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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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The Expert's view - Five leading watchmakers of our day
These five watchmakers are endowed with spirits of curiosity, technical supremacy and progressive thinking. They lead the mechanical industry by example: exploring theunknown while ensuring that stability and accuracy remain the prime elements of their creations. Meet five examples of horological brilliance as different as day and night—all bound to write their own chapters of watch history.
Jean-François Mojon
Shooting star Mojon maintains an uncompromising, engineering approach to his movement designs and this is logical, for he not only studied watchmaking technology at the Technicum in Le Locle, but also mechanical engineering. "Technology in general fascinated me as a child," he explains.
His career has been broad: starting out in electronics, he worked in quartz and LCD. He also worked in the aviation industry and for Omega for six years. In 1995, he acted on the desire to learn German and get really involved in the watch industry, so he sent an application to IWC, where he worked under Gunter Blumlein and became the head of quality control (...)
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Omega - Seamaster Aqua Terra "Golf"
OMEGA has renewed its commitment to helping grow the game of golf around the world. This Seamaster Aqua Terra "Golf", with the distinctive green elements on its dial, fashionably identifies itself with a truly global sport.
The watch, which features a 41.50 mm brushed and polished stainless steel case and a polished bezel, has a black dial with the vertical lines that define OMEGA's popular Aqua Terra Collection. The indexes are crafted from brushed and polished 18 Ct white gold and there is a date window at 3 o'clock.
With its green transferred "Seamaster" name and the numbers on the minute track (60, 5, 10, 15, etc.), the watch recalls the verdant courses where golf's great events are contested. The central seconds hand is also distinguished with a green tip.
The Seamaster Aqua Terra "Golf" is powered by the OMEGA Co-Axial caliber 8500, the movement that, when it was introduced in 2007, signaled a revolution in mechanical watchmaking. Equipped with the first practical new watch escapement to be introduced in some 250 years, the Co-Axial movement delivers outstanding chronometric performance which will be maintained over a longer period of time than those with a traditional Swiss lever escapement.
As a result there are longer service intervals and OMEGA guarantees the timepiece for four years. The hour hand can be changed independently of the minute and seconds hands allowing travelers to adjust the time easily when they change time zones.
The Seamaster Aqua Terra "Golf" wristwatch features OMEGA's patented screw and pin stainless steel bracelet and is water resistant to 15 bar / 150 metres / 500 feet.
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Omega - Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT
With the Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT, OMEGA introduces a new member of its exclusive Co-Axial family of movements. The OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8605/8615 is the first of OMEGA's proprietary movements to be equipped with a GMT complication, meaning that along with the central hour, minute and seconds hands, there is a GMT hand which completes one rotation every 24 hours, making it possible to keep track of the time in two time zones.
The 43 mm case is available in a choice of metals: 18 Ct red gold or stainless steel or, in a bicolor version in 18 Ct red gold and stainless steel. The sapphire crystal on the screw-in caseback allows a clear view of the extraordinary Co-Axial movement inside. The watch is available with either a bracelet in the same metal as the watch case or with a black, brown or blue leather strap.
The dial is distinguished by the teak pattern associated with the Aqua Terra collection. The vertical lines are reminiscent of the wooden decks on luxury boats. The applied 18 Ct gold brushed and polished indexes are coated with white Super-LumiNova and the facetted hands are crafted from 18 Ct white or red gold. Like the indexes, they are coated with white Super-LumiNova which allows ease of reading in all light conditions. The GMT hand's red arrow makes it easy to distinguish the two time zones.
At the heart of the Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT is the Co-Axial calibre 8605/8615. It is part of the family of movements OMEGA introduced in 2007 built around the first practical new watch escapement to be developed in some 250 years. The Co -Axial escapement in the OMEGA calibres is used in conjunction with a free sprung-balance and its function differs considerably from that of a conventional lever escapement with index. The watch's rate can be adjusted by modifying the moment of inertia of the balance by means of two gold regulating micro screws embedded in the circular balance. This design avoids the disturbing effects of contact between the balance-spring and the index pins and therefore ensures that the stability of rate offered by the Co-Axial escapement is maintained over long periods of use. The result is reduced friction which means that there is almost no need for lubrication; the Co-Axial calibres have long service intervals and the Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT, which is also equipped with a silicon balance spring, is delivered with a four-year warranty.
The OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8605/8615 is the first in the family to be equipped with a GMT complication. Its GMT hand has a diamond-polished red arrow, making it easy to track time in a second time zone or GMT display. Intriguingly, the GMT hand can also be used for compass orientation: when the watch is held parallel to the ground with its hour hand pointed in the direction of the sun, the GMT hand, when it is adjusted to the same time on the 24-hour GMT display, will indicate north in the northern hemisphere.
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Omega - Speedmaster Moonwatch "Apollo 15" 40th Anniversary Limited Edition
Apollo 15 was the fourth of NASA's six missions to land on the Moon. It was the first to feature a long duration stay on the lunar surface and there was a greater focus on science than there had been on previous missions. Most notably, it was the first mission where the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used.
The Apollo 15 mission began on July 26, 1971; the crew landed on the Moon four days later and they wouldn't splash down until the 7th of August. The adventure had lasted more than twelve days!
Omega commemorates a successful mission
Omega has created the Speedmaster Moonwatch "Apollo 15" 40th Anniversary Limited Edition to commemorate this important and successful mission.
It is a classic Moonwatch: it has a polished and brushed stainless steel case and bracelet, a black aluminum ring with a tachymeter scale on the bezel and a domed shatterproof hesalite crystal with O etched inside. Its three subdials are arranged in true Speedmaster Professional fashion on the black dial: the small seconds at 9 o'clock, the 12-hour counter at 6 o'clock and the 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock.
Some distinguishing features
There are also some features which distinguish the "Apollo 15" 40th Anniversary model from the classic Speedmaster Professional. This Limited Edition timepiece has a minute track in blue, white and red - the three colors of the Apollo 15 patch. There is a blue ring around the small seconds subdial; there are white and red rings around the 12-hour and 30-minute counters respectively.
The screw-in caseback is embossed with an image of the Lunar Rover and the words "APOLLO 15" and "40th ANNIVERSARY". The outer circle of the caseback is black chrome engraved with "THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON", "JULY 30, 1971" and the limited edition number.
An iconic movement
At the heart of the Speedmaster Moonwatch "Apollo 15" 40th Anniversary Limited Edition wristwatch is the classic Omega caliber 1861, the same manual-winding chronograph that equips the legendary Speedmaster Professional.
The Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch "Apollo 15" 40th Anniversary was created in an edition limited to 1,971 pieces.
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Omega - Planet Ocean on Capri
WORLDTEMPUS - 23 mai 2011
Last week, Omega impressively showed its latest Seamaster Planet Ocean models on the small island of Capri in the bay of Naples. A boat sailing around the historic island entered one of the legendary blue grottos, where a mermaid emerged from the water to hand one of the new orange Planet Ocean Chronograph to this reporter. The colorful diver's watch was not a present from a beautiful sea creature, but rather Omega's creative way to present a new watch to the press on board the chartered vessel.
This diver's watch, water-resistant to 600 meters, of the Seamaster Planet Ocean collection - which was originally launched in 2004 - is a sporty Omega. The line includes a three-hander (in both 42 and 45.5 mm case diameters) and 45.5 mm chronograph model in addition to a slightly more feminine 37.5 mm version for women: all are fitted with the latest in-house mechanical co-axial calibers 8500/8501, 8520/8521 or the new 9300 (chronograph).
The chronograph, available in stainless steel with an orange aluminum bezel, a black ceramic bezel or in titanium with a blue ceramic bezel and Liquidmetal markers, displays the 12-hour and 60-minute chronograph totalizers on the same subdial at 3 o'clock. This is the same set-up found on the new Speedmaster Moon. All the new movements are furthermore fitted with a newly developed Si 14 silicon balance spring, which is apparently incredibly reliable: Omega offers a four-year factory guarantee on it.
No more quartz
"We produced 420,000 co-axial movements in 2010," Omega president Stephen Urquhart explained as he showed the new collection at a scenic beach club located on one of the rocks where sirens allegedly lured sailors with their seductive song.
"That is more than half our total production . Within the next three years we will fit all our watches with our own movements," he claimed, indicating the end of quartz as going forward all models will contain mechanical movements, including the women's lines. Though it was pointed out that some women would rather spend their money on a diamond bezel or a precious metal case than a mechanical movement, Urquhart was insistent that Omega "needs to be consistent."
