Omega Aqua Terra Turquoise 41mm | Hands-On Review of the Co-Axial Master Chronometer

Hi, this is Tim of the 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me. Team also at the1916company.com for purchase pricing and availability questions concerning this watch. Today, we have a 2025 launch and this is a great one. From Omega, we have the Seamaster Aqua Terra Turquoise. So a launch for 2025, the watch features a lovely lacquered gradient turquoise dial, PVD blackened hands and indices, and all this in the 41 millimeter stainless steel Seamaster Aqua Terra. So 41 millimeters in diameter, it's 13.6 millimeters thick from lug tip to lug tip, 47.6. We've got a pivoted end link here. So 47.6 is the total distance across the wrist and a 20 millimeter spacing between the lugs. The Aqua Terra case and bracelet is evolving and we'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment, but on my wrist, you can see that the 41 Aqua Terra has never fit better, particularly with that short lug to lug and the pivoted end link bracelet. This wears beautifully on my 16 centimeter circumference wrist. It'll fit easily under a cuff and I can see this wearing quite well on a wrist as small as 14 centimeters in circumference. You can see how much clearance I have on each side. The bracelet's a lovely piece and you can see we have a shorter link design than in the past, almost reminiscent a little bit of the flat link vintage inspired designs on the latest moon watches. You can see that pivoted end link is an important innovation because now the bracelet pulls straight down out of the lugs. It doesn't flare, it doesn't fight, it doesn't have that solid arched link, so you can pull it straight down. So on a smaller wrist, you're going to get better fit and less of a fight. We have a relatively short link cross section, which makes for a very supple feel. There's a conforming end link to mate it to the case. Then we have satin shoulder links, polished centers, outer faces are polished, plenty of gaps on the underside to avoid pinching skin, pulling hair, trapping wrist heat. We have many individual removable links. So if you can't get the right size here, I can't help you. We have a double folding clasp and you can see it is a sequential close. So one side closes before the other. Also important to notice the use of ceramic spring-loaded pin snaps in here. So over time, the steel cannot wear down that pin snap. The ceramic will not wear down. It will remain snappy. We also have a twin trigger release. So you have to press both triggers for this to open up. It can't pop open inadvertently just like that. The The case still lyre style lugs, but now you can see that the outer face, the lug profile, and the inner bevel, all of them are now polished. This is a very different look for a Seamaster Aqua Terra. And it is distinct from the use of alternating polish and satin that we've seen on most Aqua Terras since the origin of the species back in 2002. Of course, we still have the no guard profile that was introduced back in 2017. So we have a little bit of a countersink to the crown, but no distinct crown guard structure. We have a slightly stepped in bezel that is a vertical facet and then you can see a conical profile given way to a dial that has a lush and lovely varnished, as they call it, gradient fade. So we have a very bright turquoise at center, a much darker, almost black turquoise at the edge. You can see we have a bright turquoise for the minutes and seconds outboard. So higher contrast as a result. If you take a good look at the hands at center, but also the indices themselves, you could see they have alternating brushed and polished facets to make for better contrast. We'll do a quick loom shot right here. So you can get a better sense of the watch in the dark. It's well loomed and note all three hands are loomed. The watch features a PVD coat on all of these features to make them darker. And then we have a black silver printed date disc at the bottom. There are two different setting modes here. One allows you to jump the hour hand independently while the watch keeps ticking. So this is great for travelers. You can even jump the date forward or backwards, depending on which direction you're heading across the international dateline. Pull the crown out that activates stop seconds. A nice feature to have allows you to set the watch to a reference time. Coaxial master chronometer. Oh yes, it is that. On the back we have caliber 8900, which is the master chronometer descendant of 2007's original 8500. Two barrels, automatic winding, 60 hour power reserve, 25,200 vibrations per hour, 39 pivot joules. We've got a full balance bridge and a free sprung balance for shock resistance. The free sprung balance also making for a very precise adjustment. Master chronometer tested for chronometry in six positions as a fully assembled watch. It meets the COSC, but then goes above that as it involves chronometry fully assembled in six positions, not five. Water resistance, durability, anti-magnetic qualities, winding efficiency, and power reserve. It is a more complete test of the watch. Also important, well, we've got that full balance in the free sprung bridge, but we have an anti-magnetic balance, balance staff, hairspring, and escapement, meaning this watch is anti-magnetic, almost a magnetic to over 15,000 gauss. That's 1.5 Tesla. Short of an MRI, you'll never encounter anything more powerful than that. It has the tri-level tangential friction coaxial escapement developed by George Daniels in 1974, elaborated over time, adopted by Omega in 1999, and evolved through the years. Improves chronometry, reduces friction and the need for maintenance, and also improves power reserve a little bit. Sliding friction is what you get with a Swiss lever. Tangential friction is what you get with the coaxial, so the friction is less. We have a combination of arabesque Cote de Genève, engine turning on the base plate, blackened and polished screws with a machined bevel. All this mechanically applied, but worthy and handsome. 150 meters, water-resistant with a screw-down crown. Reach out to team also at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing details.