Baselworld 2012: Attention all Speedy fans! The First OMEGA in Space has landed. Like so many of my fellow Omega collectors, I love the Speedmaster. It has a glorious history and has the honor of passing the rigorous testing at NASA and being the watch worn on the moon, thus earning the nickname “Moon watch”.

Most watch fans know about the rigorous testing that led to the OMEGA Speedmaster being approved for NASA on all its manned missions from 1 March 1965. Did you know that some two and a half years earlier, astronaut Wally Schirra had already worn his own Speedmaster in space? A new watch commemorates a historic chronograph.

So much has been written about the rigorous testing that led to the OMEGA Speedmaster’s being the only watch qualified for every manned NASA mission that it is easy to forget that the very first OMEGA worn in space was the Speedmaster that astronaut Wally Schirra wore during his Mercury Atlas 8 mission in October of 1962. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Speedmaster to orbit the earth, OMEGA has created the Speedmaster “First OMEGA in Space” in honour of Wally Schirra and his historic wristwatch.

The Speedmaster “First OMEGA in Space” edition recalls the watch that Schirra bought at a jeweller in Houston more than half a century ago. Inside its 39.70 mm polished, brushed stainless steel case is the legendary self-winding MANUAL WINDING calibre 1861, which earned its reputation as the movement in the legendary OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch. It also has the black aluminium bezel ring with a tachymetric scale that has long been associated with the classic Speedmaster.

Visible through its box-form, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal is the classic varnished black dial that for 55 years has made the Speedmaster the world’s definitive chronograph: the 30-minute and 12-hour counters are located at 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock respectively and the small seconds sub-dial is at 9 o’clock. It has white transferred indexes; the hour markers and hour and minute hands are coated with Super-LumiNova.

The watch has a screw-in stainless steel caseback which is embossed with OMEGA’s original seahorse emblem, the words “THE FIRST OMEGA IN SPACE” and “OCTOBER 3, 1962”, the date of the Mercury Atlas 8 mission. The Speedmaster “First OMEGA in Space” is a numbered edition and its number is engraved on the caseback.

The Speedmaster “First OMEGA in Space” chronograph is presented on a brown leather strap with beige stitching. The watch is water resistant to 50 metres / 167 feet / 5 bar. This classic Speedmaster is a fitting way to celebrate the beginning of an adventure that would ultimately lead to six lunar landings and half a century of space exploration.

Baselworld 2012:  Presenting the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ceragold, another exciting new Omega for 2012 (though nothing like the flashy Speedmaster Racing watch, or the First OMEGA In Space).  Indeed, 2012 seems a year for innovation in materials — as with Hublot’s new and proprietary “magic gold” (did you see the Big Bang Ferrari yet?!), OMEGA has created a new material that premiers in the new Seamaster Planet Ocean, Ceragold.   Though to be clear, this material is only represented in the bezel of the new PO (somewhat similarly to the PO Liquidmetal from a couple years back) — so perhaps there is a bit of hype in all this, but still a beautiful watch nonetheless.  The polished black zirconium-based ceramic bezel which offers a stark, dramatic contrast to the Ceragold diving scale set within.   The co-axial Calibe 9301 movement is equipped with a silicon balance spring and like all Planet Oceans, the watch comes with a full four-year warranty.  An all-white “St. Moritz” edition of this watch, in 42mm case, is also presented (I will show you later).

OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean 45.5 mm Chronograph Ceragold

45.5mm red gold case, auto-mechanical OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 9301 (red rotor, blackened barrel, balance spring, screws), black leather strap with red gold foldover clasp

VIDEO

Baselworld 2012: 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. This design may not be for everyone, but the name is catchy. I shall have to look for the Spacemaster on the wrists of astronauts in the future since some of them wear the Speedmaster X-33, which shares similar features to the Spacemaster.

The functions of the Spacemaster are as follows: 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 visualize those logs with date-hour indications.

The 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 Ω 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. 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.

I foresee this to become a coveted watch among desk pilots and real pilots.

Baselworld 2012:  Presenting the OMEGA Speedmaster racing watch.  What to say but wow — it doesn’t get any better than this for one of the watch world’s iconic models.  The new Speedmaster Racing honours the chronograph’s decades-long connection to motor racing – before the Speedmaster was worn on the Moon or at the North and South Poles, it was found on the wrists of men and women driving high-performance automobiles (1957, the first Speedmaster).   The OMEGA Speedmaster Racing chronograph has a 40 mm stainless steel case with a matt black aluminium tachymetric ring on its bezel. It is offered in a choice of grey, grey/yellow or grey red tachymetric scaling. The screw-in caseback features the familiar Seahorse emblem.  The 30-minute and 12-hour counters and the small seconds hand sub-dial are textured with a triangular “Clous de Paris” pattern.  The Speedmaster Racing is powered by an exclusive OMEGA calibre 3330 column-wheel chronograph which delivers such reliable timekeeping performance and stability that the chronograph comes with a full four-year warranty.  A huge winner from Omega for 2012.  Don’t miss the video at the bottom.  The Omega Speedmaster Racing Watch price is $4,000.

