The alligator band with deployant hold is mighty

In the united states Omega is to a very large degree the "Seamaster" and "Speedmaster" watch brand. Those two timepiece families mostly dominate the image we think of when someone mentions Omega. Let's think about some of the more significant things Omega is known for. Well there is the silent celestial body landing watch for one -- that was a Speedmaster. There are the modern James Bond watches, those are all Seamasters -- which are on my mind right now as i just saw Skyfall a few days ago. Omega is a sport watch brand to Americans, and that is how you like it.

Internationally Omega is more than that. Lest we forget the Constellation and De Ville watch families. These two arms of Omega are decades old and represent a different, more formal side of the brand. Even if they don't represent what you are looking for in an Omega, they are worth considering. In the usa they don't have as much grip as the "masters, inch but they are still good watches. Let's take a look at one of the newer De Ville models -- the freshly redone Co-Axial Chronograph.

This might be one of the first times I have really discussed a De Ville model on aBlogtoWatch. Mostly because some of the older models aren't to my taste. Which is ironic because the first ever Omega I owned was a classic hand- twisted De Ville from the 1970s. When i saw the new Co-Axial Chronograph models at Baselworld 2012, I knew Omega had a family member hit. My problem with the older non-three hand men's De Ville models was that they appeared to lack a cohesive design, and were unsuccessfully asymmetrical in their appearance.

Many years ago Omega designed the De Ville Hour Vision which is what all modern De Ville models use. Omega went back to the roots of what the De Ville collection was said to be and come out with a successfully interesting dressy men's watch with a little classic design as well a subtle Art Deco aesthetic. The Hour Vision also featured the new (at the time) Omega good quality 8500 automatic movement -- which was an in-house made Omega good quality that of course contained a Co-Axial Escapement.

The Omega good quality 8500 movement wound up being the beds base of the three-hand Seamaster Planet Sea models, as Omega continued to push forward with more and more watches with in-house movements. After that, the Omega good quality 9300 automatic chronograph movement came out for Omega's sport chronograph models. You can search aBlogtoWatch for additional information on the good quality 9300 -- that we discussed in great detail when it first came out.

Now, rather than Omega sport watches borrowing from Omega dress watches, the other holds true as the in-house made Omega good quality 9300 chronograph penetrates this revised De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph collection. Steel De Ville's will have the good quality 9300, while solid gold models will have the good quality 9301 (the difference is that the 9301 has a gold rotor and bridge over the escapement). The 9300 features a two-register chronograph, but one of them has two hands and is able to measure a full 12 hours. If you are quick you can also use the chronograph as a second time zone by starting the chronograph at noon (or night time) in your reference time, and then setting the main time to your local time.

The movement also has a silicon balance spring and a power reserve of 60 hours. Bear in mind that it is also COSC Chronometer certified, and it is lovely to look at through the sapphire very caseback window of the watch. Basically, those wanting a more formal watch with Omega's best chronograph are in possession of an alternative to the Seamaster Planet Sea Chronograph or the Speedmaster Co-Axial Chronograph. The 9300's bi-compax two register design is very symmetrical and thus successfully complementing to a watch switch. This runs specifically true when you place the date window at 6 o'clock. This stunning new layout for the modern De Ville model is what makes the Co-Axial Chronograph model a winner. Choices are relatively abundant as the De Ville watches come with silvered, black, or deep blue knobs matched to a steel or 18k red gold 42mm wide case. Note that the protruding round corners of the case make it wear a bit smaller than you may think. While this is a formal style watch, it is rather tall off the arm and isn't designed to slip neatly under shirt cuffs.

While I really do find the the queen's and pushers a bit plain, the newer De Ville case is pretty attractive with high-quality finishing and nice contrast polishing. I am happy to see that there is at least 100 meters of water resistance as well. The available diamond however has proved to be a polarizing design. I intentionally wanted to review it in order to observe how it looks on the arm after wearing it for a while. From a quality perspective, the diamond is well-made, and comfortable -- in other words, what you've come to expect from modern Omega metal anklet bracelets. From a design perspective, the mix of larger and smaller finished and satin-finished links is a matter of taste. I could live with it just fine, but for me it will never be a Planet Sea diamond for instance. The alligator band with deployant hold is mighty appealing for a watch like this. I really do wonder what it would have been like if Omega created an updated version of the last generation De Ville's diamond which is sometimes called the "armadillo" diamond. It is probably one of the most unique metal anklet bracelets Omega has ever designed -- though I will save that discussion for another time.

While I find the switch design of the De Ville Co-Axial Chronograph sharp, I really do miss the presence of luminant. Instead you get crisply cut hands and applied Roman Numeral hour indicators. A close-up image of the switch shows the detail of the diamond-cut hour indicators and how good they look. These days, it is diamond-cut or bust in my opinion. Brands not using the highest quality knobs and with cheap looking hour indicators, who also try to charge a lot, deserve low sales. Though it is easy with Omega's size and production power to have great machinery and suppliers. A lot of small brands simply can't claim that.

An extremely remarkable lady

Mark Kelly probably begun to get frustrated as i shot questions at him while we were stuck in the backseat of a vehicle. I've learned the hard way that not everyone wants to talk about work all the time. He was a good sport though, and even agreed to speak with me again. How do you stop asking questions to an astronaut? A famous one at that. Interesting trivia: Mark not only has an identical brother, but his twin, Scott, is also an astronaut.

The good news in light of my tormenting fanboy questions is that Mr. Kelly is a watch guy. Perhaps not in how many of us are (with your intimate knowing of many brands and models), but he is the type of guy many of the watches we like are reported to be designed for. For Mark, watches are tools. Essential tools, but also ones that can look good while doing their job.

Mark Kelly has a few points of fame. Within the last few years he has been around what is this great because of his wife, Congresswoman Representative Gabby Giffords. An extremely remarkable lady, Giffords bravely retrieved from a typically fatal gunshot twisted she was the victim of in 2011. Kelly and his family lived with a long difficult period while she retrieved, and still recovers today. That event even hit close to home for me. The shooting occurred at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona where Giffords lives and represents. I used to frequent that exact supermarket while living in Tucson around my university years. When you speak with someone who had to go through that, you no doubt want to be sensitive as to the they had to go through. Something most people don't and will never understand. At the same time you find it almost inhumane not to show a acknowledgement for the gravity of the experience their family had to share.

Recently the space Shuttle service Try traveled around California before it stopped at its final resting place through Los angeles. It was the last of its kind, and marked a conclusion to the federal government run space shuttle service program. Kelly was the last guy to fly it in 2011 after the shuttle service flew for 19 years. His most enduring legacy will be that of an astronaut. One that helped end a period, but commence a new one. While Kelly is currently retired as an astronaut, he still serves as an mechanic and consults to private firms like SpaceX which are picking up where NASA left off.