Omega’s Next Trick? A Watch Containing Planet Earth Built from Titanium, by Lasers

Introducing the Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer 2023

At the end of last year we published a story about how Omega had blown up 2022. Not just with its headline-making MoonSwatch collaboration but with a series of technically dazzling and leftfield releases, including a Seamaster with an animated James Bond on its caseback and a Speedmaster made of 18k gold that chimed elapsed time.

This year, the watchmaker has continued to flex both its expertise and unpredictability, from setting a new bar for accuracy to colourful new Eddie Redmayne-approved entries into its Aqua Terra family of hybrid dress/sports watches.

Its third release of 2023 is an update to its Worldtimer range comprised of three versions, including one made of titanium with a dial created entirely by laser blasting – meaning the shapes and textures on the dial, itself a single piece of titanium, have been etched solely by laser.

The Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer 2023 – to give it its full name – can track every time zone on Earth, with 24 cities displayed around the circumference of the dial, including Omega's home city of Bienne in Switzerland, as well as a miniature model of our planet as viewed from above the North Pole. Circling the globe is a 24-hour indicator, split into night and day.

The whole thing is encased in a domed design that mimics the curvature of the Earth – a detail Omega says is so subtle it is ‘impossible to see with the naked eye’.

The new watch comes in three versions.

The titanium, laser-etched model has a black and grey dial, a brushed black ceramic dial and blackened hands and indexes filled with white Super-LumiNova that glow bright blue in the dark. It comes on a black rubber strap with grey stitching, matching the dial.

The two other models are made from steel with sun-brushed green PVD dials. One comes with a matching steel bracelet and butterfly clasp, the other has a green rubber strap with grey stitching. Omega's favoured 18k ‘Moonshine Gold’ – recently applied to the second hand of a controversial update to the MoonSwatch – is added to the hands and indexes.

As per the existing Worldtimer family, all three models measure a substantial 43mm – a size that has already split the vote on Instagram. But then each one does have to find room inside for tiny planet Earth.

The steel models are £9,900 and £10,100. The titanium version is £11,500. omegawatches.com

Girard-Perregaux's Casquette Is Back

Tudor's New Black Bay 54 Is One for the Fans

Tudor's Tool Watch Is The Timepiece We All Want

Why Watch Brands Want to Put a Smile on Your Face

The Story Behind Indiana Jones' First Ever Watch

Introducing Breitling's 70th Anniversary Co-Pilot

Bremont's Bomber-Inspired Watch Is Stealthy

This Audemars Piguet Watch Was Worth the Wait

Frederique Constant's Surprising New Tourbillon

Nice Watch. Hang it in The Louvre

Your Video Guide to Quartz Watches

Watches for Kids Aren't Just for Kids Anymore