This article is Volume 2 in our special Icons series for Timekeeping, written by our guru Jason Heaton. In case you missed it, be sure to catch our first Icons article, Volume 1: Super Compressor Dive Watch. 1970 was a year of great ups and downs for the mechanical chronograph. The vaunted Omega Speedmaster helped [...]
Timekeeping: The Dive Watch, Deconstructed
Explaining the Basics, Debunking the Myths
It is ironic that, while watch companies are turning out more capable dive watches – helium release valves, absurd water resistance, innovative bezels – fewer and fewer SCUBA divers are wearing watches at all. Go on any dive boat and you’re lucky to find one person wearing anything besides a dive computer on his wrist. [...]
Timekeeping: Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 44 London Chrono
Move over Big Ben
Who doesn’t love the Olympics? Well, instead of having the multicolored rings emblazoned on your hairy chest while rooting for your favorite Olympian, why not don something a few notches up on the classy scale? For the 2012 Olympic games in London, Omega commemorates the 25th time they have acted as the Official Timekeeper of [...]
Timekeeping: Omega Ploprof 1200
Sexy Beast
First, a little history: in 1970 Omega released a watch whose intention was to be the most rugged, perfectly adapted watch for extreme diving situations. Input on the design came from none other than Captain Cousteau and it was tested by commercial divers working out of a diving bell hundreds of feet underwater. The crown [...]
Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 40th Anniversary Edition
The Apollo 13 mission may not exactly have been NASA’s most successful mission, but it made for a great movie (Bill Paxton, for better or worse). Two missions prior though, Apollo 11 made history when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked the surface of the moon with oft forgotten command module pilot Michael Collins. If [...]
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean
Features Omega’s Co-Axial Movement. Orange Aluminum Rotating Bezel, Black Dial with bold Luminous hands (Broad Arrow) & hour markers, Date window Displayed at the 3 o’clock position, slightly domed Sapphire Crystal. Helium Escapement Valve located on the edge of the case at the 10 o’clock position. Of course we here at Gear Patrol can’t help [...]