Baselworld 2010: Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Annual Calendar Watch

The revised Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra collection will now include a sophisticated annual calendar watch. This casually elegant timepiece houses the same Omega movement with Co-Axial Escapement which made its appearance two years ago in the DeVille Hour Vision. Like that model, this technical pinnacle of the Seamaster line offers a calendar which automatically adjusts itself through the year to show the correct date. As with all annual calendar complications, the owner needs only to perform a manual correction once: at the transition between February and March.

A Baselworld 2010 press release from Omega shows images of the Seamaster Aqua Terra Annual Calendar timepiece in a combination of stainless steel and red gold as well as a version entirely in stainless steel. Beneath a slightly curved sapphire crystal is the distinctive and handsome dial with a 'teak pattern' of vertical lines that takes inspiration from the hardwood decks of boats. Also beautiful are the faceted gold hands and triangular hour markers; the predominantly brushed finish of these elements is punctuated by polished bevels that create a ravishing play of light. When darkness falls, visibility of the time remains excellent thanks to applications of highly luminescent Superluminova material on both hands and indices. Bracelets share the same superlative brushed and polished finishing of the case, and feature a premium quality link removal system with screws.

The Omega 8601/8611 self-winding movement with its exclusive 'Cotes de Geneve en Arabesques' decorative pattern can be admired through the sapphire crystal exhibition window in the screw-down caseback. On a technical level, the caliber offers a number of advanced features, not the least of which is a silicon 'Si 14' hairspring that is all but impervious to magnetism and modest shocks. Calendar change for the month and date also offers instantaneous switching. Compared to the long-serving Swiss lever escapement, the revolutionary George Daniels-designed Omega Co-Axial Escapement preserves long term precision through superior mastery over the effects of friction. And that exactitude is attested to by the Chronometer inscription on the dial--an indication that the movement within has undergone and passed fifteen days of highly specific precision trials at a facility of the Controle Officiel Suisse des Chronometres (COSC).