The Breitling Watch Blog

Omega Launches a brand new innovation, a Liquidmetal® and Ceramic dive bezel on their new limited edition 42mm Planet Ocean Liquid Metal. The Seamaster PO 42mm Liquid Metal is a Limited Edition of 1948 peices, and features the same movement as previous PO models with the Caliber 2500 Co-Axial movement. The watch adds applied arabic numerals as well to the design, but is primarily the same as previous models.

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.

The Seamaster Aqua Terra Co-Axial GMT Chronograph is quite the looker, and shares the more aggressive and bold styling that all the new Aqua Terra line of watches have. Raised and intricately shaped indexes, “teak concept” dial, and exclusive Co-Axial Calibre 3603.

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

If you aren’t aware, the Olympics started today, and the opening ceremony was absolutely amazing… easily the most impressive Olympics opening ceremony I have ever seen. Beijing has set the new standard by which all other Olympics opening ceremonies will be judged. The official timekeeper, as has been for quite a while now, is Omega.

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!

Finally posted my video review of the Omega Seamaster 300m. This is the non-Bond version, black dial and black bezel. I accidently called it a unidirectional Crown in the video.. DUH.. i suppose the crown is unidirectional when its unscrewing too 😀 but yeah, i meant bezel. Anyway, hope you enjoy the video. This is one of my favourite seamasters, not counting the Planet Oceans.

I’ve launched my new Omega and Rolex watch information site. It’s pretty sparse right now, but I think its time to announce the site on here. It will focus mainly on more recent models of the watches, but will have some vintage stuff, similar to the Breitling Source site. At the moment, I don’t plan to have forums attached to the website, however this may change in the future. In the works is also a Panerai information site that will attempt to provide Panerai watch models and information in a easy-to-use format as well.

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