OMEGA likes to produce special editions. They recently released the official James Bond Skyfall watch, which Daniel Craig will wear in the movie. Though Craig will definitely have an Omega on his wrist in the movie, Omega hasn’t confirmed which one yet. Our friend Dell Deaton gives great perspective on the Skyfall and other Bond watch on his terrific blog JamesBondWatches here. As sponsors of the Olympics (since 1932), OMEGA also introduced the Seamaster 1948 Co-Axial “London 2012”, which you can read about here.
Today, in fact, just less than an hour ago, Omega presented the Seamaster Aqua Terra Captain’s Watch, which Omega ambassador and American Davis Love III will wear as he and his team battle the Europeans for bragging rights at the Ryders Cup. The pros play for glory not money in this friendly but competitive golf match that takes place every two years.
To announce the partnership, OMEGA threw a nice little soiree at Loft and Garden at Rock Center in New York City. It’s a really pretty place to visit, especially on a gorgeous day like it was today.
Last year Omega inked an agreement with the PGA to be the “Official Timekeeper” of the games. There’s also a watch to mark that occasion, the Aqua Terra Annual Calendar. Did you know that the PGA is the largest sports organization in the world with 27,000 men and women professional golfers participating?
Continuing the golf theme, OMEGA is now honoring the Ryders Cup with a specific timepiece. Named the Captain’s Watch, because Love is the Captain of the U.S. pack, its silver dial features the teak-pattern lines that mark the Aqua Terra collection. While the Captain’s Watch comes in a solid 41.5mm brushed and polished stainless case with polished bezel, the dial kicks it up a notch with brushed and polished 18K white gold indexes. Blue hands get the Super-LumiNova treatment and the central seconds hand has a yellow tip. I would’ve liked to see the seconds hand also go blue and get a splash of Super-LumiNova too. There’s also a handy date at 3 o’clock.
Love was on hand to accept the watch from OMEGA CEO Stephen Urquhart. He talked about how excited and appropriately nervous he was about captaining the U.S. team. There’s was lots of golf talk about strategy and players but since I’m not a golfer a lot of it went over my head.
What marks this as the Captain’s Watch is the coloring on the dial representing the U.S. flag. The OMEGA logo, the words “CO-AXIAL CHRONOMETER” and the non-numeral markers on the minute track are red, while “Seamaster”, “150m/500ft” and the numerals on the minute track are blue—along with the hands.
The Captain’s Watch houses OMEGA’S Co-Axial calibre 8500, a unique variation that incorporates George Daniel’s amazing co-axial escapement. It’s paired with a Si14 silicon balance spring, a material impervious to temperature changes. OMEGA is so confident of the reliability of the watch they offer a four-year warranty, which is a year or two than most other brands.
Urquhart says the Captain’s Watch can be worn on the greens, able to withstand more than ten times those intense G-forces coming through the club. The stability comes from the construction of the escapement. Anyone care to test the claim?
Though the Captain’s Watch can take a dip up to 500 feet, I doubt it will be getting much water action. Unless, of course, the sprinklers accidentally come on during the golf match.
OMEGA offers good value for the money and this watch is no exception. Retail is $5,500.