Omega has long been at the forefront of pioneering chronometers, having created the first wristwatch that could be categorized as a marine chronometer back in the year 1932. Before then, the only certified marine chronometers where either pocket watches or clocks that had been specially designed for ships.
Today, Omega remains one of the fines watchmaker brands in the entire world, and they still stay true to their maritime roots through various collections such as the Seamaster. These collections of luxury watches are among some of the most famous in the world and incredibly popular with various Hollywood stars, time pieces lovers as well as watch collectors.
The Seamaster Aqua Terra Annual Calendar watch model was a rather recent release in this iconic range of time measuring pieces, having first been developed in the year 2010. Now there are multiple entries into this particular section of the collection, most of which use the impressively constructed 8611 calibre, but there are also some using the slightly different 8601 calibre.
The 8611 calibre reflects the high quality of craftsmanship associated with the watch making brand Omega, along with the marine world inspired designs of the Seamaster watches collection, resulting in one of the finest movements produced in recent memory by the Swiss watch makers.
In fact, the 8611 calibre is also available for a range of select models featured in another iconic Omega collection – the Deville. The Hour Vision Annual Calendar range of this collection were first released in the year 2008 and developed for use with the 8611 calibre movement, ensuring that the mechanics that help to provide the very alluring annual calendar can be used in several time pieces collections and watch models.
Completely constructed and conceived in-house, the 8611 features the highly renowned Co-Axial escapement owned by Omega. Also known within the watch producing industry as the Daniels ‘fix’, the co-axial escapement mechanism represented a major improvement to the in-house developed calibres produced by the Biel based company. It helped the watch maker solve a major issue that appeared with previous calibre models referring to the sliding friction resulting from the escape wheel being touched by the pallet jewels.
These movements are self-winding and they feature incredibly desirable silicone balance-springs on a free sprung balance. This has helped to make the movements safe against the risk of magnetization, along with reacting better to any small shocks that might be in contact with the watch movement. This boosts the time piece’s reliability and endurance to being used in extremely harsh circumstances.
The annual calendar feature of the time piece provides automatic jumps from each month and date, making them happen in an instant, which can be pleasing on the eye when compared to dials that are slowly changing and look off-kilter. It may only be an aesthetic bonus, but collectors will definitely appreciate these subtle touches.
Winding can also be done in either direction, allowing for a quick and efficient change of time when needed, although the automatic movement should only make this a requirement when the watch hasn’t been worn for 55 hours, as this is the power reserve for this watch movement.
The calibre is visible at the back through the transparent case back, which is also marked with exclusive Geneva Waves in arabesque – an interesting aesthetic feature that is appreciated by the brand’s fans.
All in all, the Omega 8611 calibre is a high precision one, proving once again the values that the brand stands for: unbeatable reliability, high quality, appealing design and top notch comfort to the end user.
