SWITZERLAND. Swatch Group-owned watch company Omega has unveiled details of the novelties introduced at BaselWorld 2010, where both quality and the brand’s exclusive Co-Axial calibres remain the key messages.
This year’s fair followed the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games where, for the 24th time, Omega served as official timekeeper.
In 2009 the company celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that led to Omega’s first lunar landing adventure. This year the brand commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a mission remembered for its political, technological and historical significance.
When Generals Stafford and Leonov, both wearing Speedmaster watches, shook hands in the docking hatch of 17 July 1975, an era of co-operation in space began which would lead to the building of a permanent space station. Speedmasters remain standard equipment for the astronauts on the International Space Station.
 |  |
Omega Constellation Ladies Quartz 35mm (left); Seamaster Ploprof 1200M with white dial and white bezel | |
Omega’s Constellation line in white and grey
Omega redesigned the entire Constellation range last year and introduces two new models for 2010.
The white Constellation Ladies Quartz 35mm timepiece with a polished 18ct red-gold case and a white alligator leather strap features 11 single-cut diamond hour markers which are graduated, increasing in size on each side of the dial from the round faceted date window at six o’clock. Its brushed 18ct red-gold bezel features Roman numerals coated with white Super-LumiNova. The silver lacquered dial features a supernova pattern which ‘explodes’ from the Constellation star.
The new Constellation Ladies Quartz 35mm with a black alligator leather strap has a shaded grey dial. The watch has a bezel paved with 34 full-cut diamonds. Its 11 single-cut diamond hour markers, which are increasingly graduated from the round faceted date window at six o’clock, are in sharp relief to the supernova pattern on the dial which emanates from the Constellation star.
Both the shaded grey and the white models are powered by Omega’s quartz calibre 1532.
Constellation Double Eagle 4-Counters
Constellation Double Eagle watches have long celebrated Omega’s close relationship with the game of golf. The Double Eagle is designed as a robust watch for all seasons, with its screw-in case helping to guarantee water resistance to 100 metres.
This year, the popular line is extended with the Omega Constellation Double Eagle Co-Axial 4-Counters. This watch is powered by Omega’s Co-Axial calibre 3890 and is a COSC-certified chronometer.
Four counters, or sub-dials, are arranged in a staggered row across the dial. From left to right, they feature the small seconds, a seven-day counter, a 12-hour counter and a 30-minute counter. Just above the centre of the watch is a window which shows the day of the week.
The Constellation Double Eagle 4-Counters has a sporty dial in matt black with contrasting counters. The stainless steel model has an integrated black rubber strap with a satin-brushed stainless steel foldover clasp.
The attention to detail in the design of the watch is reflected by its 18ct white gold faceted hour markers, faceted and truncated Dauphine hands, and applied Omega symbol and name.
A date window at 6 o’clock completes the dial, which is protected by a domed, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides. The screw-in transparent sapphire crystal case back reveals the movement.
The Double Eagle 4-Counters is equipped with a black aluminium bezel with silver Arabic numerals.
Omega Seamaster models with annual calendar
Seamaster Aqua Terra watches, characterised by the nautical ‘teak-concept’ vertical lines on their dials, has been extended with the release of the first models with an annual calendar complication.
The Annual Calendar models come in stainless steel or a bi-colour blend of stainless steel and 18ct red gold.
The watches are powered by the Co-Axial calibre 8601/8611, a high-precision COSC-certified chronometer which features the additional functionality of an instantaneous jump annual calendar complication. This annual calendar automatically recognises months with 30 and 31 days and needs to be manually corrected only once a year, on 1 March.
The Aqua Terra Annual Calendar timepieces are also equipped with the brand’s exclusive Si 14 silicon balance springs, meaning everyday shocks have very little effect on the workings.
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 seaworthy divers’ wristwatches ever manufactured, according to the brand.
Last year the company introduced an updated version of the divers’ watch. Equipped with a Co-Axial calibre 8500, the new Ploprof 1200M is, as its name suggests, water resistant to 1,200 metres.
