Omega always has something up its sleeve. This year, the first big achievement of the brand is actually rather tiny.
Calibre 9920 with the new mechanism revealed by the sapphire crystal case back.
At the heart of a mechanical watch, the spiral is the regulating organ’s most complex component. The innovative Swiss watchmaker has achieved a certified precision of only 0/+2 seconds a day through the Spirate System, which boasts a revolutionary spiral made from a silicon wafer for ultra-fine rate adjustments.
Omega had to literally reinvent the wheel drawing on both the Swatch Group’s technical resources as well as the precision, stability and reliability of its superior movements.
The Spirate System is based on a high-precision articulated structure with flexible bearings. The new Si14 balance spring allows the watchmaker to act on the stiffness of the hairspring’s attachment point through an eccentric adjustment mechanism located on the balance bridge.
Speedmaster Super Racing Co-axial Master Chronometer Chronograph 44.25mm.
The ingenious mechanism makes its debut in the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9920, certified by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology.
The self-winding movement powers the Speedmaster Super Racing, making it the world’s first timepiece equipped with the Spirate System. The chronograph also functions with a second time zone display through the 60-minute/12-hour recorder at 9 o’clock.
The 44.25mm stainless steel case is coupled with a black ceramic bezel ring while the dial’s honeycomb pattern references a concept timepiece, which survived extreme magnetic fields of 160,000 GAUSS.
Omega also celebrates a decade of the Seamaster Aqua Terra >15’000 GAUSS, with the new model using a Speedmaster logo font for the number 10 which appears once a month in the date window at 6 o’clock.
The yellow colour on the anti-magnetic masterpiece has been incorporated into the design, such as on the tachymeter scale in grand feu enamel, chronograph and small seconds hands, and stripes on the accompanying Nato strap made from recycled nylon.
Moreover, the arrowhead indexes are filled with a new and exclusive Super-LumiNova, which emits a surprising yellow glow.
The sapphire crystal on the caseback reveals the Calibre 9920 and the Spirate System, which demonstrates Omega’s prowess and finesse in achieving precision.
The Spirate System includes a patent-pending spiral allowing ultra-fine rate adjustments. (Photos courtesy of OMEGA)