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(Photo: Omega)
What it is
At first blush, the Omega Speedmaster Super Racing looks like just another steel Speedy with a new outfit. It has a yellow-on-black colourway with a honeycomb dial that was lifted from a concept timepiece (which you can see at the Omega Museum) that once survived magnetic fields of 160,000 gauss. Being a Master Chronometer, the Speedmaster Super Racing proves itself to be both highly precise and unusually resistant to magnetism thanks to its dual COSC and METAS certifications. But the real news is its game-changing new hairspring construction, known as the Spirate System.
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How it works
Previous Master Chronometer-certified Omega watches boasted precision ratings of 0/+5 seconds per day, but the Spirate System boosts this to an impressive 0/+2 seconds a day (beating Rolex’s Superlative Chronometer certification of -2/+2 seconds per day). This was made possible by a patent-pending silicon hairspring that allows ultra-fine rate adjustments — in increments of 0.1 seconds, according to Omega — by using eccentric adjustment micro-screws found on the balance bridge to tweak the stiffness of the balance spring.
Spirate System. (Photo: Omega)
Why it matters
Omega isn’t the first brand to reinvent the balance wheel for small but significant improvements to chronometry, but the Spirate System was designed to be easily adapted to its existing calibres. And because each of these innovative springs was made from a silicon wafer using an internal manufacturing process called DRIE (deep reactive ion etching), Omega will be able to produce these en masse, meaning all your favourite Omega collections will eventually be ticking with new-found accuracy.
Movement
Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9920 automatic chronograph movement
Case
44.25 x 14.9mm in steel
Price
$16,300
