Luxury watchmakers Omega have made history with the unveiling of the first ever movement resistant to magnetic fields greater than 1.5 tesla (15,000 gauss). The Omega Aqua Terra Seamaster >15,000 gauss was officially unveiled today by Omega president Stephen Urquhart at The Setai building in New York City.
OMEGA AQUA TERRA is the first ever movement resistant to magnetic fields. The Seamaster Aqua Terra was officially unveiled in New York City.
The new OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8508 movement solves a problem that has challenged watchmakers for centuries, as it is necessary to demagnetize mechanical watches whose performance has been compromised by exposure to magnetic fields. The issue of magnetism which has long plagued watchmakers, particularly now that magnets are more than ever a part of our daily lives as part of our cellphones and laptops. The ground-breaking OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8508 movement does not rely on a protective container inside the watchcase, which blocks the view of the movement and cannot handle the strength of permanent magnets which lead to loss of accuracy. Instead, this new design utilizes non-ferrous materials (meaning materials that do not contain iron) in the movement itself, meaning it can be subjected to levels of magnetism of up to 15,000 gauss) and continue to perform. Testing showed that the watch was as accurate after its magnetic exposure as it had been before.
Several patents are pending for the new movement, which has been housed in the Seamaster Aqua Terra >15,000 gauss. Omega will present this new movement at Baselworld 2013, and estimates it will hit the market later this year. There are also plans to roll out the technology in Omega’s larger collection.
Source and photos courtesy Omega.
