Manufacturer:- www.omega.ch
Recommended Retail Price :- £1750 / $3295 http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Purchase Price :- £1175 / $2263 http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Omega Model Number :- 2535.80.00
Size:- The bezel is 41mm ø, 48mm lug to lug and 14.5mm thick to the top of the crystal.
Lug spacing is 20 mm.
Weight :- 172g (6 1/8 oz) (With stainless steel band and a couple of links removed)
Movement:- Omega 2628 with Co-Axial escapement
Case Material:- Stainless Steel
Lens Material:- Domed Sapphire Crystal (Scratch proof)
Glass View Back Material:- Sapphire Crystal (Scratch proof)
Dial Markings :- Super Luminova or similar (Very Bright)
Power Reserve:- 44 Hours
Depth Rating:- 300m (Yes even with the glass back)
Manufacturers Warranty :- 3 Years (Because of that Co-Axial Escapement)

This was an unexpected purchase. I came across this watch after a lot of talk on the TZ-UK site and really liked the idea of a GMT Seamaster with a Co-Axial movement. The problem I felt was the price. This is a seriously expensive watch at the RRP price. I was very lucky to find this watch at a reduced (Cough) price which pushed me over the edge so to speak.

So here we are another Omega in the collection and a watch that I am now very pleased to own.

What do you get then?

Well a very posh cardboard box. This contains a red leather watch box an owners manual and a wallet holding the warranty, Chronometer certificate and pictogram cards. Open the red box and you have a cream coloured interior holding the watch in a soft padded cushion.

The watch is is very similar in appearance to the standard 'James Bond' Seamaster but upon a closer look some obvious differences become apparent.

The first of these is the red pointer on the dial under all of the other watch hands. It is subtle in its design, but I like that it does not take over the dial. To go with the extra red hand is an additional set of numerals on the dial. These are the 24 Hour markings. These are on all the main hour positions except the cardinal points. The red GMT hand rotates round the dial once every 24 hours. This is normally set to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or your favourite second time zone!

The dial markers warrant a special mention as Omega have pulled out all the stops with this one and put applied markings on for the hour dots and bars. These have shiny silver edges and are a great improvement on the standard painted on markings on my other Seamaster. The dark blue dial has the standard Seamaster wave pattern.

The other markings on the dial are the White Omega symbol and name at the top of the dial with the word 'Seamaster' directly below.

The lower position of text contains the red 'GMT' and the white 'Professional Co-Axial Chronometer'.

The hour and minute hands are skeleton type with open portions in the middle and fine luminous marking lines along the edges. The minute hand has a triangular luminous point and the hour hand a single round dot. The second hand has a dot near the end and a red coloured tip.

Moving on to the unidirectional rotating bezel. This has a blue insert with the minute markers and numerals. The pointer arrow head has an embedded luminous marker dot. The bezel feels very positive in action and has 120 clicks for a complete travel round the dial. The chamfered edges do not help with grip much and in this new watch the bezel is reasonably stiff. I would not want to try it with wet hands. Comparison with my SM Pro Chrono show that the bezel on the GMT is a LOT thinner and thus not so easy to grip. Not to worry as my main use for it is timing my car parking when I have to buy a ticket.

The watch case very slim compared with the SM Pro Chrono. It feels very comfy on my wrist with the gently curving lugs molding well into the start of the bracelet. The shoulders and lugs are alternately polished and brushed in the unique Seamaster style. It does look very swish in design and I would not be embarrassed to wear it with a suit. Not that I ever wear a suit anyway!

The crown is signed with the Omega symbol and is heavily protected by the flanges on the case, screwing in over 70% of it looks to be protected on the top. The underneath is uncovered and allows for easy operation of the crown. More on the operation later.

The helium relief valve is located at slightly above the 10 o'clock position and will serve no useful function for the vast majority of the watch purchasers. But is does give Mr Bond an extra button to press in his efforts to save the world! So it's O. K. with me. The only thing I didn't like is the fact the valve does not exactly match the 10 o'clock position. Strange as the SM Pro Chrono valve matches exactly.

Taking the watch off and flipping it over really gives the owner a surprise if they have ever seen a normal non Co-Axial Seamaster. Normal Seamaster's have a solid case back engraved with the sea monster logo and a few waves. Not so on this watch, we are instead treated to a fully engraved bezel with a central sapphire window through which we can at last finally admire all the secret workings of our mechanical wonder. The bezel engraving is as follows 'Omega' 'Seamaster' 'Professional' 'Co-Axial Escapement' '300m/1000ft'

Looking through the round window (UK readers will probably get this) we can see the Geneva striped rotor engraved with the 'Omega' '2628' this gives us the Omega caliber number. The movement is Rhodium plated which is a tough member of the platinum metals group. It will give a tarnish free finish that should last the life of the watch. Not quite as reflective as a silver finish but still with a good 70%-80% light reflection. All the engraving inside the watch looks to be gold plated and this really contrasts well with the Rhodium finish on everything else. The lettering is so small I really need a loupe to read it all. I don't have one yet but now I have something to use one on I will look into it. The writing I can read shows the serial number which is also engraved on the underneath of one of the case lugs.