As much as this represents a changing of guard, it means that Omega's pricing will increase as well. However, it seems to be a clever move as the market with the biggest growth in Swiss horology belongs to a price segment around 15,000 euros, where it was between 2,500 and 7,500 only ten years ago. The entry level price for the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean collection today (with mechanical, co-axial, manufacture Caliber 8500) is approximately 4,600 euros on a strap. The former entry-level model, which did not include a manufacture movement, had a retail price of approximately 3,300 euros.
Scratch-resistant
Above and beyond the use of mechanical manufacture movements, Omega also justifies its price increase with innovative external developments, such as the blue ceramic bezel made of Liquidmetal, a scratch-resistant amorphous material. Combined with the high-tech ceramic bezel insert, the bezel comprising these two innovative materials will maintain its appearance indefinitely.
The bright orange bezel version, however, is not yet crafted in ceramic material, but rather aluminum. According to Jean-Claude Monachon, in charge of product development, the orange ceramic material turns beige when exposed to extreme heat. "We'll solve this problem eventually," Monachon is confident.New partnership and man from the moon
Omega announced a new partnership with environmental activist, photographer and filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his organization GoodPlanet. Together with Omega, Arthus-Betrand will produce a film named for the Planet Ocean watches about the earth's oceans. It will serve to remind viewers of the natural beauty that covers two-thirds of the planet's surface and to raise the awareness of what can be done to protect the oceans.
During the event, Urquhart introduced another friend of Omega: astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin, of course, who wore a Speedmaster when he landed on the moon in 1969, has been a decade-long ambassador of Omega. This particular evening, he wore a gold Omega De Ville Chronoscope - and of course an Apollo 11 pin in the collar of his immaculate blue suit.
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Omega - Mechanical Ladymatic Line Unveiled in Beijing
WORLDTEMPUS - 5 November 2010
In a bold fashion-forward move, Omega has unveiled a complete mechanical watch collection designed exclusively for women. The world premiere of the Ladymatic line took place last week in Beijing under the auspices of actress and Omega ambassador Nicole Kidman. Kidman is the face launching the Ladymatic; according to Omega president Stephen Urquhart, she embodies the power, grace, beauty and feminine spirit of the collection.
"This is not just a men's line that they made smaller for women; it is a true women's line," says Kidman. "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."
Needing two years for design and development, the concept for the line was the brainchild of none other than the late Nicholas G. Hayek. It was he who approached Omega vice president and head of product development Jean-Claude Monachon just after Basel 2008, following the successful launch of the Co-Axial 8520 line.
"He insisted we start work immediately on a dedicated ladies line to house the co-axial movement," says Monachon, who explained that the initial design plan was to find something in the brand's archives. That plan unfortunately proved fruitless as there was nothing available that really translated to today's woman. Instead, the team forged ahead with new design ideas, looking to the waves of the ocean for inspiration and adding ceramic for a modern-day, high-tech appeal.
The blend of femininity, mechanical excellence, and high-tech and fashion-forward design came together masterfully in a line that was "basically started from scratch, but still embraces the Omega 'DNA'," says Monachon. The only thing lacking upon completion was a name. Again, Omega executives reverted to the archives, finally selecting the Ladymatic name from a line first launched in 1955 that went on to become an icon for the brand. Omega recognized that this new collection would always be a mechanical ladies' line and the fit seemed perfect.
"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 twenty-first century," says Urquhart.
The initial Ladymatic series has 38 COSC-certified chronometer references crafted in stainless steel or 18-karat yellow or rose gold, all with a ceramic inset ring - either with diamonds on the dial or case or without diamonds. Dials are either white mother-of-pearl or shimmering black lacquer - both with a "supernova" pattern. The line retails from 5,400 Swiss francs to 30,300 Swiss francs. All watches are 34 mm in diameter and powered by the 20 mm Omega Co-Axial Caliber 8520/8521, whose escapement is equipped with Omega's exclusive Si 14 silicon balance spring. Naturally, the case backs are transparent for viewing the self-winding movement. The watches are all water-resistant to 100 meters, offer 50 hours of power reserve and boast an atypical four-year warranty.
The Ladymatic is offered on an alligator strap or an ingenious patented three-row bracelet that features asymmetrical links closer to the watch case that then become symmetrical four links further out — a very difficult design feat to achieve, according to Monachon.