Omega Speedmaster Racing Watch

40mm stainless steel case, automatic mechanical Omega Caliber 3300 (column-wheel chrono, co-Axial escapement, silicon balance spring)

VIDEO

Baselworld 2012, Omega releases a teaser video.  Looks like there will be a yellow-accented Speedmaster with a nice textured subdial and also and perhaps more interesting a Seamsaster Professional with a “Ceragold” case…looks to be a white dial/white-bezeled version…

Omega 2012 Collection – Sneak Peaks

VIDEO

Seamaster “Ceragold”

Speedmaster

It’s hard to believe that fifty years have passed since James Bond first stepped onto the big screen in “Dr. No”.   To celebrate the milestone, OMEGA has launched the Seamaster Diver 300M James Bond “50 Years” wristwatch in two sizes (as featured on this blog a few weeks back).  This video presents close-up images of the 41 mm and the 36.35 mm versions detailing some of their special features including, most notably, the rotating cartridge on the caseback.   Also note the diamond set

Later this year, “SKYFALL”, the 23rd film in the franchise will be released starring Daniel Craig as the world’s favorite spy.

A Diamond Is Forever…

It is now official, the Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch, that is. To celebrate fifty years of James Bond films, OMEGA is releasing a special update of the incredibly popular Seamaster Diver 300m James Bond watch which has been worn by 007 in every adventure since GoldenEye.  The James Bond 007 50th Anniversary Collector’s Piece has been created in two sizes, 41 mm and 36 mm, and there are some particulars for each model — notably, the 41 mm version is being produced in a limited edition of 11’007 pieces and the 36.25 mm version in a limited edition of 3’007 pieces (a bit more reasonable for a “limited edition”).  As well, the 36mm case size has a diamond index at the 7 o’clock position.  Read on for more details and high resolution pics of the new James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch…

Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch (OFFICIAL)

41mm and 36.25mm stainless steel case options, OMEGA calibre 2507 self-winding movement (Co-axial, COSC), indexes are coated with white Super-LumiNova with a blue emission, date window at 3 o’clock, lacquered black dial features a 007 monogram

“50″ Years of 007

diamond index at 7 o’clock (36mm version only)

The Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch has a ceramic bezel with diving scales in matt chromium nitride with the number “50″ in red as a reminder that the watch is celebrating a very special anniversary.

The Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch has a screw-in case back stamped with a gun-barrel design. There is a “bullet” decoration fixed on the rotor that can be viewed through a central sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating inside. The watch also has a unidirectional rotating bezel.  A helium escape valve allows helium atoms to escape during decompression, particularly necessary for professional divers operating from diving bells. As its name suggests, the watch is water resistant up to 300 metres.

Don’t forget — in 2012, EON Productions will release Skyfall, the 23rd film in the franchise, with Daniel Craig in the role of James Bond

Left to right:  Bérénice Marlohe (Sévérine), Daniel Craig (James Bond 007), Naomie Harris (Eve)

Well, well, well — looks like Omega will be releasing a “limited edition” Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch this year. For now the details are scant on this watch — credit to HODINKEE for scooping this release via an Omega dealer in the UK who looks to have gotten ahead of itself in posting the watch on its website (the watch has been taken down from the dealer’s site).  As you can see in the spy shots below, the Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary edition features a “007″ theme on dial with a red “50″ on the bezel (50th anniversary).  The coolest part of this watch is the back — you can see the signature “bullet in a gun barrel” view that is present in the opening sequence of every James Bond movie.  The bullet is further inscribed with “50 years of James Bond.”   Interestingly, as Hodinkee pointed out, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film series — though fifty years ago Bond was not wearing an Omega at all.

Omega Seamaster James Bond 50th Anniversary Watch

“Limited edition” of 11,007 pieces

Editor note:  given such high production volume, I do not consider this a true limited edition piece — why not make 12,007 pieces in recognition of the year of production (2012) instead?

41mm steel case, automatic mechanical Omega’s caliber 2507 co-axial movement

Here’s a first look at the newest Omega Seamaster, the Aqua Terra GMT, powered by Omega’s Co-Axial Caliber 8605/8615.  According to Omega, the OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8605/8615 is the first of OMEGA’s proprietary movements 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.  And this certainly is an interesting execution of a GMT watch — the 24 hour ring is set in-line with the inner edge of the hour markers, with the combination of the 2 providing the marks required for GMT time.  I don’t think I have seen a GMT execution like this before; most often you see the GMT hours kept on the outer edge of the dial or even the bezel.  I think Omega’s attempt at moving the GMT time inward on the dial looks good!  It helps that the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra — with its teak wood-patterned dial — is a beautiful looking watch to begin with.  The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra price is TBD.

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT

43mm steel case (red gold, gold/steel combo cases also available), automatic mechanical Omega caliber 8605/8615 movement, GMT function, date window

closer look at the dial:

Did You Know?

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.

If you have ever been in an Omega Boutique you will know that the brand sells a small selection of leather goods in addition to its watches.  I recall seeing small bags, briefcases, padfolios and similar items in the New York boutique.  No surprise then to see that Omega now offers an iPad cover.  I personally find the “Omega logo ” stamped outer to be a bit tacky, but if you are looking for a gift for an iPad owning, Omega-loving person, it may be worth a quick stop by your nearest Omega boutique!

Omega iPad Cover

black or brown, embossed with Omega logo