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Baselworld 2010: Omega
Apr 04, 2010,08:54 AM
Baselworld 2010: Omega
by Marcus Hanke
Omega created some puzzlement, less by a technological innovation, but rather by its recent price increase, which became active in March. Not only customers and enthusiasts, but even sales representatives showed some signs of worry at the sight of the new price lists. While the majority of watch brands took the recent financial crisis (that had strongly hit the Swiss watch industry, with the Swatch Group being no exception) as a cause for not increasing its prices, with many companies even substantially reducing the prices of its introduction pieces, Omega hurries forward on the path towards the market's luxury class.
It seems the times when Omega was seen as a perfect brand to introduce novices into the realm of fine watches, are over now. Even the basic Speedmaster Professional, with hesalite crystal and the simple Lémania manual-winding movement (without any indigenous escapement technology) is now a watch that young enthusiasts really have to save money for. Buying it "on the way home" is an experience of the past, it seems.
However, we should remember that in former times, Omega was a true luxury brand. It was something special to own an Omega, it was the dream of many people to be able to afford one. Somewhen, and despite many proofs of horological excellence, the brand acquired an image of being inexpensive and mass-produced, a watch that "everybody" had, mostly at the very beginning of his or her passion for watches; being replaced rather quickly by "really fine watches".
Consequently, Omega's pursued course towards its old luxuriousness, including the price increases, is but a logical step to place the brand where it had been for so long. Yet one could argue that the timing of the most recent price decision was bad ...
However, let's not talk about prices, but about the watches:
The first piece shown is the
"Constellation Double Eagle" with four counters, that had originally been made for a special series dedicated to the Olympic games. It is available in pink gold and stainless steel. What fascinates me is the seven days-counter of the chronograph mechanism, that is an absolutely unique feature.
Very nice is the large hand-winding
Aqua-Terra in the Railmaster case.
The
Lady's Aqua-Terra is clearly competing the various Rolex watches for ladies, but in my opinion appears more elegant, while succeeding in keeping that typical sportive expression.
Impressive for me is the
Speedmaster automatic chronograph for ladies, of course with the co-axial escapement. That one looks really hot with white dial and white bezel, but also very "professional" in the black faced variant.
An immediate success at the fair was the bi-colour vaiant with diamond bezel. You don't have to be a lady to appreciate its aestetics!
New dial variants are the
AquaTerra chronograph with white dial ...
... the mighty
"Ploprof" with white dial and white bezel (looks a bit weird at first sight, but this is the effect of the white rubber strap. Add the highly attractive steel mesh bracelet, or a black strap, and you have a true men's watch again!) ...
... and the
Speedmaster Moonphase with aventurine dial. Oh, what a beauty! The glitter and sparkle of the mineral particles within the aventurine adds the impression of a starry night sky. Unfortunately, this dial makes the watch really expensive!
My personal Omega highlight is this year's
limited edition Speedmaster. Oh yes, I can see you grinning! One cannot dare to state that Omega's Speedmaster editions are really limited. Well, each of the editions might be limited, but the number of editions overall is not. I think that limited editions should be an exception, not the rule. There are other brands shelling out limited editions like machine gun projectiles, and these are also not taken seriously anymore by the collectors.
However, this year is different: It is the edition's cause. I still remember that remarkable docking maneuvre between an Apollo spaceship and its Soviet counterpart, the Sojuz, in 1975. Having grown up in the Cold War, in a small, neutral country that was squeezed directly between the military arsenals of NATO and Warsaw Treaty, this event was a flash of hope that peace between the super powers could be more than a fragile phrase issued at public speeches only.
Omega's tribute to this milestone rendezvous is more than worthy: The Speedmaster's dial is made from a meteorite, found in Namibia. While the three subcounters were left untreated and show the meteorite's natural structure and colour, the rest of the dial was oxidised, thus becoming near-black.
The caseback shows the docking scene, also held in black and natural steel. This is clearly the only limited edition Speedy that I wished to own myself.
When the DeVille "Hour Vision" was presented, it was an immediate success. Some, however, considered the saphhire window in the case side, and the many frame and stripe features on the dial a bit too busy. For them, Omega now offers a
"clean" DeVille: a real beauty!
The attractive
"Doctor's chronograph" is released in the museum collection.
Here are various
Ladies' Constellations. The new dial structure is very attractive, and lends the watch a more dynamic appearance.
The watch is well-known, but the bracelet is new: the attractive
steel-mesh bracelet gives a nice vintage touch to sports watches.
The face-lifted
"Broad Arrow" chronograph is attractive, but its dials alos appears a lot more busy than the original one. And, of course, it is a lot more expensive ...
Editor's Note
The absolutely most important Omega offering this year for me is the 7-day counting chronograph in the 'Constellation Double Eagle'. This is what chronograph collectors have wanted for years. Even accepting that original chrono-graphs and chrono-scopes were designed for sports such as horse racing, where most races finish within the paltry 30-min register, we still prefered the 12 hour tri-compax style chronographs. Even if only one sub-dial is offered, we would opt for the 45-min (football) or the 60-min counters. The only problem is reassurance that there is 7-days of power reserve or adequate winding capacity.
I would tend to agree with my esteemed colleague, Marcus, that the price hike by Omega is a marketing stroke of genius to capitalise on their position as No 1 in China for brand recognition and sales. Mr Hayek Sr is a very smart man and from his experience with Breguet, he may be saying, "Let them eat cake!"
Melvyn Teillol-Foo
This message has been edited by MTF on 2010-04-05 09:31:53