"We are very happy with the end result," says Urquhart. "It is very important for us to have the Ladymatic line, not to get more women buyers to but reach a more sophisticated woman buyer."
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Sowind Group - Unexpected Death of Luigi Macaluso
WORLDTEMPUS - 28 October 2010
Luigi Macaluso, affectionately called Gino by those who knew him, led a multicultural life and can lay claim to having successfully resuscitated the Girard-Perregaux brand, integrating it into a group and making it a major independent player in the haute horlogerie scene.
Having been a successful rally driver and obtaining a degree in architecture - a sure sign of the Italian national's good taste - Macaluso, born in 1948, took a job with Omega's new Italian subsidiary in 1975. In 1982, he founded his own company, Tradema, and became a watch wholesaler in Italy for brands as reputed Breitling. One of the brands he sold through Tradema was Girard-Perregaux, and it wasn't long before he was offered shares in the Swiss brand. A few short years later, the entire company was proposed to him, and thus it came about that he went to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1992 to polish up a grand old name as its owner.
Macaluso had a place of residence in Switzerland's third largest French-speaking city, but he always retained an apartment in Turin and a farm in Tuscany.
Macaluso's systematic acquisition of property around the main Girard-Perregaux factory building located on Place Girardet made it possible to cleanly separate production workshops, representation space, and management offices for his group's two watch brands Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard from each other while keeping them connected by short pathways. Villa JeanRichard and its museum for tools and tooling machines is located just a few steps away from the Girard-Perregaux Museum within Villa Marguerite, and in between them the main factory and manufacturing buildings pretty much take up the rest of the block. Acquisition of suppliers for case and bracelet manufacture and the consistent quest for quality in Girard-Perregaux's own four manufacture movements combined with prestigious strategic alliances such as Ferrari and the BMW Oracle returned Girard-Perregaux to its former status. This was aided by the creation and continuation of historical delicacies such as the Three Golden Bridges Tourbillon and the Laureato line.
Macaluso's two sons (he is also survived by two daughters) joined his company close to a decade ago. Massimo (who also raced cars like his father) is currently president of JeanRichard, while Stefano (who studied architecture in Turin) became vice-president of Girard-Perregaux a few years ago.
Macaluso sold 23 percent of the Sowind Group's capital to PPR in 2008. PPR owns such prestigious brands as Gucci, Boucheron, and Bedat. Boucheron's prestigious jewelry designs are powered exclusively by Girard-Perregaux's manufacture movements.
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Omega - Beauty enhanced by Liquidmetal
October 9th 2009
The Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal Limited Edition unveiled by Omega on Monday is the first model from the brand, and doubtless in the entire watch industry, to contain Liquidmetal. This alloy discovered by researchers at the Californian Institute of Technology is endowed with several distinctive physical properties that have enabled the creation of a bezel alternating satin-brushed zones for the numerals and the minute scale with a polished surface for the ceramic part. Having in the process been granted exclusive rights to the use of this metal in watchmaking, Omega presents a timepiece of which the aesthetic criteria set out in the technical specifications led to the use of an ultra high-tech material.
Used to date in applications such as enhancing the flexibility of Head tennis rackets, the Liquidmetal is extremely different to classic metals. Amorphous rather than crystalline like most other metals, it has a 400°C melting point twice as high as titanium-based alloys, and is three times tougher than stainless steel. Nonetheless, Omega engineers have chosen it first and foremost for its malleability - a quality that enables even the smallest cavities to be perfectly filled thanks to the pressure of the alloy inside. This technology thus paved the way for the visually appealing alternation of metal parts with those made in ceramics and produced by Comadur - a sister company in the Swatch Group.
After presenting last spring a Speedmaster model not yet available on the market but equipped with a split-second chronograph and a ceramic dial, Omega once again introduces a model with a decidedly high-tech face. The shimmering pure dial echoing the bezel lends the watch exceptional depth and intensity, while the attractive dial design strikes a fine balance between vintage spirit and avant-garde styling.
The cogs of the in-house production process seems to be pretty well oiled, since the Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquid Limited Edition will be available by the end of the year in a series of 1948 - a nod to the launch date of the Seamaster collection. This relatively generous number is well over that of a "confidential" edition and doubtless heralds other forthcoming developments. The retail price is set at 4,800 Swiss francs excluding tax.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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