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Cosmic Watch - The world's first 4D digital astrolabe - and it's Swiss Made
It's called the Cosmic Watch and it is Swiss Made, but ironically it is not yet available as a watch. Having crossed the desks of the executives at Omega (too digital) and Google Switzerland (not functional enough), the project arrives on the market not as a wristwatch but as an application running on iOS and Android or as a luxurious desk clock or high-end touchscreen display that would make the perfect addition to a boardroom or hotel lobby. It is the world's first interactive astronomical clock in the digital era, and it's Swiss Made!
The Cosmic Watch builds on the centuries old tradition of the astrolabe as a means of displaying the rotation of the heavenly bodies in our solar system. But whereas the historical astrolabes were objects intended as decoration just as much as they were for education, the Cosmic Watch is geared much more towards the educational aspect, capitalizing on the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets around the world.
A new appreciation of time
One of the cornerstones of this approach is adding the dimension of time, which can be overlaid on any of the views in the form of a circle around the equator with an optional digital read-out if desired. Intuitively, the time can also be read against the selected location and the shadow cast by the sun gives an instant overview of where on earth it is night and day.
A "time travel" function lets you move forwards or backwards through time at varying speeds, from a sedate two minutes per second to a dizzying year per second. As you move forwards or backwards you see the trace of the movement of the planets and you can pause at any point to see the exact configuration in the solar system at that point. Furthermore, significant astronomical events such as eclipses are highlighted along the way.
Five different guides (horizon, compass, planet names, connections, celestial rings and equatorial grid) can be toggled on and off to assist with astronomical observations. Simply activating the horizon and compass, for example, then aligning north on the compass with north on the horizon, lets you easily identify the planets at a glance. On a cloudless night in mid-May I was able to pick out Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury from my balcony in a matter of minutes.
The future
As with any smartphone application, the advantage of the technology is that it can regularly be updated. The developers are already working on adding new features such as real-time weather, a world-time display and equation of time function. With such features on board, the application could in future easily replace three or more existing types of application (world time, sky chart, weather). All this at a cost of just 4 Swiss francs!
The Cosmic Watch also comes packaged as two high-end luxury objects, the Vision and the Eclipse. The Vision is an interactive table clock and the Eclipse is a custom-built interactive astronomical "wall time device" using the very best touchscreen technology available.
The Cosmic Watch can be downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
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Omega - Speedmaster Chronograph keeps time
A Timely Perspective - 5 November 2012
The Omega Speedmaster chronograph was created in 1957 and has always been regarded as a high-precision sturdy, reliable watch. In 1969, it made history as the first watch to be worn on the moon. This week, it was the watch I relied on during hurricane Sandy, the subsequent power outage for six days and the clean-up after the fact.
This Speedmaster Automatic Chronometer is a superb watch. Housing the self-winding Omega 3304 caliber, the watch is a chronograph and officially certified COSC chronometer. I love the feel of the automatic movement and its self-winding capabilities - you know you have mechanics on the wrist with this watch. For me, even though time wasn't essential during the blackout, I needed to know the time and date and with this watch I was certain it wouldn't die as a quartz watch might if its battery ran out during the long days and dark nights.
Additionally, during the aftermath and the cleanup outside, I knew it was rugged enough to go the distance hauling logs, brush and debris off the pool and out of the yard. While I didn't use the tachymeter bezel, I did, in fact, use the chronograph to track how long it took to get just the one big tree off the pool: 6 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds. After that, I stopped timing the take down of the other fallen seven trees. It was tiring work but the watch kept up! I love this timepiece. Retail is about $4,900 - and at that it is a steal.
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Atelier Loiseau - Historical timepieces
Renaissance
Pocket Watch
1981
It is the fisrt pocket watch intergrating a Tourbillon and complications in the history. The Renaissance features the Hours, Minutes and Seconds (from the Tourbillon). It also is a Perpetual Calendar with all of its traditionnal information. Plus it proposes an automatic striking mechanism, the 12 zodiacal signs, the sunrise and sunset stars, the equation of time and a thermometer. The Renaissance is still today privately owned by the same familly who originally bought it.