This year a white version is offered, featuring a white bi-directional locking bezel with chrome-coated Arabic numerals and an automatic helium escape valve. The watch, with its white bezel and dial, is presented with either a white rubber strap or a brushed mesh ‘Sharkproof’ bracelet.
 |  |
Omega Aqua Terra Annual Calendar (left); Speedmaster Ladies’ Chronograph Chronometer | |
Omega Speedmaster styles for women
A new addition to the Speedmaster chronograph family – worn by every one of NASA’s piloted missions since 1963 – is a selection of 38mm Speedmasters designed specially for women.
The new Speedmaster Ladies’ Chronograph Chronometers include a model with a white ceramic bezel ring, a white lacquered dial and a white alligator leather strap. Another style has a black ceramic bezel ring, a grey dial and a dark grey alligator leather strap.
One model has a purple PVD-coated dial and a purple alligator leather strap. Its bezel features 54 diamonds.
The most glamorous model has a stainless steel case and a bezel ring made of 18ct pink gold, enhanced with 54 diamonds. Its crown and chronograph pushers have also been created from 18ct pink gold.
Each watch in the collection is a COSC-certified chronometer. They are powered by the Omega calibre 3304, a self-winding mechanical movement. In addition to their full chronograph function, the new Speedmasters have a date window at 6 o’clock.
Speedmaster Professional Apollo-Soyuz 35th Anniversary
The new Speedmaster Professional Apollo-Soyuz 35th Anniversary celebrates the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission remembered for its political, technological and historical significance. It was the first time that spacecraft built by different nations had docked and it signalled an era of co-operation in space which would lead to the efforts to build a permanent space station. The mission also marked the last launch of an Apollo spacecraft.
On 17 July 1975, astronaut Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford (US) and cosmonaut Lieutenant General Alexei A. Leonov (USSR) met in the docking hatch which linked their respective spacecraft. They each wore Omega Speedmaster Professional chronographs. The 35th anniversary of their historic handshake is commemorated with the release of the new chronograph in a limited edition of 1,975 watches.
The dial was created from a meteorite which survived its entry into our planet’s atmosphere and the high-speed impact with the Earth’s surface. The dial is a single piece cut from the meteorite, so each watch is unique. The black colour of the meteorite dial is the result of a surface oxidation process. The silvery seconds hand and chronograph counters appear in the meteorite’s natural colour.
Omega Skeleton Central Tourbillon Platinum Limited Edition
Finally, the top-of-the-range Omega Skeleton Central Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition is handcrafted in Bienne, Switzerland, by a select group of horologists.
In a tourbillon movement, all of the main components responsible for precision are assembled in a rotating cage. Omega is the only watchmaker ever to have created an automatic central tourbillon. Its titanium cage rotates every 60 seconds, offsetting the effect of gravity on the performance of the watch.
The Skeleton Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition combines the complex tourbillon technology with dazzling design elements, Omega said.
The movement has a sun-brushed and circular graining finish with an anthracite galvanic processing; its bridges and mechanisms are hand polished. The rotor has been newly designed and is metallised with the words ‘Limited Edition’ and the watch’s individual serial number (out of 18). It has a Breguet balance spring.
The Central Tourbillon’s hands cannot be mounted on a central shaft in the conventional way. They are gold metallised onto sapphire crystal discs, and appear to float freely above the movement.
Each tourbillon is the work of one watchmaker who spends up to 540 hours on the creation of the skeletonised version, so that every timepiece is unique.
Each watchmaker engraves his or her personal initials under the tourbillon base to assure that all parts can be returned to their maker after they have been galvanised. When a Central Tourbillon is returned to Omega for servicing, it is placed in the hands of the original watchmaker.
Only 18 pieces of this Skeletonized Tourbillon Co-Axial Platinum Limited Edition will be produced.
The performance of Omega’s exclusive Co-Axial calibre 2636 is enhanced by its state-of-the-industry escapement. The complex movement is assembled from 320 parts.
The Central Tourbillon calibre is housed in a platinum case presented with a black alligator bracelet.
