(Help support this site! If you buy stuff through my links, your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit ;-) Thanks!)
One thing you learn about any subject matter is that once you dip your toe in, it’s hard to keep from leaping in headlong. My long-time love for the Omega Seamaster Professional 300m—the watch I’d buy and wear if I could only own One Watch™—was the toe I’d held in the water for half my life or more now.
But in 2015, something stirred inside me after seeing this photo on Tumblr:
My apologies to whomever shot this photo—it was taken from Omega Forums, and the original link is dead.
2015 was the year my style really came into its own. I had discovered Eidos at the tail end of 2014, and from that year onward, was obsessively focused on that brand. As I still have in my about page today, Eidos embodied my own sense of style so well it was almost freaky. That year alone, I bought five (!) Eidos jackets, three of which I still own today. Whether new from the independent retailers who carried it, or pre-owned from fellow enthusiasts, or from sample sales on eBay, I was solely focused on getting as much tailoring from Eidos as I could for the next three years.
But that photo stuck with me. I’ve kept it on my mental back burner for five years. And this summer, once I began looking at watches in earnest and creating a wishlist, this easily took the spot at the top of the list.
I’m thrilled to have been able to purchase it last week.
Googling “black with orange omega watch” revealed the specific details of this watch. It’s the Omega Aqua Terra reference 231.12.42.21.01.002. Made between 2012 and 2018, this generation of the Aqua Terra has an Omega caliber 8500 with a coaxial escapem—
hold on. Let me take a detour really quick.
See, if you’re like me and are an outsider looking in on the “horology enthusiast” club, you’ll hear a dizzying amount of specs, features and jargon thrown around, so much that it’ll make you want to back away slowly like Homer into the bushes.
Actual footage of an average person encountering a Hodinkee conversation, via GIPHY
I have a mind to write a post about some of the top things watch nerds care about and whether they actually matter.
But for now, let me simply explain two features of this watch that are legitimately cool for their watch nerd cred, but more so for their utility for the wearer.
First, this generation Aqua Terra was, I believe, the first Omega watch made to be anti-magnetic. You may have heard of the Rolex Milgauss, which is specially designed with an internal iron casing that protects its movement from magnetic fields up to 1,000 gauss, hence the named Milgauss. This Omega, and virtually every watch they make today as they’ve rolled out this feature across the lineup, is unaffected by fields up to 15,000 gauss—more than an MRI. It accomplishes this by using silicon as the material for key parts of the watch that are affected by magnetism. As someone who’s worn a watch my whole life, I am keenly aware of any strong magnets in my environment and take pains to keep my watches away (even quartz watches are affected by strong magnetic fields).
So this is a legitimately useful feature I appreciate very much.
Second is an internal feature that many in the watch community love, and is universally recognized as a genuinely significant watchmaking innovation. That is the coaxial escapement. The escapement of a watch is like its beating heart—it’s what is actually measuring time. The standard lever escapement has been in use for around 200 years; the coaxial escapement was invented in the 1970s, and improves on it by nearly eliminating friction, thus theoretically eliminating the need for lubricant (which breaks down over time), requiring less frequent maintenance and maintaining better accuracy over time. The two resources I found helpful in explaining this are this YouTube vid which shows a normal mechanical watch movement, and this Hodinkee article which explains the coaxial escapement and how it improves the traditional lever escapement.
Of course, at the end of the day, let’s be real: these expensive timepieces are ultimately jewelry. They’re less accurate than a quartz watch, far more expensive, and require costly maintenance. Their appeal isn’t purely aesthetic, otherwise a nice-looking quartz watch would suffice. Yet neither is it simply about the novelty of a mechanical movement (Timex makes those). It’s both of those, plus the history, and the culture, and the romanticism of old world skills passed down generation to generation still being in use today. And yeah, the cachet of owning a luxury commodity. A mechanical watch from one of the stalwart makers (primarily the Swiss, but the Japanese, too) makes you feel special; it lets you tap into all those things.
This particular Omega, I’m thrilled to say, is an outstanding do-everything watch. It was sold on the tan leather strap pictured, which gives it a definite dress watch vibe. Bolstering that is its understated black dial and polished steel hour markers, which glint in the light. The angles and planes of the case and lugs alternate between polished and brushed, shimmering as you turn it in the light.
Yet it fares as well with a casual outfit as it does a formal one. For one, being steel (and not a precious metal) means it’s got the DNA of a tool watch baked right in. For another, the size, at 41.5mm across the dial, means it makes its presence known (more so than a dress watch, which would be a smaller diameter). For another, the striking yet not distracting orange accents on the second hand and minute markers around the dial bring a nice, contrasting color. The vertical striping, meant to evoke the teak deck on a yacht, is subtle but adds just the right amount of visual interest.
This past weekend, I wore it on a short road trip. On the drive I wore jeans and a polo shirt with desert boots, and once there I donned a suit and tie for a formal gathering; in both scenarios, it looked sharp. Truly a do-everything watch. I hope to get my hands on a steel bracelet for it, which would let me wear it in the water without worry, too.
So I heartily recommend the Aqua Terra. Probably the most popular version of it is the one with a blue dial, which was featured in the 2012 Bond film Skyfall. It’s a beautiful design, usually sold on a steel bracelet. The current generation, which has a more striking horizontal teak deck design would also be a good choice (I like the day counter at 6 instead of 3; the striping, however, I’m not sure about). Personally if I bought one, I’d get it in 38mm size to lean into the dress watch vibes.
Click here to shop this specific watch on eBay. Make sure and look for the “authenticity guaranteed” check mark—it’s a free service eBay provides where the seller ships the watch to the authenticators at eBay, who then ship it to you. It takes much of the fear out of the process if you’re buying from an individual (instead of a reliable source like Crown & Caliber, Bernard or the Watch Box).
(Help support this site! If you buy stuff through my links, your clicks and purchases earn me a commission from many of the retailers I feature, and it helps me sustain this site—as well as my menswear habit ;-) Thanks!)
If you’re just getting into tailored menswear and want to level up your style faster, buy my eBook. It covers wardrobe essentials for any guy who wants to look cool, feel cool and make a good impression. Formatted for your phone or computer/iPad so it’s not annoying to read, and it’s full of pretty pictures, not just boring prose. Buy it here.
