While Seamasters and Speedmaster are well understood and highly studied, the one enigma in the vintage mid-century Omega lineup in what you see here today- the Ranchero 2990-1. Made in the late fifties as the supposed successor to the Railmaster, it was supposed to be an Explorer-Esque, do all tool watch. For some reason though, it was not very popular, perhaps due to the name and Omega quickly discontinued it by 1960.
Featuring a thin 36mm stainless steel case with long lugs and a deep matte black dial, the Ranchero is undoubtedly a good looking watch. Couple this with the iconic Omega broad arrow hands and the large triangular luminous index markers, it really is as vintage as vintage Omega goes.
As these were only made for a few years, correct and nice examples of Rancheros are incredibly rare. Most examples in the market are either bad redials or frankensteined watches. This Ranchero, on the contrary, features a beautiful original dial and its correct movement and case back. I would call this the contrarian’s tool watch, for someone who’s out there for rarity, and to be a little bit different.
The extract confirms that this watch was delivered as a Ranchero to Italy on the 20th of November 1958.
