Marcus Hanke
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Baselworld 2013: Omega
Omega at Baselworld 2013
presented by Marcus Hanke
presented by Marcus Hanke
Thrilling news without a completely new movement? Of course, for Omega this is possible. This year, there are many novelties that will immediately find avid fans, even if they are “only” new shapes, dials and/or materials.
However, there is a real innovation, that justifies a moment of contemplation: the Seamaster AquaTerra 15,000 Gauss :
Watches that are not influenced by magnetic fields always have been a desideratum of the watch industry. However, what in the age of IWC’s first “Ingenieur” was important for technicians or pilots only, is of increasing importance for all of us, in everyday life. As a matter of fact, we are surrounded by more and more electromagnetic fields. Some years ago, these were mostly limited to loudspeakers and TV sets, but now, we keep the sources of those fields extremely close to ourselves: cell phones, notebooks, pads, just to mention a few. Even if not strong, those magnetic fields are present all the time, and our mechanical watches are subjected to them.
Consequently, the protection of movements from magnetism demands increasing attention. Even better, however, is the production of movements and escapement systems that do not need any protection, since they themselves are completely amagnetic.
Other watch manufacturers are concentrating on the protection aspect, mostly by means of soft iron cages within the watch cases. This makes the watch clumsier than it would have to be, and also hides the movement from the owner’s view, which today is a serious disadvantage in the shops. Omega took the other direction with its 15,000 Gauss: Similar to the famous 1984 IWC Ocean 2000 BUND Amagnetic, its movement is completely unimpressed by even extremely strong magnetic fields. Thirty years ago, this technology was extremely difficult to achieve, causing such high costs that even the German armed forces would afford only a few of them for very special purposes. Today, modern silicium technology permits the series production at a fraction of this cost.
The AquaTerra 15,000 Gauss has a seemingly standard 41.5mm case, even with a displayback, a feature hitherto considered impossible for a magnetically shielded watch. The only clue on its uniqueness aside the decent print on the dial is the black and yellow striped second hand. Some might consider this a bit gaudy, but I think it is more serious than a flash-shaped second hand.
Magnetically neutral movements are a technology that will eventually become standard even with mechanical timepieces, at least for those that are seen as solid everyday watches. The 15,000 Gauss will be known as one of the amagnetic pioneers in the future. Meanwhile, I seriously consider testing one in the 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance tomograph my wife is working with. I’ll let you know about the results ...
Another innovation in material technology is represented by the Constellation Sedna , an elegant timepiece with an 18k pink gold case. Similar to Rolex’ Everose gold alloy, Sedna has the purpose to assure that the copper component responsible for the beautiful pink colour of this gold alloy does not oxidise and change its colour. Responsible for this is a mixture, consisting to the largest part of palladium, a white precious metal that is very popular in the production of jewellery.
The Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M GoodPlanet is a result of Omega’s cooperation with the Good Planet foundation and thought to support funding a project for the rescue of the South-East Asian mangrove forests.
The attractive GMT watch has a blue lacquered dial and 24 hours bezel, is rated watertight down to 600 meters and is powered by the cal. 8605 co-axial movement. As a sign of its commitment to sustainability, it is delivered in a special box made from regrowing bamboo wood. Well, at least it would be sign if Omega decided to deliver all its watches in such boxes ...
Another Seamaster AquaTerra variant is the new DayDate, showing the weekday in a curved window at 12. In order to balance it, the date window has been relocated to 6. It is very apparent which competitor is targeted by Omega with this watch, the solution made even easier when I was shown the all-golden variant first.
The case diameter is very decent at 41.5mm, and aside red gold, it is available in stainless steel (here shown with a striking blue dial).
In several variants available is the new Seamaster AquaTerra Chronograph GMT, now also based on the new cal. 9xxx movement family. The GMT version of the movement bears the designation cal. 9605 and is unique by not having a central 24 hours hand, but a small one at 9, which is concentric with the permanent second. At 3, we find the concentric hours and minutes counter hands typical for this chronograph movement. Here I show the steel/18k pink gold variant, full gold and steel are also offered, as are various dial colours.
Since I made the switch to the chronographs, I will show the other ones: One of Omega’s most popular showpieces this year is without doubt the all-black Speedmaster Ceramic, dubbed the “Dark Side of the Moon”. Its ceramic case, without doubt to be credited to the specialists at Rado, is 44.25mm wide and highly attractive, due to its mixture of shining smooth and flat surfaces.
