Pre-Baselworld 2014: Omega masters orange ceramic

Petty souls will say that ceramic is a well-known material and so there is nothing to crow about when using it. In fact, they are wrong. Because even if it is true that ceramic made its debut nearly fifteen years ago, it was only used in black, white or pastel colors. Bright colors were missing in the swatch of technical ceramics. This was mainly due to problems with the pigmentation of intense orange. After countless attempts, the desired result was obtained using thermal treatments.

A Seamaster for an invention

It took two years of development and no less than 3,500 hours of stability tests to obtain this result. The ceramic bezel was subjected to the most extreme treatments. As the watchmaking staff at Omega say:  “We wanted to be able to produce a perfect timepiece.”

As it turns out, the Seamaster Planet Ocean Orange Ceramic actually is perfect. It has a brushed and polished 43.5-millimeter case in 950-grade platinum. The bidirectionally rotating GMT bezel with twenty-four hour graduations features a polished ring made from orange ceramic. This wristwatch was produced in a limited edition of only eight pieces, a testimony to the challenge and complexity of its creation. Confirming the uniqueness of the piece are the words "World Premiere" engraved on the case back, along with the limited edition number. The sapphire crystal on the back of the case allows an unobstructed view of the Omega co-Axial Caliber 8615 fitted with a Si14 silicon balance spring. The key esthetic features of the watchare the Liquidmetal® numerals, a compound based on 850-grade platinum, the graduation lines, the metal ring and the triangle on the bezel.

Ceramic, platinum and gold

Beneath the domed, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, the sand-blasted 950-grade platinum dial complements the orange ceramic bezel ring and the splendid platinum case. The marking Pt950 has been engraved just above the center hole to help identify the material of this fascinating dial. 

The Seamaster Planet Ocean Orange Ceramic features facetted 18-karat white-gold sweep hour, minute and seconds hands. Several other elements are in orange aluminium, such as the 6 – 9 – 12 numerals, the applique "GMT"  and the sweep GMT hand, which completes a full rotation every 24 hours. This practical complication can be used in conjunction with the rotating as an easy way of keeping track of time in different time zones. This timepiece – including the deployment buckle – is entirely made of platinum. It is also water-resistant to 60 atm (600 meters/2000 feet). It will retail for  CHF 59,000 net. And honestly, it’s not expensive but actually quite a bargain!

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