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Capriccio - Piece No 2
Pocket Watch
1983
The functions are the Hours, Minutes and Seconds (from the Tourbillon). Its hand winding movment perfectly fits the special shape of the case, inspired by a paintor's color palette. The power reserve is of 8 days. It is regulated by a tourbillon and a detent escapment. The Capriccio is the property of the Omega museum.
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Montres des Sables - A Faces
Pocket Watches
1985
The deserts' nomads inspired Dominique Loiseau for the creation of these 6 unique Montres des Sables (Watches of the sand). Every movement's flying Tourbillon is placed in the center of each watch. These pocket watches have pendant integrated in their case so that they look like stones on the desert.
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Rose des Temps
Table Clock and automaton
1983-84
Unique Complication rebus table clock celebrating the arrival of the 3rd millenary. The timepiece is made of 16 modules all interchangeable between them and totalizing 32 functions. To name a few these functions are : Automatic Striking Mecanism, Minute Repeater, a 6 bells (gongs) Westminster Carillon, Perpetual Calendar, the sky in New-York, Sydney, Buenos Aires and Bern, the 4 seasons indicator, Year 2K automaton, a Chronometer, a Thermometer and of course Hours and Minutes.
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Cobra
Pocket Watch
1986-87
Unique pocket watch. Besides the Hours, minutes and seconds (from the Tourbillon) it features a flying Tourbillon and a power reserve indicator. The Cobra is privately owned.
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Omega - Spacemaster Z-33
Omega is proud to introduce the Spacemaster Z-33. Inspired by the iconic "Pilot Line" case shape and equipped with a brand new multifunction quartz movement, calibre 5666 has been designed with modern pilots in mind and artfully combines its ancestor's legendary design with Omega's industry-defining innovation.
The Spacemaster Z-33's case shape cannot be mistaken for that of any other timepiece and in the tradition of Omega's great pilots' watches, it separates its day-to-day timekeeping from its professional functions ergonomically, using state-of-the-art technology.
Designed for pilots
Floating above the digital dial is a set of analogue timekeeping hands that are adjusted by the crown at 3 o'clock. Surrounding the watch are four pushers that, along with the crown, allow full control over the array of digital features. For keeping track of the time these include date, UTC and two time zones (in 12 or 24 hour display), an alarm and a perpetual calendar. Elapsed time is measured with a chronograph function and a countdown timer. Alongside these features are self-programmable professional pilot functions to log up to ten flights and visualise those logs with date-hour indications.
High-technology case, dial and hands
Continuing the high technology feel of the watch, the modern-sized case is manufactured from grade 5 titanium, and features brushed, polished and sandblasted highlights, reminiscent of Omega's pilot case design. The caseback features the polished Omega Seahorse, the O symbol, the word "Speedmaster" and the watch's serial number. The back is fixed in place with four screws and its "double wall" construction acts as a resonance chamber, thus amplifying the sound of the alarm. The Spacemaster Z-33 is fitted with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides to provide a clear view of the display regardless of the conditions. The watch is water resistant to 3 bar / 30 metres / 100 feet.
The Spacemaster Z-33 has a non-reflective matt black dial with white Omega name and logo and featuring the words "Spacemaster" and "Z-33" in white. The white indexes are coated with white Super-LumiNova, as are the skeletonised hour and minute hands. The elements coated with Super-LumiNova emit a green glow in low light conditions.
The dial features two large display panels for the digital functions. These screens have black backgrounds with red digital segments and use transreflective LCD technology to provide easy reading in all light conditions.
The new design incorporates skeletonised hands to help the wearer view the digital displays below them. By simply depressing the pusher at the 8 o'clock position, the hands are disengaged to either 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock, allowing the wearer an unobstructed view of the digital information.
