Omega - Hour Vision Blue
OMEGA has created a special watch - the Hour Vision Blue - in support of ORBIS International's fight against preventable blindness. Working closely with OMEGA on the project is actor and brand ambassador Daniel Craig.
The elegant Hour Vision
The OMEGA Hour Vision Blue wristwatch is a special edition of the stunning Hour Vision. It has a 360° see-through case-body which is set in a robust 41 mm stainless steel outer case.
The Hour Vision Blue is equipped with OMEGA's Co-Axial calibre 8500, the movement that signalled a revolution in series-produced mechanical watchmaking. The self-winding watch is an officially certified chronometer, a testimony to its precision and performance. Its Co-Axial escapement on three levels means that the hour hand can be adjusted independently of the minute and seconds hands - ideal for travellers who regularly need to change time zones.
The Co-Axial movement can be observed through sapphire crystal in the polished, screwed caseback. The Hour Vision Blue is water resistant to 10 bar / 100 metres / 330 feet.
Adding distinction to the timepiece is its sun-brushed blue dial designed especially for the appropriately named Hour Vision Blue. It has 18 Ct white gold facetted hour, minute and seconds hands and features a date window at 3 o'clock. The OMEGA Hour Vision Blue is presented on a black leather strap.
OMEGA and ORBIS International
OMEGA will donate a minimum of a million dollars to ORBIS International over the next four years and looks forward to its partnership with a remarkable organization that has carried out programs in 88 countries and trained some 250,000 health care professionals while delivering quality eye care to more than 12 million individuals around the world.
Omega - Clooney and Crawford
The advertisements feature photographs of Omega's brand ambassadors sporting loupes, the magnifying glasses favoured by watchmakers.
Inspired by Omega's award-winning advertisement
The visuals were inspired by Omega's award-winning "Watchmaker Wanted" campaign, which featured a Greg Williams photograph of George Clooney wearing a lab coat and a loupe.
In one of the new advertisements, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the first man to walk on the Moon wearing an Omega Speedmaster, appears with the headline, "It's not rocket science. But it's close."
Formula One superstar Michael Schumacher's Co-Axial advertisement describes the steady, constant performance of the movements with the legend, "When faster isn't better."
All of Omega's high-flying ambassadors are taking part in the campaign including George Clooney, Michael Phelps, Nicole Kidman, Cindy Crawford, Zhang Ziyi, and Sergio Garcia.
The advertising texts have been written with reference to the ambassadors' professional fields of endeavour and an aspect of Omega's Co-Axial movements. Swimmer Phelps's ad talks about the importance of timing. Super model Crawford's copy is about the fashion statement made by the movements.
The other "stars" in the adverts: Omega's Co-Axial calibres
The Co-Axial escapement, introduced in 1999, was the first practical new watch escapement to be developed in some 250 years. The escapement is, in simple terms, the heart of the mechanical watch. It maintains the oscillations of the balance, the watch's regulating mechanism. The Co-Axial Escapement reduces the friction among the parts that transmit energy from one component to another, resulting in longer service intervals, a reduced need for lubrication and, above all, greater stability of the watch's precision over time.
Since 2007 Omega has been producing its exclusive Co-Axial calibres in house comprising more than 200 parts.
"Co-Axial has been a turning point"
Commenting on the advertisements, Omega president Stephen Urquhart said, "T