FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

You can’t go without 007. So when James Bond isn’t doing his thing on the big screen, Omega delves into his past to bring us a limited series.

Ian Fleming’s hero rose to the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy and although his official uniform is rarely worn, Omega has adorned his wrist since 1995. Whilst we wait for the famous spy’s new cinematic adventure in 2019, the brand has brought out a limited edition (7007 available) Seamaster Diver 300M “Commander’s Watch”. Omega gives us the chance to dive into James Bond’s military past with this model in the Royal Navy’s signature red and white. The 41mm steel case is water-resistant to depths of 300m with a blue ceramic bezel whose red rubber coating covers the first 15 minutes on the diving scale. Twelve blue markers and skeleton hands burst from the polished white ceramic dial. A counterweight bearing the 007 logo elongates the red central seconds hand. The date display also plays with colour as all the figures are blue except for the red 7.

By Dan Diaconu

ON THE CREST OF THE WAVE

Omega is flying the flag for the winners of the latest America’s Cup with a Seamaster Planet Ocean devoted to Team New Zealand.

Team New Zealand beat Oracle Team USA and won the 35^th America’s Cup with the official timekeeper, Omega, on board. The brand has unveiled the Seamaster Planet Ocean ETNZ “Deep Black” in the crew’s colours to celebrate the exceptional competition. The black ceramic 45.5mm dial features a ceramic bezel with two functions. It helps the boat get off to a good start in regattas with a diving scale displaying the 15 minutes prior to the race. The first 10 are coated in blue and red rubber to match the New Zealand flag and the next 5 say “START” in LiquidMetal, a high-tech material designed by Omega. The bezel also helps divers in all their underwater excursions with a case that’s water-resistant to depths of 600m.

The timepiece is fuelled by a self-winding bi-directional Master Chronometer 8906 calibre (60 hour power reserve) that displays a second time zone. Its black vertical satin-finish dial makes timekeeping a breeze. The white gold markers are tracked by wide hour and minute hands. A slimmer blue hand points out the time of your choice on a GMT ring with a 24 hr day/night display on the rim of the dial.

The Seamaster Planet Ocean ETNZ “Deep Black” comes with a structured black NATO strap lined with black and blue rubber. The Emirates Team New Zealand logo appears in red on the black case back.

Price: 10,400 €

By Dan Diaconu

DIVE RIGHT IN

The Bienne watchmaker has a new addition in its collection of diver’s watches coated from top to bottom in blue ceramic; a colour that would sink into the ocean if it wasn’t splashed with orange.

Last summer Omega took us deep into the ocean abysses with its Seamaster Planet Ocean quartet called “Deep Black”, diver’s watches with a GMT function made mainly of black, lightweight and scratch-resistant black ceramic. This time the Bienne watchmaker has chosen briny blue to adorn its Seamaster Planet Ocean “Big Blue” without neglecting its signature bright orange that was on the first model unveiled in 2005.

The blue ceramic on the latest in the Seamaster collection has washed over not only the case but also the dial, bezel and deployment clasp. The colour is halfway between sea and electric blue and is enhanced by splashes of orange on the case, dial and strap.

The Seamaster Planet Ocean “Big Blue” has a 45.5mm ceramic case with a unidirectional rotating bezel bearing the minute track in Liquimetal® and the 0-15 area in an orange rubber and ceramic blend. The case sides feature the 3-position screwdown crown at 3 and the signature helium valve at 10.

The dial is a blue ceramic disc whose hour rim has three orange Arabic numerals, white gold markers coated in Super-LumiNova and a white minute track beneath three gold and luminescent hands with arrow tips. An orange lacquer hand glides over the second time zone on a 24-hour scale on the chapter ring whilst the white-on-blue date display lies at 3.

The functions are fuelled by the self-winding Omega Master Chronometer 8906 calibre whose oscillating weight you can see through the sapphire case back. The movement is METAS-certified and has a 60-hour power reserve.

The woven-effect blue rubber strap on the Seamaster Planet Ocean “Big Blue” has orange stitching and edges and is the height of comfort.

Price: 11,200 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin

CAFFE LATTE OR CAPPUCCINO?

True to the aesthetic codes of the Speedmaster collection, this new watch by Omega concentrates spirit of performance and diamond brightness.

For the beginning of the year, a few weeks from Baselworld 2017, Omega has released a preview version of two Speedmaster watches, with this being the second. Unlike the Speedmaster Automatic model, embodying speed, this one is gentler – while keeping to its role as a chronometer, as befits the collection to which it belongs!

This new Speedmaster 38mm, affectionately nicknamed the “Cappuccino“ because of its soft colours, is driven by the Omega 3330 calibre. This self-winding movement, certified as a chronometer by the COSC and fitted with a Co-Axial escapement and a silicon spiral, drives the hour, calendar and chronograph functions while providing over 50 hours of power reserve. It is housed in a steel case that is – as its name implies –38mm in diameter, and features a medallion engraved with the Speedmaster sea horse on the back. A dual-material bezel tops the metal setting: an outer ring made of Sedna^TM gold paved with diamonds encircles an inner ring of hazelnut aluminium, where a white tachymeter scale is set. All in all, this is the perfect balance between the spirit of performance and the dazzle of precious stones.