On your wrist in the cockpit
The Spacemaster Z-33 is supplied with a black rubber strap with the inscriptions "Omega" and "Speedmaster" in red. It is also available on a brown "Soft Touch" leather strap. The black rubber strap features a model-specific Titanium folding clasp (grade 5 for all the visible parts and grade 2 for the moving parts). The brown "Soft Touch" leather strap is secured to the wrist by a standard grade 5 titanium folding clasp (again with grade 2 titanium used for the moving parts of the clasp). Both clasps bear the Omega logo.
The digital displays is automatically regulated by their transreflective technology, which takes into account ambient light, allowing the digital data to be read as easily on night flights as in direct sunlight. This technology also helps conserve battery power. In dark conditions the Super-LumiNova provides a green glow for the analogue time measurement hands allowing them to be distinct enough not to interfere with the digital
A very special and highly useful additional detail that underlines the Spacemaster's professional heritage & distinction is the fact that its digital display can be read under all conditions, even for wearers with polarized glasses.
The watch is delivered in a special presentation box which includes a detailed manual.
Respecting the past, defining the future
The Omega Spacemaster Z-33 carries on the traditions of robust reliability and innovation that have always defined Omega's watches. Coupled with specific functions desired by professional pilots, Omega's new thermo-compensated quartz calibre 5666 is particularly dedicated to them, providing them with the combination great accuracy and functionality they need in the cockpit.
With the launch of the Spacemaster Z-33, Omega has re-introduced a professional pilots' watch, combining the legendary look of the past with cutting-edge watchmaking features.
It is sure to be one of the most welcomed and talked-about releases of 2012.
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Omega - Ladymatic
Can you imagine a line of women's watches that recalls the most compelling design elements of the golden age of couture and combines them with the best mechanical watch movements in the world? Is this idea simply too good to be true?
Omega can answer these questions in a word: Ladymatic.
Reviving a legendary name
The Omega Ladymatic reintroduces a name from the storied brand's illustrious past. Originally launched in 1955 and continuing for the better part of a generation, the Ladymatic wristwatch line defined feminine grace and elegance in another era. It was one of the brand's first self-winding watches to be designed especially for women and it featured the smallest automatic movement Omega had ever made.Omega has chosen to revive the legendary name with a family of watches whose design originality and Co-Axial innovation combine to give an entirely new meaning to Ladymatic. These are timepieces that have been created to address women's desire to own wristwatches that make profound fashion statements but which are also equipped with the best series-produced mechanical watch movements in the world.
Nicole Kidman and Ladymatic
Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, an Omega brand ambassador since 2004, will be the face (and wrist) associated with the Ladymatic line. Asked what she thought about Omega's decision to usea name associated with a product launched in the fifties, Kidman said, "There's something appealing about that type of communication. There's a fascination with the era which means that the advertisements can be playful without actually turning back the clock. As the Ladymatic watch collection represents state-of-the-industry technology, this campaign is really a sort of wink."
What's in a name? Ladymatic in 1955 and 2010
When the first Ladymatic watches were released by Omega in 1955, the name concisely communicated the collection's strength: the Ladymatic was a self-winding watch created especially for women.Omega president Stephen Urquhart said about reviving the Ladymatic name, "We're certainly aware that it sounds different now than it did 55 years ago. But the new watches are superb and they've been designed for women who have told us that they are as interested in the quality of our mechanical movements as they are in the style of the watches."Mr. Urquhart added, "By reviving this name, we've been able to focus attention on how important our women customers have been to us over the years and also to show the world what a mechanical watch for women should be in the 21st century."Nicole Kidman echoed his sentiment saying, "These days, interest in the quality of a watch movement isn't gender specific - women have the same interest in its performance as men do. The Ladymatic addresses that perfectly."