Not only the case, but also the dial, crown, pushers and the bezel are made from ceramics. The latter would worry me a bit: if you are familiar the Speedmaster bezel ring, you know that it protrudes high from the case, to stand out as an isolated and rather thin ring, practically begging for rough contact with the environment. The original has an aluminum bezel ring, which is soft and cheap to replace. I am aware that Rado invested many years to make its ceramics harder and more solid; with success. but still, it cannot bypass physics, and it is still brittle - more brittle at least than aluminum. this means, the “Dark Side’s” bezel ring would simply bend on impact - but break, at least under shocks it cannot withstand.
However, this does by no means compromise the piece’s attractiveness, and the long warranty period of four years might also help. By the way, all markers and hands, save that of the chronograph second, are made from 18k white gold.
The Speedmaster family gets a new member, the Speedmaster ’57 Chronograph. Designed with the style of the late fifties in mind, it is highly attractive and at the same time changes two issues of the “big” cal. 9300-based Speedmasters that some might have seen as disadvantageous: First, the Speedmaster ’57 is considerably smaller, with a diameter of 41.5mm vs. 44.25mm. Second, its stop hour and minute counter at 3 is larger, thereby massively improving the accurate reading of the measured time.
The Speedmaster ’57 is available in a large variety of case and dial options, in 18k gold, steel/gold, steel and titanium. Here I only show the stainless steel version with black dial:
And, finally, my favourite, that is currently stealing my sleep: Before Basel, I was definitely certain not to purchase a cal. 9300-based chronograph, but to go for the sleeker and more beautiful cal. 33xx instead. However, this beauty with a metallic blue dial and its bright orange chronograph hands, made me overthrow this decision in an instant. Dubbed the “Italian” by the Omega staff, it is simply gorgeous!
To be delivered in fall this year, the new “Bullhead” chronograph has been talked about a lot at the fair. It is not difficult to guess where this chronograph got its name from, with the edgy long case with the pushers protruding like horns at 12.
Of the various dial colours available, I was shown one in bright white, and another in pure metal with a highly attractive perlage grinding. The crown and pushers are located at 12, while a second crown at 6 is responsible for rotating the inner bezel ring. As a special feature, the crown has a bayonet-type locking mechanism, assuring its Omega logo to be always lined up correctly.
I was quoted the cal. 3113 to be the bullhead’s movement, which is completely unknown to me and I am unable to find any information about. At first, I believed it to be a misspelled cal. 3313, but I was confirmed the former designation. I assume it to be the bi-compax variant of the familiar 3313.
And now something completely different, the ladies’ timepieces. Some of the watches subsequently presented will not be available before the end of the year and were therefore not included in the press information supplied by Omega.
The first is an attractive Ladies’ Constellation with diamonds on the bezel. What makes it more special, though, are the stars spread over the metallic blue dial. Only on close inspection one realises that some of the stars are applied, while the others are depressed into the dial surface. Once again an amazing care for tiny details!
In my opinion more attractive is this version where the central bracelet links are covered with mother of pearl elements as well:
A special designation for selected timepieces is “luxury dial”, where Omega offers specific dials in design and material, that make out the unique charm of the watches decorated by them. Here is the Ladymatic Luxury Dial, but more appropriately dubbed “Flower” by the Omega staff. Please note that the “flower” outlines applied onto the mother of pearl and partially filled with diamonds are composed from five Greek “Omega” symbols. Altogether, no less than 399 diamonds are set on dial, case and lugs.
The DeVille Prestige Co-axial Luxury Dial, internally called “Butterfly”, for an apparent reason: The outlines of dozens of butterflies are engraved into the mother of pearl. Some of them, however, have additionally applied frames in gold and are filled with dark mother of pearl - or with diamonds; a really romantic timepiece!
Its most perfect presentation the “Diamonds & Pearls” had on May 15, 2013, when Nicole Kidman, actress and Omega ambassador, wore the timepiece when she arrived together with director Steven Spielberg at the movie festival in Cannes.
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To leave comments, please go to Marcus' original report in Omega forum, http://omega.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-677/pi-5910618/ti-867648/s-0/
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2013-06-03 17:44:30