Set sail with confidence and style to points unknown with this classic Omega Seamaster stainless steel men's automatic chronometer watch, a highly accurate timepiece that's as comfortable negotiating deals in the boardroom as it is navigating the breaking seas. It's also a great diving watch, with water resistance to 300 meters (984 feet) and a helium escape valve, which allows helium to escape from inside the watch when the watch is worn in highly pressurized environments (such as long-term underwater work or crude oil exploration). Definitively masculine in design, it features a mid-sized, round silver stainless steel watch case that blends brushed and polished surfaces and measures 38mm (1.50 inches) wide and 11.5mm (0.45 inches) deep. The silver stainless steel watch case with a rhodium-plated finish is topped by a silver unidirectional bezel with markings in black. It frames a blue dial background with a Geneva wave pattern and large, luminous Dauphine hands (with seconds hand) and baton dial markers. Other features include an automatic date display at 3 o'clock, screw-in caseback, screw-locked crown, and scratch-resistant and glare-proofed domed sapphire crystal. It's completed by a silver stainless steel link bracelet band that offers polished highlights, which is joined by a secure, push-button clasp. It's completed by a silver stainless steel link bracelet band that offers polished highlights, which is joined by a secure, push-button clasp.
Originally created in the 1750s, the first chronometers were clocks that were accurate enough to calculate the longitude of a ship's position. Today, the chronometer label is bestowed upon timepieces that have undergone precision tests and received a certificate from the official COSC (Control Officile Suisse de Chronometers) regulatory organization that rigorously tests and certifies (or fails) watch movements for chronometer status.
Automatic Watch Movement
An automatic watch is self-winding, and its movement has a reserve that must be at least partially filled prior to being worn. This is done by shaking and winding the timepiece manually. In order for an automatic timepiece to keep a reserve, it must be worn daily for 8 hours of active wear. This watch as a power reserve of 44 hours.
The Omega Story
The Omega watch story begins in 1848, when founder Louis Brandt began hand assembling key-wound precision pocket watches from parts supplied by local craftsmen in his principality La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the northwest corner of Switzerland. However, the Omega name didn't appear until 1894, after Louis Brandt had passed away and his watchmaking traditions were taken over by his sons, Louis-Paul and Cesar Brandt. Omega watches have long been associated with glamorous screen and sports stars--the Omega Seamaster is famous for being the watch of choice for James Bond--with current ambassadors including Pierce Brosnan, Nicole Kidman, tennis player Anna Kournikova, and swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe.
But Omega is more than just a fashionable watch. In 1965, the Omega Speedmaster chronograph was "flight-qualified by NASA for all manned space missions" as the only wristwatch to have withstood all of the U.S. space agency's severe tests, including passing grades for extreme shocks, vibrations, and temperatures ranging from -18 to +93 degrees Celsius. The greatest moment in the Speedmaster's history was undoubtedly 20 July 1969 at 02:56 GMT, when it recorded man's first steps on the Moon's surface as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Today, Omega is known for its rigorous testing of new movements, cases, and bands. Each new Omega movement is tested on the wrist in existing Omega models, while various laboratory tests are conducted to determine temperature-resistance, shock-resistance and vibration-resistance.
