Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal Watch: High-Tech Dive Bezel Merges Ceramic With Metal

An interesting new Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean watch is in the offing from Omega.  According to preliminary sources, the timepiece features a bezel in which the graduated ring is crafted from a specialized ceramic-metal hybrid material described as “Liquidmetal”.  Apparently composed of titanium, copper, nickel and beryllium in addition to significant amounts of zirconium oxide, the Liquidmetal bezel has a very attractive and rich appearance, combined with superior shatterproof qualities and excellent resistance to environmental factors–superior traits indeed for a timepiece that is both a luxury object, and an instrument with true capabilities for diving and sports use. Continue Reading… »

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Watches With 8500 Movement Set To Challenge Rolex’s Datejust

The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Chronometer is a luxury timepiece that is really growing on me.  While it’s always been a good watch that has seen a lot of popularity among Omega fans, this year represents a new high point for the Aqua Terra–and people are talking about it. What’s the reason, you ask?  A very sharp yet modest redesign that wraps itself around Omega’s sensational in-house 8500 caliber movement. Continue Reading… »

The Omega Seamaster Ploprof Watch Redeems Michael Phelps’ Dignity (Sorta) At FINA ‘09

What do you get when you squeeze two world class male swimmers on a tiny white Vespa?  A decidedly strange photo op for one of the world’s most incredible dive watches!  Omega’s super-impressive Seamaster Professional Ploprof 1200M watch, which I blogged about back in March (click here for the details), showed up on the wrists of a beaming Michael Phelps and Massimiliano Rosolino, as the two Omega ambassadors hammed it up in matching white helmets for the press at the 13th FINA World Championships in Rome.   Continue Reading… »

Omega Ploprof Watch Is Back In 2009; Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea, Move Over!

Word of an Omega Ploprof dive watch reissue was exciting 2009 news to me, because like many sports watch fans, Omega’s legendary 1970’s dive timepiece has always fascinated me.  I was therefore delighted to see it front and center at Omega’s Baselworld 2009 exhibit, as bold and distinctive as the original, yet with considerably enhanced water resistance over the 600 meter original, and bearing within its monocoque case Omega’s brilliant manufacture 8500 caliber movement with the Co-Axial Escapement.  Continue Reading… »

Omega Seamaster Diver Vancouver 2010 Watch: O Canada, A Limited Edition Omega Olympic For Thee

Canada and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games will be the focus of Omega’s latest limited edition Seamaster watch.  Just announced, this colorful new Omega timepiece will be made in an edition of–appropriately enough–2,010 pieces each in 41mm and 36mm models. Continue Reading… »

Omega De Ville Hour Vision Watch: Omega’s Definitive Return To Watchmaking Glory

When Omega introduced its De Ville Hour Vision watch back in 2007, I couldn’t help but be pleased.  Of course, the debut of the Co-Axial escapement in 1999 was a major event in its own right, but the Hour Vision watch with its in-house 8500 caliber movement took things a much bigger step forward: it represented the glorious return of Omega to its roots as a comprehensive watch manufacturer, and a champion of chronometric precision.  Suddenly, I wanted to dig out all my dusty books on Omega and re-learn all the fascinating history behind the brand founded by the Brandt family in the late 19th century.

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The James Bond Watch Saga Continues — “Quantum Of Solace” Introduces A New Omega Seamaster!

The Omega Seamaster Watch is almost as much of a star of the new generation James Bond movies as Mr. Daniel Craig himself. Right up there with the Aston Martin car and the Walther PPK pistol, this Omega diver’s timepiece has become inseparable from the image–and technical arsenal–of the world’s most famous spy. Continue Reading… »

Michael Phelps and Omega – Olympic Gold Medal Winners

Michael Phelps has been making a splash with the Swiss watchmaker Omega since his appearance at the 2004 Olympic Games. He is one of three Olympic athletes who are Omega brand ambassadors. Xander Popov and Ian Thorpe are the other two ambassadors who also happen to be celebrated Olympic gold medal swimmers.

The confluence between Omega and athletics is a relationship that has been coinciding since the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the timepiece brand was named Official Timekeeper and has kept its reign ever since. Continue Reading… »

Omega Watches And The Olympic Games–A Long Relationship Of Precision Timekeeping

While there is a fair share of controversy swirling around the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, one thing which is not up for debate is the rich history of Swiss watchmaker Omega in the history of Olympic sports timing.  With the Summer Games about to begin, the time seems right to present a few of the many notable Omega historical highlights:

Like an explosive sprinter, Omega got its big start in 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, supplying 30 chronographs, each of which had been earned certification as a chronometer.  It was this officially recognized precision that moved the Olympic Organizing Committee to decide that Omega would be the official timer of the games.  Four years later Continue Reading… »

Chronometer Certificates–Meaningful Horological Standard Or Watch Marketing Ploy?

One of the more common dialogues one is apt to encounter on timepiece fora is whether or not the precision tests the Controle Officiel Suisse des Chronometres (COSC) administers to watch movements mean anything in modern watchmaking.  Proponents will state that it is a comforting guarantee of timekeeping performance that increases their confidence in a watch, while cynics counter that its little better than a marketing ploy by a few brands Continue Reading… »