Everything
Even if it wasn’t the watchmaker of choice for James Bond, Omega remains one of the most elegant timepieces that combines tradition with a good dollop of modern tech. This ability to intersect the past and present is particularly present in their new collection of Speedmaster Chronoscopes.
Suffice to say, it looks damned good. Which isn’t a given in some cases when watchmakers look for extravagance over efficiency. Of course, you can have both but how often does this happen at the same time.
Back to the timepiece at hand…
The Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope Co-Axial Master Chronometer Chronograph, to give them their full name, tries to do just that by balancing a sense of nostalgia for design with a bucketload of modern features.
The result? A smart looking watch that does what it should do and so much more.
Stat-wise, you’re looking at a size of 43mm x 12.8mm and each one is METAS/Master Chronometer certified obviously with a new co-axial hand-wound movement. Said movement has been given a subtle facelift, featuring what Omega call arabesque Geneva stripes and a first for the Swiss brand.
Customary Speedmaster tachymetre can be found on the outer bezel and a secondary tachymetre hits the 50 units p/h and below.
Then of course there’s additional details. A telemetric scale you can use to time the distance of an event, or how far away from you it is. Classic example would be the difference between seeing a bolt of lightning then hearing the thunder.
The pulsometric scale does what it says on the box – show the number of pulses, aka heartbeats per minute. Do you need it? Who can say. But it’s nice to know its there.
The new collection comes in seven variations: three steel, three leather and a handsome bronze gold alloy on a brown leather strap. For this particular iteration, the tachymetre bezel comes in ceramic and the case, hands and numerals are all in the same bronze gold.
Raw stats, the size of the watch is 43mm x 12.8mm watches featuring METAS/Master Chronometer certified, with a new co-axial hand-wound movement.
The slight revamp to the original 1940s design brings the Omega Speedmaster into an interesting intersection. But can a watch really live in the past and be in the present? It seems so. Nods to the original such as the leaf hands sit comfortably with the contemporary size and accessories.
