIII, does exactly that.
It is one of only two known examples, both believed to have been commissioned for a member of the Kuwaiti royal family in the late 1950s. The other watch surfaced at the famous "Omegamania" sale in 2007 and achieved CHF 413,700 – a world record. This one carries the serial and case number immediately following that watch, which confirms the pair as companion pieces.
The case measures 35mm yet feels more substantial on the wrist due to the mass and form of platinum. It retains the hooded lugs that define the Grande Luxe and comes with its original articulated platinum bracelet. The bracelet lends the watch a sculptural quality that you feel the moment you pick it up. The dial sets this example apart even further. Omega fitted it with diamond hour markers in both brilliant and baguette cuts. Age has given the surface a warm patina that softens the sparkle and adds depth to the layout.
Inside sits Omega’s self-winding calibre 505, a copper-finished chronometer movement with 25 jewels and a reputation for precision. During the 1940s and 1950s, Omega competed seriously in Observatory trials, and the work that went into those efforts directly informed the serial production of the Constellation family. The Observatory emblem engraved on the caseback is surrounded by eight stars, symbolizing two chronometer records and six first-place awards that Omega earned between 1933 and 1952. Those two chronometer records are particularly significant. In 1933, Omega set world precision records in every category at the Kew-Teddington Observatory, then matched the feat again in 1936.
This example remains in exceptional condition and arrives with a generous set of accessories. The Omega Certificate, dated October 2003, confirms production in 1958 and notes delivery to Kuwait on 5 June of that year. The product literature and presentation box complete the package. The long bracelet shows crisp geometry and adds to the impression that the watch has been handled with care throughout its life.
To call the watch rare undersells it. Platinum Grande Luxe models were produced in extremely limited quantities, and a diamond-set dial configuration of this quality seems almost mythical. Collectors who know the Constellation story are aware that the standard models already represent the heart of Omega’s mid-century chronometric achievements. The Deluxe and Grande Luxe sit above them as statements of quality – and, in platinum, the Grande Luxe becomes something else entirely.
This watch reflects the moment when Omega pushed to create the most refined automatic chronometer wristwatches it could. The casework is precise. The bracelet and diamonds elevate the design without overwhelming it. The whole watch presents a quiet authority that speaks to both the period and the people who commissioned it.
You can view the complete Phillips New York Watch Auction: XIII auction catalogue here.