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Hour Vision will be sold first through Omega's own boutiques |
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Hour Vision
Caliber family 8500 is currently making its debut in a new family of DeVilles called Hour Vision.
This name is derived from two main visual elements of the timepiece. One of the Swatch Group's 189
companies, Comadur, is a specialist in sapphire crystal and ceramics.
It was
Comadur that created not only the large sapphire crystals located on the front and back of
this timepiece, but also the smaller sapphire crystal windows placed on the 41mm case's four sides—making
the attractive movement visible from every angle.
The dial
itself—not hampered by a restricting bezel—is also a real eye-catcher. The eye is certainly
drawn first to the gold hand-cut and applied hour markers.
Urquhart
explains that these were so difficult to manufacture that Omega needed to turn to Nivarox,
the Swatch Group's resident balance manufacturer. "These parts were so tricky to make that we did
indeed have to turn to someone used to dealing with very precise and small gold components."
Hour Vision
will be sold first through Omega's own boutiques before becoming available through the company's retail
network. The timepieces come in stainless steel and 18-karat red gold, both on a choice of strap or
metal bracelet in the matching metal. The 39-jewel timepieces are water-resistant to 100 meters and
shockresistant to 5,000 Gs.
Models
are already in the pipeline all the way to the year 2010 using this base movement, which will feature
smaller, practical complications. A 14-ligne chronograph is slated for release in 2010 to coincide
with the Olympic Games in Vancouver.
From 2008,
female fans of Omega's mechanical watchmaking can look forward to a 9-ligne movement that will also
feature many of the same complications as the men's models, including an automatic annual calendar by
the year 2009.
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Hour Vision is available in stainless
steel and 18-karat red gold.
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"Omega
is open to everything," Urquhart says simply. "I think that is the way forward.
A lot of people are trying to revolutionize a mechanical watch, but they have all failed.
How can you revolutionize a work of art? I think we can, but it's difficult to improve on
a functioning mechanical watch. I do think new materials could be used in the future."
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APRIL 2007
INTERNATIONAL WATCH
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