THE ALL NEW OMEGA AQUA TERRA MODELS
Omega has certainly been very busy this year, especially their research and development department, with all their new watch releases across most of their major lines. Omega has always had a strong focus on their dive watches striving to create your best one-watch collection type of watch. For many watch enthusiasts, that designation is given to the Omega Aqua Terra, meaning ‘water’ ‘land’ in Latin which should say everything you need to know about the watch, it’s designed for 99.9% of the time you spend in the two most common environments. However, in more recent times Omega has been giving the Aqua Terra subtle upgrades but each one tends to make it err on the more formal and dressy side of things. Their newest edition certainly shows that and so today we are going to take a look at the new Omega Aqua Terra models.
The Aqua Terra, being part of the forever iconic Seamaster family, was first created back in 1948. This is also Omega’s longest-running line of watches, the Seamaster was essentially a military watch but made to be suited to your typical person and ordinary civilians. However, the line eventually split into two and that’s when the Aqua Terra had its own name which finally happened in 2002.
It effortlessly blended the classic elegant chique designs from vintage Seamaster from the 1960s and made them into a more rugged watch with newer technology. The line was given an overhaul in design in 2017 which now forms the base of all the classic Aqua Terra cases that we know and love today. However, in 41mm, 38mm, and 34mm stainless steel cases (with a two-tone yellow gold option), the new Seamaster Aqua Terra comes with a black gloss dial with a lacquer finish, moving away from the classic horizontal "teak" pattern that normally forms an Aqua Terra dial.
Source : Ablogtowatch
Source : Ablogtowatch
If we take a look at the new design proportions, the thickness of the new watches are 13.4mm, 12.3mm, or 12mm, respectively, with 20mm, 19mm, and 16mm lug widths. All models also come with your standard 150m of water resistance with a screw down crown, so you can easily take the swimming. Each watch features the same arrow minute hand and a shorter hour hand made from white gold with applied white gold diamond-polished indices. All of the hand sets and hour makers are all filled using Super-LumiNova to give it a bright glow-in-the-dark effect.
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The only model that differs a bit more from their smallest model at 34mm, this one has softer, sloping sailboat designs for hour markers around the dial and a round bubble date window, compared to the others which have triangular markers and a more rectangular date window. Regardless of which model you choose, all three feature white gold surrounds on the date window, making it stand out more from the dial than on the classic "teak" dial models.
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Moving to the inside of the watch, the movement is still the same Master Chronometer certified movement, the Caliber 8900 for the 41mm and Caliber 8800 for the 38mm and 34mm versions. This is no bad thing at all, these movements are incredibly well made and have proven themselves more than enough times and with 60-55 hours of power reserve (depending on if you choose the 41 or smaller models) it’s everything you’d need for a one-watch collection. What makes this an interesting watch especially for a sports watch is it comes with a fully polished stainless-steel case. This certainly gives the Aqua Terra a more refined look, especially with the 3-link president style bracelet with polished centre link and brushed outer parts. The bracelet is fitted with a traditional butterfly clasp with push buttons and also features a small micro-adjustment system which is definitely an upgrade over the previous gen that didn’t have any adjustments other than removing/adding a link. Discover our strap for Omega Aqua Terra.
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One of the biggest differences though has to be the dial options that are available, the first one they released was the classic glossy black dial but you’ve now got a gorgeous rich red dial or even an all new turquoise dial to choose from. The Turquoise dial is very unique and it’s a very hard colour for watchmakers to get right, but Omega nailed it and instead of your polished indices and hands you’ve now got a matt black set with white filling making the dial pop that bit more.
The list doesn’t stop there, you’ve got a huge array of colours to choose from, much like that of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual line which gives the option to have a bit of fun and find your own unique colour to match your style.
Speaking of colour matching, ZEALANDE have spent years designing and crafting the perfect luxury rubber strap designed for your Omega Aqua Terra to give your watch a new look. With over 6 colours to choose from you can play around with different colours and change up the look of the Aqua Terra completely.
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Not to mention, that this also gives you a chance to give the bracelet a rest and save it from some wear and tear whilst you wear your watch on an incredibly comfy yet durable option. The same high-attention to detail approach that Omega takes when making a watch is carried out at ZEALANDE so you can be sure that all their straps will reflect that of your watch's build quality.
And there you have it, an overview of Omega’s latest releases into the Aqua Terra family and what the key differences are. Note that you can still purchase the classic teak dial versions, they remain a firm staple of the collection and it’s nice to Omega keeping both designs available instead of discontinuing one and replacing it with these newer models. Either way, you really can’t go wrong with any of the Omega Aqua Terra models, they really are a doing anything go anywhere type of watch.
