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http://www.omegawatches.com/iphone

The Shopping Experience

With the multitude of aftermarket deployant buckles out there, sometimes you want one that will work with your existing straps, whether is a real strap or not a real strap because you might not want to change the buckle every time. Thing is, deployant buckles are expensive, costing like $200+ from any of the major Swiss brands!

So, in my journey to find a suitable Omega deployant for my other Omega straps, I sought to find one on ebay since it seems to have the most variety. At first, the search began with looking for the terms “omega buckle”, which turned out huge amounts of buckles that “fit omega” watches, many of which are just regular buckles. I narrowed my search down to “omega deployant buckle”, and this helped tremendously. In searching for a direct replacement, I could not find any that looked almost identical to the Omega Deployant that I currently own, so I started reading descriptions and deciphering photographs to try and determine which ones might be functionally identical but aesthetically different. I finally found one where the picture might suggest that it works the same way but didnt’ show enough that it could be determined either way. This was our friend wholesaleoutlet990.

After reading the auction description for what seemed to be an esteemed seller of aftermarket watch parts such as rolex bezels and aftermarket buckle replacements, I came upon a few very prominent lines in their advertising:

“Q: Will This Item Fit My Watch Without Any Modifications?
A: Yes, All Items We Sell Are Made To Fit Your Watch Perfectly, We Guarantee It.”

As far as I understand it, so long as I ordered the right size, they guarantee that it will fit my watch perfectly without modifications. I proceeded to order my 18mm buckle for my 20-18mm Omega strap, confident that such a company would be helpful and courteous, and afterall, its a $12.40 buckle, what could go wrong?

Receiving the Buckle and Disappointment

I opened up the package, happy to install the new buckle on the brand new Omega Crocodile strap that I wanted to mount on it only to find out that the buckle does not work on the Omega Deployant Strap that i purchased. This was disappointing. I promptly emailed wholesaleoutlet990 and ask them what they would do.. they said they would refund me when I shipped it back. Since tracked shipping back to them would cost as much as I paid for the item since Canadian Shipping sucks, and I did not want to ship it back without tracking in case they claimed not to receive it, I asked that they reimburse my shipping expense back since it was their fault.

They refused. They claimed it was my mistake and that you could tell from the photos that it would not work the way they claimed it would, as a fitting my watch perfectly without modification. Obviously their gurantee means nothing. Now, a $12.40 buckle is very small change, but I don’t want anyone else to get duped by their policy, and its always nice to know what kind of people you are buying from.

They continued to deny that it was in any way their fault, even with their misleading titles. And the best part, his final email to me indicating that he wasn’t going to take a return and cover shipping was “for $12.95 worth you will be hero”. Whatever that means??

Now if it was my mistake, and not a misrepresented item, I would have ate the cost.. but these guys are misrepresenting items and deceiving people.

What I’ve learned from this is that eBay doesn’t protect anything for you, and lots of dealers on there regardless of feedback amount and rating are not good to deal with, no matter how much they say they care about customer service. Buyer beware, and I hope this helps other potential omega deployant clasp buyers from getting duped.

The Omega Seamaster GMT is a very nice watch, which uses the same 41.5mm case design as all the other Seamaster 300m Divers. The GMT hand is unique compared with most other GMT watches in that when you adjust the hour the main hour hand moves, not the GMT hand. This makes the watch much easier to adjust for Local Time than other GMT watches. You simply keep your GMT hand on Home Time permanently, and adjust the main hour hand in the 1-hour increments to adjust for local time.

The watch has a day/night two-tone bezel which many peopel don’t like, including myself. It can be relatively easily changed to a standard black or silver bezel if you wish however.

Basic Specs:
Diameter: 41.5mm
Movement: Omega 1128 (Base ETA2892)
Water Resistance: 300m
Crystal: Sapphire

Liquidmetal®: seamless bonding, remarkable hardness
The Liquidmetal® alloy is an amorphous metal – a metallic material with a disordered, non-crystalline atomic structure. Its fusion temperature is half that of conventional titanium alloys but when it is cooled, its hardness is three times as great as that of stainless steel. Its amorphous structure allows it to bond seamlessly with the ceramic bezel.

The Liquidmetal® is a bulk metallic glass alloy consisting of five elements: zirconium, titanium, copper, nickel and beryllium. A bulk metallic glass can, by virtue of its low critical cooling rate, be formed into a structure with a thickness of more than a tenth of a millimetre. Zirconium is an important constituent part both of the Liquidmetal® alloy and of the ceramic material which is made of zirconium dioxide (Zr02).

The final, perfectly smooth bezel is particularly resistant to scratching and corrosion because of the hardness of the two components.

The union of ceramics and Liquidmetal® at OMEGA
First, ceramic rings are formed. The numbers and the fine lines of the minute scaling are then engraved into these ceramic bezel rings and polished. The alloy is heated and pressed into the cavities in the ceramic material after which any excess Liquidmetal® is removed. The Liquidmetal® can be manipulated at a lower temperature than metals normally used in watchmaking so the heating process does not damage the ceramic material.

The Liquidmetal® numbers and scales are then satin brushed. Because the ceramic is a harder material than the alloy, the satin brushing of the fine details can be done without affecting the ceramic bezel. The numbers and scaling then appear in bold, vivid contrast to the glossy ceramic background.

Redefining longevity in the watch industry
The OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal® Limited Edition, which has a stainless steel case and bracelet, is driven by OMEGA’s revolutionary Co-Axial calibre 2500. These movements, which have been heralded for their long-term chronometric performance, are perfectly complemented by the ceramic and Liquidmetal® alloy components which are incredibly resistant to corrosion and scratching. The result is pure OMEGA: a design premiere which will retain its appearance indefinitely, blended with innovative Co-Axial technology.

Case is 44mm
Water Resistant: 150m
Domed Sapphire Crystal
Caseback: Exhibition

Omega erected a pavillion to showcase their watches at the Beijing Olympics and it looks pretty cool. I wonder if Omega will put up a similar structure in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics? If so, I will be there!

The Omega Rolex site may have some errors but hopefully they will be fixed. Check out the site here: http://www.omegarolex.com