The Swiss luxury brand Omega has just revealed a pair of new members of their Constellation Double Eagle collection. Available in titanium and red gold, both chronographs will be sold as Double Eagle Mission Hills Numbered Edition. Yes, they may be not as sober and stern as the De Ville 4-Counters Co-Axial Chronograph collection, but they surely look as stately as ones can possibly get.
Okay, here is the rule.
When you want to sell something at a premium price, make it a special / limited-edition model. The mere fact that the good you want to sell is in any way limited -even if the limit is set at ridiculous 9999 units (per year, yeah)- it is a guaranteed success.
Well, if it is not completely hideous, that is.
The 2010 Mission Hills World Cup that belongs to the Constellation Double Eagle collection is by no means hideous (au contraire, with its art-deco styling of the case and bezel it is beautiful) and, although not limited, is special.
The collection celebrates the exclusive 55th Golf World Cup Omega Mission Hills World Cup 2009 event that took place last month at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, and comes in two versions.
There is a humble (but sportier) ref. 121.92.41.50.01.001 model coming in a brushed titanium case with black rubber-coated stainless steel bezel, crown and chronographs pushers; and a more expensive ref. 121.62.41.50.01.001 model sporting gorgeous 18-karat brushed red gold case with its gold bezel coated with black lacquer that perfectly corresponds with the brushed metal texture of the body.
Both versions are powered by the same Omega caliber 3313 column-wheel chronograph movement, which is based on the Piguet 1285 movement and features a co-axial escapement technology. Although not “in-house”, it is still exclusive since it is made by Piguet exclusively for Omega.
The caliber was introduced more than eight years ago in 2001 as the world’s first chronograph caliber with a co-axial escapement. Due to its inherited design flaws, the innovative mechanism gave its numerous users their fair share of problems, but, according to the Swiss brand, was recently redesigned to improve its reliability.
As the company puts it in its letter to one of the disgruntled users, there were introduced “major changes are to the escapement to improve the self-starting abilities of the movement, as well as a change in the balance staff pivot configuration from cylindrical to conical.” The caliber was accordingly renamed as Omega caliber 3313B.
Well, I hope that the new special edition is equipped with the revised version of the movement.
Regrettably, Omega still stays mum about the pricing.
See also: Omega Seamaster Diver Vancouver 2010
Photos: Omega
Omega Constellation Co-Axial Double Eagle Mission Hills specification
Movement: Omega caliber 3313 (a reworked Piguet 1285,) automatic, decorated, co-axial escapement, column-wheel chronograph, Swiss Made
Jewels: 37
Cadence of balance: 28,800 vph
Complications: Chronograph, date
Power reserve: 55 hours
Case: Red gold (ref. 121.62.41.50.01.001) / Titanium with stainless steel bezel (ref. 121.92.41.50.01.001)
Size: 41.00 mm
Height: 13.90 mm
Dial: PVD black with carbon-fiber pattern
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap: Red gold or titanium (depends on model) screw-fixed black rubber strap with red gold or titanium fold-over clasp
Crystal: Sapphire, domed, scratch-resistant with anti-reflective coating on both sides
Yep, this is me. Just had my beard trimmed.
I am a founding father of this weblog since 2008.
Bought my first mechanical watch in 1986 and it took me ten more years to realize that I have a problem: at some point in time watches became my passion. Well, it could be worse.