The Ladymatic Line
The watches in the new Ladymatic line feature polished 34 mm cases with a distinctive ceramic ring between an outer decorative wave and the inner case body. The cases are crafted in 18 Ct red or yellow gold or in stainless steel.The Ladymatic watches are offered with a choice of polished or snow-set diamond-paved bezels. The polished screw-in crown is either set with a Brilliant Omega CutT™ diamond or is embossed with a polished OMEGA logo. The polished caseback has a sapphire crystal that reveals the movement that powers the watch.The movement driving the Ladymatic watches is the Omega Co-Axial calibre 8520/8521. At its heart is the Co-Axial escapement, the component that in 1999 signaled a revolution in how mechanical wristwatches are made. Each movement is equipped with OMEGA's exclusive Si 14 silicon balance spring, an innovation that makes it more resistant to external shocks and environmental disturbancEach watch in the Omega Ladymatic collection is an officially certified chronometer, a testimony to their outstanding timekeeping performance. The remarkable stability and performance of the Co-Axial calibers equipped with silicon balance springs makes it possible for Omega to deliver each Ladymatic wristwatch with a four-year warranty.The stunning face of the Ladymatic is highlighted by the supernova pattern, which emanates from the centre of the dial. The extra-white mother-ofpearl or lacquered black dials match the colour of the striking ceramic ring. The dials are available either with 11 diamond indexes in facetted 18 Ct gold mounts or in understated elegant simplicity with no hour markers. There is a diamond-polished date window at the 3 o'clock position. The polished alpha-shaped hands have been made from 18 Ct gold and are treated with white Super-LumiNova, making them readable in any lighting conditions.The Omega Ladymatic watches are presented with either bracelets in metals matching their cases or on alligator leather straps in mother-of-pearl white or brilliant black. The metal bracelets feature Omega's patented 3-row screw-and-pin design with a butterfly clasp. The alligator straps have a polished link in the metal that corresponds to the case and an 18 Ct gold foldover clasp.The new Omega Ladymatic Collection draws certain influences from its namesake: like the original Ladymatic watches, the line perfectly blends graceful, timeless design and Omega's groundbreaking technology. The new collection, with its Co-Axial technology and bold fashion features, takes the best elements of an earlier era and introduces them, completely updated and upgraded, to women of accomplishment in a new century.
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Omega - Seamaster Ploprof 1200M
In 1970 OMEGA launched the Seamaster Professional 600, the so-called "Ploprof" (the first letters of plongeur professionnel - the French words meaning "professional diver"), one of the most rugged, robust and seaworthy divers' wristwatches ever manufactured.
Last year we introduced a completely updated version of the divers' classic. Equipped with a Co-Axial calibre 8500, the new Ploprof 1200M is, as its name suggests, water resistant to an astounding 1200 metres (4000 feet, 120 bar) and it is an artful union of its ancestor's legendary features and OMEGA's state-of-the-industry Co-Axial technology.
The OMEGA Seamaster Ploprof 1200M in white!
This year OMEGA presents its white version of the Ploprof. It has all of the features professional divers have come to expect from OMEGA: a white bi-directional locking bezel with chrome-coated Arabic numerals, an automatic helium escape valve and water resistance to 1200 metres (4000 feet, 120 bar). The watch, with its timeless white bezel and dial, is presented with either a white rubber strap or a brushed mesh "Sharkproof" bracelet.
The Ploprof's case cannot be mistaken for that of any other watch: the screwed-in crown is located at 9 o'clock under a protective buffer. Its unique positioning allows freer wrist movement and prevents any inadvertent manipulation.
Designed for divers
At the 2 o'clock position is the Ploprof's characteristic bezel-release security pusher with an orange anodised aluminium ring. Pressing the pusher allows the bezel to be rotated in either direction and then locked firmly in position, ensuring that it cannot be accidentally shifted during a dive. The Ploprof has an automatic helium escape valve located on the side of the case at the 4 o'clock position. This feature allows helium atoms to escape during decompression, and is particularly useful for professional divers operating from diving bells.
The Seamaster Ploprof 1200M has a polished, lacquered white dial with an applied polished OMEGA name and logo. The oversized minute hand, which plays such an important role for divers, is crafted from orange anodised aluminium for legibility and is coated with white Super-LumiNova.
Respecting the past, defining the future
The OMEGA Seamaster 1200M in white is a perfect expression of OMEGA's pioneering spirit: a classic divers' watch which combines state-of-the-industry innovation with timeless design excellence.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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