The movement warrants a special mention as it contains the Co-Axial escapement. Why is this so special then? Well this escapement was developed by British watchmaker Dr George Daniels and licensed to Omega for use in their high end watches. I will not go into all the intricacies of the improvements that it offers suffice to say that it should give better timekeeping over a longer period of time than the existing technology. This is achieved by reducing the requirement on sliding lubricated components against each other so loss of lubrication does not have such a detrimental effect on watch timing. More detailed descriptions of how this works and why it is a benefit can be found on the net. I will list a few examples below. I am sure you will find more.

http://www.hebdomas.com/stuff/coaxial.html

http://www.omega.ch/omega/cp_techno

http://www.omega.ch/omega/more_on_coaxial

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/3934/coaxial.html

This is used in conjunction with a free sprung balance wheel which is unusual in that the watch is regulated by adjusting the two screws mounted in the balance using a special tool. No home adjustments here I feel. Not that I would want to open my shiny new watch anyway. I rather let the experts handle that. My first impression of my watch is that it runs very slightly slow. But I have only worn it for about 22 hours as I write this. It could very well settle down after a few months wrist time.

Onto the Bracelet. This is one of my favourite watch bracelets out of all of those I have seen and tried over the years. I also really love the style of the bracelet. With alternate brushed and polished links. All the links are machined from solid Stainless steel so the bracelet feels substantial but very comfortable. The links are held together with pushed in pins and collets. I removed the links to shorten the bracelet myself. As the place I bought the watch from did not have anyone about who new how to do this when I bought the watch. Not a problem for me as I already had the correct tool for the job a Swiss A*F pin pushing gizmo. Just be careful and push the pins in the direction of the arrows. Then grasp the protruding pin with pliers and carefully extract it. I wrap a cloth round the watch to protect it whilst doing this. You can never be too careful! Do not loose the two collets as they are tiny. To re-attach the links put the collets in place and note the correct way to insert the pin which has a small ridge located on it towards on end. I push the pin in by pressing onto a hard plastic surface until the pin is flush. I then use the pin tool to carefully push the pin in the last few mm.

The clasp is another well engineered part of the watch. It is opened with the two stud pushbuttons and closes with a very positive click. There is no annoying retaining bar to have to close either. The clasp is again engaged with the omega symbol and I was perhaps slightly disappointed that the engraving was not as prominent as it is on the SM Pro Chrono bracelet which at first appearance looks the same. This clearly not the case and on closer inspection the bracelets have different model numbers. This watch is 1503/825 and the SM Pro Chrono is 1504/826 the bracelets also appear to have different thickness on the links. Possibly to balance out the heaver head of the Chronograph and to keep this watch bracelet as light as possible for the the smaller lighter case design. There is also a divers extension cleverly hidden inside the clasp until it is required. Although I don't think I would want to take this watch swimming let alone diving as it is too nice to use as a beater.

The operation of the watch is something that took me by surprise. As it has a GMT hand I wondered how this would function. The first position of the crown once unscrewed from the case is for occasional winding of the watch. i.e. when you first put it on after not wearing it for a while.

The GMT and local minutes time is set as usual by pulling the crown all the way to the third position. Once this has been done then you will want to set the date. This is not so straight forward. You move the crown to the second position and will find that the crown now causes the hour hand to rotate in one hour increments. Great for setting the local time when you are traveling without disturbing the master GMT or minutes adjustments. To set the date you must wind the hour hand past midnight to cause a date change. Keep going until you reach the correct day. Forwards or backwards does not matter, whichever is nearest. Be careful to leave the watch in the correct half of the day when you do this and the hours must rotates twice per 24 hour period. Not too hot for setting the date then. But not so bad if you wear the watch most of the time. When traveling abroad though the easy hour hand adjustment will come into its own. Fantastic.

All in all I think Omega have succeeded in producing another fine timepiece in keeping with the style of the original 'Bond' Seamaster and adding in several useful improvements and a unique (at the moment) Co-Axial movement in this case design. I look forward to the next James Bond movie and wonder if 'Q' & Mr Bond will also decide it is time for an upgrade? I imagine it will not be long before we see a similar SM Pro Chrono version.

Thanks to the kind folks at TZ-UK for a great community and fun place to be.

Load of watch related stuff and information. Plus a great group of like minded people here TZ-UK

Omega watches available from many sources.

Load more Omega stuff on the following links.

http://www.chronocentric.com/

http://www.watchuseek.com/omegaforum/