In the early days of June, in a rarefied and remote atmosphere in which the outlines of ancient temples serve as a backdrop, Omega chooses Tokyo to unveil to the public the latest evolution of the Seamaster Aqua Terra line: a refined women’s model with a 30 mm case.
Five of the six testimonials of the new “What’s My Secret” campaign at the unveiling event in Kyoto.
At first glance, the twelve new references with their minimalist and sporty design have nothing out of the ordinary for Omega, which has been expertly shaping the universe of women’s watchmaking for at least 100 years and already houses even smaller models in its current catalog, such as the 29mm Constellation .
The real secret of the What’s My Secret launch campaign, and what really sets the new 30mm Aqua Terra apart, lies in the new two Master Chronometer movements, developed by the Maison’s designers specifically for this model over years of meticulous work.
Caliber 8750 and 8751: two excluded Master Chronometer movements
Already since 2015, each Aqua Terra reference has been powered by Master Chronometer movements, the ultimate expression of Omega‘s engineering and savoir-faire. The certification of these movements is based on eight rigorous tests, carried out with precision in ten days by METAS (Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology) to ensure the industry’s highest standards in terms of reliability, running constancy and magnetic resistance.
Caliber 8750 for stainless steel models.
For the twelve 30mm Aqua Terras, Omega redesigned two new Master Chronometer movements, both self-winding and 20mm in diameter: the Caliber 8750, intended for stainless steel and two-tone models, and Caliber 8751, reserved for models in Moonshine and Sedna gold, Omega’s two proprietary alloys.
Essentially identical in construction, featuring Omega’s Co-Axial escapement and bidirectional winding mechanism, the two movements differ only in thickness. In the gold versions, the rotor is slightly more massive, increasing the overall thickness to 4.08mm compared to 3.98mm for the steel Caliber 8750 . An extraordinary achievement when you consider that, the same Caliber 8750 took more than four years of intensive work to turn out only 1.3mm thinner than the Caliber 8700 already used in the women’s Constellation.
Four years of development, Calibers 8750 (left) and 8751 are 20 mm in diameter and 3.98 and 4.08 mm thick.
In no case, therefore, was this a simple scaling down of the larger Aqua Terra models, but meticulous work that made it necessary to redesign, readjust, and entirely recalculate the proportions of every single component and gear, to maintain power and energy, retain the rigorous METAS certificates, and at the same time ensure a balance between practicality and design.
And despite their compact size, both movements also achieve a power reserve of more than 48 hours and preserve magnetic resistance up to 15,000 gauss. Visible through the sapphire crystal case back, the movements also display an architecture decorated with the classic Côte de Genève finish in Arabesque variant, rhodium-plated bridges, screws and balance wheel chiseled in matte black. Beyond the extraordinary technical achievements, the movements thus reveal all of Omega‘s refined craftsmanship.
New twelve references of Omega Aqua Terra
Among the twelve new offerings, with dials in different colors, five models are in stainless steel, one in 18K Sedna™ gold, three in 18K Moonshine™ gold, and three in two-tone gold and steel versions. Just four variants are distinguished by a polished bezel set with 46 diamonds or 11 diamond hour markers.
Each model has a dial with applied hour markers and a circular date window at 6 o’clock, framed by a thin polished metal ring. The facetted hands, including, for the first time in Aqua Terra history, the minute hand is without the traditional “dart,” are filled with white Super-LumiNova, which emits a delicate blue luminescence in the dark. The satin-brushed case, embellished with a hexagonal winding crown, is accompanied by a unique integrated, three-row bracelet with brushed and polished round links, with a butterfly deployant clasp, and a patented Omega adjustment system maximum comfort on the wrist.
Every detail has been rethought, retaining iconic Aqua Terra elements such as the applied hour markers. Instead, the arrow minute hand has disappeared, replaced by a refined dauphine-style design.
The new color palette for the dials includes twelve different shades, ranging from the bright hues of white mother-of-pearl , silvery white, gold, and sun-brushed linen to the intense tones of black, anthracite, green, brown , and lavender. Presenting such a wide range of variants is quite unusual for the launch of a watch that already includes substantial changes in itself, because it means bringing a whole new heterogeneous collection to life. The variety of options, in this sense, does not exhaust but celebrates the multiplicity of ways of being a woman.
“What’s My Secret”: Omega’s campaign celebrating the contemporary woman with six international faces
To reiterate how the Aqua Terra 30mm is a collection truly designed for every woman, Omega has chosen for its new campaign six unprecedented faces for the brand, six women who belong to the worlds of film, fashion, and music, with different backgrounds and origins.
Korean K-pop star Danielle Marsh, spokesperson for the “What’s My Secret?” campaign.
Leading the campaign are Korean K-pop star Danielle Marsh, actresses Marisa Abela and Ariana DeBose, models Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and Ashley Graham, and Grammy winner Tems.
Each of them has selected an Aqua Terra 30 mm model, and in the quick frames of the media campaign, they are portrayed with their index finger resting on their lips, indicating a secret they jealously guard. The new movement is presented as an intimate and playful confidence, a word of mouth between friends whispered with complicity. Picking up on this game of cross-references, CEO Raynald Aeschlimann, confirms, referring to the Calibers 8750 and 8751 housed in the cases, that “the most beautiful part of the watch is actually the part you don’t immediately see.”
Model and entrepreneur Ashley Graham and Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose, new faces of Omega’s new campaign.
Conclusions and Price
The new 30mm Aqua Terra references are in a price range of 7,500 to 42,000 euros, depending on configuration and materials, in line with the positioning of the Rolex Datejust 31, a similarly sized model and one of the brand’s best-sellers, to which the women’s Aqua Terras respond more or less veiled.
The new Omega Aqua Terra are a balanced achievement, but no less sophisticated or easy to make, proving that simplicity is itself, the highest form of sophistication. The real secret then lies beyond the two new movements, that is, in the four long years devoted to secretly imagining a new, renewed, whole universe of women’s watches, of which the Aqua Terra 30mm are perhaps only the first chapter.
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