For more information about this watch from official Omega site - CLICK HERE.

- HT

 

 

 

The Omega Museum was first opened in 1984 but was recently refurbished and under the guidance of the current Curator Mr Brandon Thomas, the museum ably conveys the long history and achievements of the brand.

The museum has four rooms taking all of the second floor of the building. The first room houses all the important movements from its early history. The room is packed with movements from pocket watches as well as small clocks.

In the second or main room, complete watches was displayed including timing equipment for the Olympics, Apollo Space Programme related hardware and of course the James Bond watches. Important pieces owned by famous people including Presidents and Actors. The third room contained the collection consisting of models from different periods of Omega history. Early Constellation, Quartz, Seamaster are showcased. Finally the fourth room houses all the current models of Omega.

A visit to this museum for serious collectors is a must if one is in Switzerland. Spending half a day listening to the audio commentary at this free museum will be a rewarding experience.

I will be posting more about a few of the watches I found completely intriguing at this museum. Meanwhile, click on the image below to download and view the full high resolution image. Please note its a large file, so please be patient if you are not on high speed bandwidth.


Here is a fascinating video made by Omega about the museum. Well worth viewing.



For more information about the museum CLICK HERE.

If the Omega Museum is of interest, do also visit FratelloWatches (to read Robert Jan Broer's detailed report) as well as Hodinkee (by Mr Blake Bruettner).

 

One of the highlights of my trip to the Omega manufacture was the Co-Axial Assembly plant located up in the Jura District high up in the mountains. Spent half a day just learning and observing the whole assembly process of the new escapements in Caliber 8500 series. What struck me most was how labour intensive the whole process despite the use of high tech assembly line processes and use of RFID chips on each movement. Each Omega technician is tasked with one or two roles from the basic base plate all the way to testing. Expecting the assembly to be by robotics, the only time robotics are involved is inserting a few basic screws on the base plate and the transport of the movement through the whole assembly floor (click on the collage below to view it in a larger resolution).


The late George Daniels, inventor of the Co-Axial escapement crafted an escapement system intended to be more efficient and wear resistant. Now owned and perfected by Omega after years of testing which proves to be so reliable that it is the only luxury brand that provides a four year warranty on their new watches. Matched with a silicon balance spring the new escapement has provided the brand with a more consistent and temperature resistant movement providing accuracy that could easily match even tourbillons in the market today.

Has Omega discovered the grail solution to both reliability and accuracy? Based on their warranty promise as well as their statistical performance data of their Cal 9300 - it would seem Omega is confident that it has.

Here are two videos by Omega explaining how these two technologies are being harnessed for their watches today.




The one combination of the Co-Axial Escapement and Silicon Balance Spring is that caught my eye is the Calibre 9300 series found in the Seamaster Professional Co-Axial Chronograph. The version photographed below is the Titanium (Grade 5) with the "liquid-metal" bezel. The Grade 5 titanium allows it to be polished to a high shine like steel. The liquid-metal bezel is the fusion of metal onto a ceramic type compound making it extremely hard wearing and scratch resistant unlike other diving bezels that uses aluminium plates.


I am certainly enthusiastic about the achievements of the new Cal 9300 series movements. I just have to wait for Omega to release one with a 42mm titanium case to suit my taste.

- HT

 

What is exciting is that Omega has apparently a host of significant new offerings for 2012.  Most significant of these is  the new James Bond movie (and of course the requisite Omega watch to match), the Speedmaster Anniversary and the London Olympics.

Mr Urquhart hosted a sumptuous lunch for the six invited bloggers (Mr Robert-Jan Broer from Fratellowatches, Mr Blake Buettner of Hodinkee, Mr Ariel Adams of ABlogToRead, Gabriel and Nicolas from Lesrhabilleurs and myself) on the first day of our visit and the conversation covered not only about news of the forthcoming watches but also sharing of how they are expanding their strategy in growing markets.

At the lunch, Mr Urquhart wore the new Titanium 45mm Seamaster Liquid Metal Co-Axial Chronograph on bracelet. The familiar blue dial and bezel in titanium is quite a large watch but I can see why many will be drawn to it. If Omega's new offerings are as daring and as dynamic as the Liquid Metal Co-Axial Chrono, it will be lots to look forward to.

- HT

 

 

For movement fanatics, the Pan-Europ is fitted with the new Calibre H31 (H for Hamilton) which is a modified Valjoux providing a 60 hour power reserve - a reflection of how the Swatch Group is developing specific movements for the brands in its stable and how important this model is.

The watch feels balanced and substantial on the wrist. Not overly heavy nor uncomfortably big. For collectors who are not brand snobs, I would recommend this model for its historical significance and fun value of being a weekend watch. It will be quite a task to find another watch with so much going for it at this price point today. As always, click on the images to view them in higher resolution.


P.S. - my friend and fellow watch blogger Mr Su Jia Xian has also blogged about this watch at this link.

- HT