In terms of beauty, even the finest latte art made by a seasoned barista would pale in comparison beside the dial of the Speedmaster 38mm! Indeed, the creamy ivory disc hosts three hollow, oval and azure counters, as well as an hour rim made of markers gilded with Sedna^TM gold and including a fine, black minute track. A set of stick-shaped hands, also made of Sedna^TM gold, display the hours and minutes, while the seconds tick by independently in a counter at 9 o’clock. The chronograph functions, meanwhile, are shared between a display in the centre for the seconds, a first counter at 3 o’clock for the minutes, and a second counter at 6 o’clock for the hours. The hour counter includes an opening in the shape of an oval window showing the date against a white background.

Price: 9 300 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin

WHEN ORANGE JAZZES BLACK UP

The Bienne-based watchmaker has sped powerfully into 2017 and presents us with its new perfectly-tuned, black and orange-adorned time-keeping opus.

Omega’s Speedmaster collection is a treasure chest of iconic timepieces, like the legendary Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch – whose ceramic variations have been an outstanding hit – and other ever-so seductively-designed models like the Speedmaster ’57, the Speedmaster Racing and the Speedmaster Mark II. The design of the latter’s dual-level minute tracker, originally created in 1968, has integrated the new Speedmaster Automatic.

The Speedmaster Automatic case, housing this engine, is designed in steel and has a diameter of 44.25 mm. It is topped with a black ceramic bezel that boasts a Liquidmetal® tachymetric scale. This celebrated yet atypical minute tracker runs around the black dial flange. The hour chapter comprises luminescent arrow-shaped white gold indexes. The hours and minutes are displayed in the centre by two bright orange-varnished hands, a colour that also adorns the small second hand (at 9 o’clock) and the squares crowing the indexes. It is also used on the tip of the chronograph’s white direct-drive; the chronograph hours and minutes are clustered in a totalizer (at 3 o’clock) and are equipped with white hands. The date ticks over at the bottom of the dial at 6 o’clock.

Omega’s new model is proposed with a black leather, punch-patterned strap, lined with orange rubber.

Price: CHF 8,400

By Sharmila Bertin

Introducing the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black

The technical and design features of the Seamaster Planet Ocean have set a benchmark among diving watches since it launched 11 years ago. The collection was updated with new “Co-Axial Master Chronometer” movements with the prestigious METAS approval in early 2016. Omega brings us the Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black whose cases, dials and bezels are in black ceramic.

There are now four versions: polished (all-black or Sedna^TM gold) or brushed ceramic with blue or red rubber inserts on the bezel. Luminescent markers and bright Arabic numerals on the dial lie beneath the hour, minute and seconds hands coated in Super-LumiNova® whilst a fourth hand (silver, gold or varnished blue or orange) tracks the second time zone.

The self-winding 8906 Co-Axial Master Chronometer calibre brings to life the time functions, GMT, date display (at 3) and 60-hour power reserve.

Price: 11,200 CHF (black, black/blue or black/red version) – 14,900 CHF (black and Sedna^TM gold version)

By Sharmila Bertin

Introducing the Omega Speedmaster “CK2998” Limited Edition

The first Speedmaster “CK2998” Limited Edition by Omega dates back to 1959 and the design features that won over watch enthusiasts at the time have reappeared in this new model.

The 39.7mm steel case has a bezel with a blue ceramic ring bearing the tachymeter scale coated in white Super-LumiNova®. It houses the same manual wind movement as the first Moonwatch made by Omega: the 1861 calibre fuels the chronograph function and 48-hour power reserve.

The white-on-blue minute track wraps around the luminescent rhodium-plated hour markers on the shimmering silver dial. Two Alpha-shape hour and minute hands in the centre are joined by the central seconds hand and its phosphorescent dot for the chronograph. The seconds appear at 9 whilst the chronograph minutes and hours count down at 3 and 6 all in blue counters.

Price: 5,800 CHF

BySharmila Bertin

Introducing the Omega Globemaster Annual Calendar

Omega unveiled a new watch with a Co-Axial Master Chronometer movement in the Constellation collection at the top annual watch event that is Baselworld in 2015. This year the case has grown from 39 to 41mm and has an annual calendar: Globemaster Annual Calendar.

The case carved out of steel is topped by a fixed “pleated” bezel made of tungsten carbide, a famously hard metal. It houses the METAS-approved 8922 calibre which fuels the different functions and 55-hour power reserve.

As you’d expect from the Globemaster collection, the months of the year are written in blue on the silver sunburst Pie Pan dial’s 12 facets. The months are trailed by a central hand that’s a paler blue than the other varnished hands tracking the hours, minutes and seconds.

Price: 8,500 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin

Introducing the Omega Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon “Meteorite”

After taming the moon in 1969, the Bienne-based firm Omega is now launching the race to the stars, or rather to the meteorites, with its new model, the Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon “Meteorite”, a contemporary and more technical version of the famous Moonwatch.

The hours and minutes are displayed in the centre, with the seconds shown at 9 o’clock and the date at 6 o’clock. The seconds on the chronograph also run in the centre and there is an hour and minute recorder at 3 o’clock. The mechanism is run by the automatic Caliber 9300.

Price: 13,900 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin

Introducing the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Co-Axial Master Chronometer

It may be a long name but it has a lot to say: Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Co-Axial Master Chronometer. This year, the diving watch and star of Omega’s Seamaster collection has been fitted with new calibres certified by the Official Swiss Chronometry Testing Institute (COSC) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Metrology (METAS). The Master Chronometer title means that the watch has successfully passed 8 tests on its resistance to magnetic fields, water-resistance, precision and power reserve among others.

Price: 6,100 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin