Tag: Omega

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Omega Replica

Replica Omega’s sleek and modern PlanetOcean

Omega Seamaster PO lume

With all the recent fuss about replica Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M ‘SKYFALL’ LE, we thought that we’d go ‘back to basics’, in a manner of speaking. The Seamaster story goes back to 1948, when Omega launched a replica watch with a water-resistant case with ‘Seamaster’ on the dial, but it wasn’t until 1962 that what has become a modern diving classic took off, with the introduction of the Seamaster 300. This was the first Seamaster that you could dive with, to a maximum of 300 metres below sea level, and it has been formative in establishing the brand’s reputation for solid professional dive replica watches.

A little while back I took a look at one of the 2011 Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean releases. They came in a number of variations, including three-hand models in 42mm or 45.5mm versions, and a chronograph available only in 45.5mm. This post is about the stainless steel 42mm version with the calibre 8500, a co-axial movement with 39 jewels, 25,200 VPH and a 60 hour power reserve.

Omega Planet Ocean

Water resistant to 600m (2000ft), there is a manual Helium escape valve at 10 o’clock, and a screw-in crown on the right. The bezel is unidirectional bezel

The crystal is domed scratch-resistant sapphire with anti-reflective treatment on both sides. The caseback is transparent, which makes it good to look at for desk divers and attractive to a wide audience, but from the point of view of it being essentially a tool replica watch, one could ask why.

Omega Planet Ocean caseback

So what’s there to like about this replica watch? Above all it’s a legible, functional dive replica watch. The dial is a wonderful deep matte black, the numerals applied polished steel – very bright and clear. The hour markers and hands have a luminescent fill, as do the polished steel hour, minute and seconds hands, and the 12 o’clock dot on the rotating bezel.

Omega Planet Ocean

It’s a beautiful clean looking tool replica watch but it also seems to have a slightly dressy edge to it as well, perhaps due in part to the applied Omega logo and numbers. Even the date numerals are raised, which just gives it that extra bit of appealing detail.

I seem to have a ‘thing’ for matte ceramic bezels of late, and this is no exception. It’s an understated dark grey ceramic fill with big clear numbers and markers, and just plain good looking.

Omega Seamaster PO

As mentioned at the outset, there are two sizes of this Planet Ocean, supposedly to appeal to a larger number of people i.e. those with a Big Replica Watch fetish, and the rest of us. I am not quite sure I completely understand this; 42mm is quite respectable enough a size for most people. 45.5mm? That’s too big for most wrists. As it is the 42mm is reasonably thick and carries a decent bit of weight to it in its bracelet version. However, I do have a niggling feeling that where there are two sizes available for a replica watch, there is a strong likelihood that most will go towards the larger option

There are a number of different colour and bracelet/ strap combinations available. You can find more information about them at Omega’s website.

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Omega Replica

Wearing your replica Omega Speedmaster the NASAway

Do you want to get your NASA Speedmaster geek on? Well look no further than modern versions of the NASA straps.

Forty-three years ago on July 21st 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, however, was the first astronaut to wear the Omega Speedmaster Professional on the lunar surface.

NASA supplied each of the Apollo astronauts with a standard issue Omega Speedmaster Professional with a velcro strap. As is now well known, unlike almost all other Apollo equipment, the luxury replica watch was not manufactured for use specifically by NASA or in space but had been on sale in retail outlets in the United States from 1957 as ‘Speedmaster’ and then as ‘Speedmaster Pro’ after its approval for NASA use. It was only through the purchase and evaluation of a number of replica watches including the Speedmaster that the now longstanding NASA-Speedmaster relationship bore fruit, when it was deemed the most suitable replica watch for the job.

Although Speedmasters were and are still sold on bracelets, if you want that authentic Earth-Moon-experience you can find Velcro straps online that are made to the NASA blueprint (see below) with the serial numbers stamped onto the tag, or straps that are ‘in the style of’ the NASA straps. They are generally available in a long version, in keeping with the original design where it could be worn over the space suit (the standard black Velcro strap used by NASA flight crews was 640 mm long) and a short version for those days when your space suit is at the dry cleaner.

This strap (the one in these photos was purchased on the Bay) gives a very different look to the Speedy, is of a good solid construction and not ‘cheap’ quality wise considering their price. Even the short version pictured here is long enough for a large wrist. I’m not a NASA (or Speedy) nerd, and never thought I’d take the bracelet off my ‘Snoopy’ Speedy, but changing to this Velcro strap has not only given a radically different look, but it has made it more comfortable, and a whole lot more fun. I’d recommend getting one of these straps without any hesitation, but given that there are a couple of people making these, I would advise doing some research before choosing one. You can get them starting from about $20 (excluding postage) going up to several times this amount.

The history of NASA and space travel has its unsung heroes. In ending today’s post, I’d like to introduce you to some of these – the seamstresses behind the first American space suits. They worked for International Latex Corporation and you can read about them here.

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Omega Replica

An early Omega Bumper Replica Watch Reveiw

Amongst many vintage replica watch enthusiasts, Omega has a strong hold both aesthetically, and because of the mechanical innovations made by the brand. One of these is the calibre 28.10. Introduced in 1943, it was Omega’s first commercialised automatic moment, and is considered to be one of Omega’s legendary calibres.

The term “bumper” refers to the automatic winding movements from Omega (but not exclusive to the brand) which were very popular in the from the 1930 to 1950s.

When the weighted hammer to wind the mainspring (swinging in a pendulum fashion) reaches the end of the distance it can travel it bumps into a spring and stops. This bumping can be felt by the person wearing the replica watch, thus these replica watches are often referred to as “bumper automatics”. Beginning with the 28.10, the “bumpers” went through to the cal.355.

This is a 1946 (10M service number) 18kt solid gold Omega with bumper automatic movement Calibre 28.10. There is a replica watch identical to this one in the Omegamania catalogue, called the “Ambassador” model.

This as-pristine-as-you’ll-ever-find-a-watch-from-1946 was purchased from the original owner with case, movement and dial in amazing condition and totally untouched, which is quite rare for this age of replica watch. Bumpers may be fairly easy to get, but ones of this vintage and this little worn, are not.

The calibre 28.10 was renamed cal.340 in 1949 and became the basis of of the cal 34x and 35x bumper movement. There were different iteration of the 20.10, with 28.10 SC being the centre second. Calibre 28.10 was unidirectional wind whereas the cal 34x and 35x had bi-directional wind. Interestingly, the cal.35x had a swan-neck regulator not found on the calibre 28.10 or cal.34x, and I believe these swan neck regulator movements were certified chronometres.

A prototype self-winding rose-gilt movement with triple-calendar developed in 1944/ 1945 but never commercialised. This movement was based on calibre 28.10 (340). Had production of this movement gone ahead it would have been the world’s first automatic wristwatch with triple-calendar.

Apart from being used in the vintage automatic line, the first Constellation in 1952 also used the 28.10 movement.

[with initialjh]