Unique Swiss gold and enamel exhibition dress watch Circa 1914

Gold lever dress watch by Omega
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An exceptionally fine, unique and important Swiss 18 Carat yellow gold and enamel exhibition dress watch, circa 1914. Made for the Swiss National Exposition in Berne where Omega won the Médaille d’Or. The case has decorated bezels with a royal blue champlevé decoration with red and blue enamelled dots, the back with a translucent champlevé enamel portrait of Basil Il the Bulgar-slayer, after the original by Kekaumenos, painted in 1019, against a chased cloudy ground. Gold cuvette engraved Omega, Grand Prix Paris 1900. Matte solid gold dial with Art Nouveau Arabic numerals and sunk subsidiary seconds, at the centre a polychrome enamel angel. Blued steel cathedral hands. A gilt brass movement, 17 jewels, eight in screwed gold chatons, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic balance, Breguet balance spring micrometric index regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. This watch is sold with a box and certificate of authenticity.
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Diameter: 49.5 mm
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Signed: Omega  Swiss
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This watch is illustrated in Omegamania, by Marco Richon. The decoration of this watch is drawn from a polychrome painting of an incunable done by Kekaumenos in 1019, representing Basilio Il Bulgaroctono. Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer was Byzantine emperor from January 10, 976 to December 15, 1025. Under his reign, the Byzantine Empire attained its greatest glory in nearly five centuries. His father, Emperor Romanos II, died in 963 when he was only five. The kingdom was ruled by two generals, Nikephoros II and then John I Tzimisces until Basil took the throne.
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Basil was a strong ruler and an able general, who did not at first display the full extent of his energy.
A capable administrator, he – unlike the other soldier-emperors – left a full treasury upon his death. He was worshipped by his army, as he spent most of his reign campaigning with them instead of sending orders from the distant palaces of Constantinople. He lived a soldier’s life, eating the same daily rations as his troops. His reign was followed by 50 years of prosperity and intellectual growth, due to the healthy finances of the state were healthy and the fact that the borders were not in danger from intruders. The empire remained the most powerful political entity of the Middle Ages.