Since the late 1990s, producing large watches has been an enduring trend, undoubtedly spurred by the success of Panerai.
Obviously, watches with larger case sizes were around earlier than
that, but the Florentine brand was the first to attain huge, worldwide
popularity with its oversized timepieces — with the help of a few
Hollywood icons, namely Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Panerai’s case designs were basically reinventions of those used on its
early divers from the 1940s. After that, things got out of hand quickly —
and for some reason, watch manufacturers for a while thought that the
only way to go is bigger and bigger.
Panerai watches was the barrier breaker… or
was it?
When we think about the 1950s and early 1960s, we picture the watches
of our fathers, grandfathers and uncles — elegant, round, classic
shapes, like those on
Omega Seamasters,
Rolex Datejusts, models from
Longines, Doxa, et cetera. Nowadays, these are categorized by the WIS
(Watch Idiot Savant) community as “dress watches.” Then, around the
late 1960s and early 1970s, watch companies started taking part in the
design revolution. They started to become bolder in imagining the
shapes, sizes and colors of their products. Among the best examples of
these bold designs are the so-called“bullhead”watches.
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| vintage Omega Bullhead watches |
When you Google “bullhead watch,” the first few results will lead you
to Omega. No doubt one of the best-known bullhead watches ever produced
was the Omega Reference ST.146.0011 (above), which was part of the
international Seamaster Chronostop collection in 1970. It’s a model Omega decided to resurrect in 2013
(pictured two photos down) as part of its line of reissued watches that
also includes models like the PloProf and Speedmaster Mark II. Omega,
however, was not the only company to come out with this type of
timepiece during that period. Many popular
Swiss watch brands had
similar models, including companies like Breitling, Sicura, and Tissot,
not to mention a number of brands that have disappeared within the last
50 years. Switzerland, however, wasn’t the only watch manufacturing
country to produce such timepieces; Japanese companies like Citizen and Seiko had bullheads among their lines of watches at that time.
So what is a bullhead, exactly, and why is it so special? The word
“bullhead” is an umbrella term used for a chronograph watch that has its
crown and chronograph pushers on top of the case (in some cases, the
crown is at the bottom of the case) rather than on the side, hence
resembling the head of a bull with its horns. The cases are usually
larger and thicker than those of traditional chronograph watches. In
most instances, their cases are not evenly shaped, meaning that the top,
where the pushers and the crown are located, is wider and thicker than
the bottom. This way, the dial is tilted towards 6 o’clock, which allows
the wearer to check the time on the watch much more easily; hence, the
oddity of the case. What makes this category particularly special is
that most of these models were produced in relatively small numbers,
making them very desirable to watch collectors. Of course, as stated
above, the unusual sizes and shapes of their cases also provides a key
reason that these watches are so sought-after.
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| mens Omega watches |
Regarding the movements found in these bullheads, there are three
main types. First are the pieces with so-called “in-house” movements;
watch manufacturers like Heuer and Omega used their own – or out-sourced
but heavily modified – movements in their models. Then there are the
watches with mass-produced, quality chronograph movements like the
Valjoux 7733 and 7734 (the latter includes a date feature, hence the
change in the last digit). Finally, there is the third group, which use
very cheap, lower-quality pin-lever calibers. In these cases, the only
appealing feature about the
Omega Bullhead watches might be its appearance. Bullheads are
very funky-looking watches in general: loads of colors, shapes and
forms can be found on the dial. Their cases are mostly steel, or
rhodium-plated on the cheaper versions. A few models have gold-plated
cases, with only a thin layer of gold that tends to get worn away pretty
easily.
They might not look good on everyone’s wrist; without a doubt, you
need to have a certain wrist size to pull off a bullhead. However, for a
watch enthusiast who is looking for something out of the ordinary, a
true 70s bullhead might just be the perfect match. Not to mention that
you can usually pick a decent example of one for under $1,000.
