Add a true classic to your timepiece collection with the amazingly precise and rugged Omega Speedmaster day-and-date men's watch (model 3222.80.00), the latest generation that first started with the timepiece designed for NASA in the 1960s. It features the Omega 3606 caliber automatic movement, which has been certified as a chronometer by the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Control). Only 3 percent of watches produced in Switzerland are "chronometer-certified." To achieve this highly coveted certification, the movements are subjected to numerous tests over a period of 15 consecutive days and nights, in five positions and at three different temperatures. The watch also includes a central chronograph hand with 30-minute and 12-hour subdial totalizers, 24-hour subdial, and day and month windows. The large, round watch measures 39mm wide (1.54 inches) and 15mm thick (0.59 inches), and it's topped by a blue-plated bezel with tachymeter readings. The blue dial background has a circular Geneva wave pattern, luminous silver-tone hands, luminous tipped stick hour markers, and small second indexes. It's completed by a silver stainless steel link bracelet band that offers polished highlights, which is joined by a secure, push-button clasp. Other features include a scratch-resistant and glare-proofed domed sapphire crystal, and water resistance to 100 meters (330 feet)--offering protection from accidental splashes as well suitable for swimming, snorkeling, and light recreational diving.
Automatic Watch Movement
An automatic watch is self-winding, and its movement has a reserve that must be at least partially filled prior to being worn. This is done by shaking and winding the timepiece manually. In order for an automatic timepiece to keep a reserve, it must be worn daily for 8 hours of active wear. This watch as a 44-hour power reserve.
How to Use a Tachymeter
A tachymeter is an instrument for measuring speed. It is a chronograph with a graduated dial on which speed can be read off in kilometers per hour based on 1000 meters distance. For example, the chronograph indicates that the distance of one kilometer has been covered in 30 seconds. The corresponding point on the tachymeter scale indicates 120, and thus the speed is 120km per hour.
The Omega Story
The Omega watch story begins in 1848, when founder Louis Brandt began hand assembling key-wound precision pocket watches from parts supplied by local craftsmen in his principality La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the northwest corner of Switzerland. However, the Omega name didn't appear until 1894, after Louis Brandt had passed away and his watchmaking traditions were taken over by his sons, Louis-Paul and Cesar Brandt. Omega watches have long been associated with glamorous screen and sports stars--the Omega Seamaster is famous for being the watch of choice for James Bond--with current ambassadors including Pierce Brosnan, Nicole Kidman, tennis player Anna Kournikova, and swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe.
But Omega is more than just a fashionable watch. In 1965, the Omega Speedmaster chronograph was "flight-qualified by NASA for all manned space missions" as the only wristwatch to have withstood all of the U.S. space agency's severe tests, including passing grades for extreme shocks, vibrations, and temperatures ranging from -18 to +93 degrees Celsius. The greatest moment in the Speedmaster's history was undoubtedly 20 July 1969 at 02:56 GMT, when it recorded man's first steps on the Moon's surface as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Today, Omega is known for its rigorous testing of new movements, cases, and bands. Each new Omega movement is tested on the wrist in existing Omega models, while various laboratory tests are conducted to determine temperature-resistance, shock-resistance and vibration-resistance.
