My impressions with some Omega Basel 2017 Pieces

[sensui]

Last night I attended an event hosted by Omega at a boutique. I have to be honest....it blew the socks off the Rolex event I went to. It was really all about the people there....true enthusiasts of the brand along with some very very interesting guests (how about the guy who is the son of the man who invented the official NASA certified Fisher space pen that the astronauts used, and still produced/used today, talk about an honor to talk to these guys). The food and drinks were a cut above the Rolex event as well and the people there pampered the heck out of my entire family (wife and kids), kudos to Omega on knowing how to throw a party......I also got to talk to some people in real life finally that I've been buddies with on forums so that was fun....and they brought some spectacular rare/vintage pieces as well.

I got to the event way early (by accident....I thought it started a hour before the actual starting time) so I actually got to look at the Basel pieces first....I had no idea they were going to be there, I was there for the 60th anniversary Speedmaster speech by Jean Claude.































So really my main interest lies with the 57 Trilogy and Speed Tuesday. But the Apollo XVII 45th anniversary and the new Speedmaster Racing series looked really good in the flesh also.

The Speedy Tuesday looked great all around.....the things that stood out to me was the subdials is far more silver looking in real life and not very white at all. But it makes the radial subdials pop even more. The watch wears like you'd expect a Speedy Pro so that should be very familiar. I was not impressed with the Omega leather strap that comes with the watch but a custom cordura is going to make this watch an absolute killer:





The 57 Trilogy.....it is overwhelmingly nice. Seriously, I was blown away by the built and looks of the 3 watches in person. Not even sure where I should start......

















Things I noticed about the trilogy. The matte dials are done extremely well, they look extremely vintage if you are used to vintage matte dials. The brushed center links on the bracelets with the polished borders really work and don't look too shiny IMO in real iife like some pictures look. The way the crystal looks is as expected on the Speedy with hesalite but wait until you see the domed sapphire crystals on the Railmaster and Seamaster....just WOW. It's done really well and has no hint of any milky white rings like the Speedy sapphire watches.....they do have a centered Omega symbol etched in the middle and stands out a tad too much IMO, but not a deal killer by far....I just wished it could be more subtle like a Rolex coronet on the crystal. Despite the way the cases are replicated (straight lugs and all), they fit on my small wrist extremely well and actually doesn't hang as much as you'd expect the straight lugs to. I think it has to do with them getting the profiles right by having the cases much thinner without the display caseback. Extremely comfortable and sleek and looks killer on my 6.375-6.5" wrist. Impressed they could have their Master Chronometer Coaxial movements that sleek on the Seamaster and Railmaster. There's so much I could go into on the details on these pieces but you'd have to see it to believe it....just exquisite. I think this man who kicked off the main party said it best:



Jean-Claude Monachon, VP of product and customer service....he told us a brief history about the start of the Speedmaster and talked about how on the 57 Speedmaster...you can find 5 different Omega logos on different parts of the watch (I think it's the dial, crystal, bracelet, caseback, and crown....but don't quote me on it), and joked it's a testament to how well the departments communicated with each other back then....but they even replicated this on the trilogy release.....just amazing.

Rest of the night was just phenomenal as I've mentioned with other enthusiasts and extremely interesting people. My family had a blast, here are some shots of some of the other rare pieces they had on display and other members brought:
















































Man I can't get that moonphase out of my head, it was just ridiculous in person.

If some people @ the party could see this post, I wanted to thank you guys for making it an awesome experience. It was really nice to meet some of my online buddies finally in person from here/Omega Forums and the rest of the guests were all so interesting in too many ways to mention. What a party, hope everyone got home safely in one piece and had a safe drive.

[japenney]

I like the speedy Tuesday the most.

I think the anniversary pieces are well done but the actual sets that say the set number ON the dial are hideous with that extra writing and it makes me question who at omega could possibly think that is a good decision.

Thanks for the pics :)

Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk

[red1108nyc]

I agree. I think buying and having a relationship with the boutique is something special and they really know how to treat their customers right. I have been to their special event and the feeling is just a down-to-earth and true watch enthusiast energy in every way. Thanks again for your insight and sharing with us these great pictures - I can't wait to pick mine up!!!

[Bluside]

Great post! Thanks for all the pictures.

[Justinmg]

Thanks for sharing! I love the brand and I was very impressed with what they released!

[yessir69]

Quite a post. Thank you.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[ap1]

Awesome, thanks for sharing. Now that you handled them, let's hear your trilogy ranking from top to bottom, although it sounds (and looks) not no losers there.

[DCheeta]

Great report! This is the post I was waiting for, thanks for taking the time to write it up and post the photos!

Did you happen to try on the new racing models? I'm curious how they fit on smaller wrists like ours.

[sensui]

Originally Posted by ap1

Awesome, thanks for sharing. Now that you handled them, let's hear your trilogy ranking from top to bottom, although it sounds (and looks) not no losers there.

An interesting question because I started off with preference in order of speedmaster, seamaster, and cared little for railmaster. Now seeing them in pictures more and handling them in real life...the railmaster definitely overtook the seamaster for me and quite possibly be better than the speedy for me. There's something about that watch's understated elegance...kind is like a 1016. But yes, most definitely no losers here. All exquisite.

[benvh]

It's really cool they had the Speedy Tuesday there. I am interested to see the reactions once it's released. I have a feeling the demand will be strong, but either way I'm glad I got a reservation. Being on the west coast I got lucky because I was in China at the time and happened to see the Instagram post.

Thanks for the pictures, looks like a great event!

Ben

[sensui]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

Great report! This is the post I was waiting for, thanks for taking the time to write it up and post the photos!

Did you happen to try on the new racing models? I'm curious how they fit on smaller wrists like ours.

I actually did not because I'm not as interested. But in the flesh they look very good...extremely sharp and very legible...and the term racing just feels synonymous. For me my grey side of the moon is the biggest I'd ever want a watch to be...and trying not to make a habit out of buying watches this size...I didn't try it on but I did look at the profile of the racing speedies and it looked very nice, nothing crazy thick at all. The lug to lug seem to be reasonable too from what I saw. Sorry DCheeta I should have tried it, was thinking about it but then blue cocktails that bubbled with dry ice they call space water came and I was distracted hah. And gosh...I really only looked at the new Basel pieces at the beginning when no one showed up yet....the event had way too many interesting people to talk to afterwards heh. Sorry if I try at another local boutique event before you get to it, I'll make sure to try it on and give feedback.

[DCheeta]

Originally Posted by sensui

I actually did not because I'm not as interested. But in the flesh they look very good...extremely sharp and very legible...and the term racing just feels synonymous. For me my grey side of the moon is the biggest I'd ever want a watch to be...and trying not to make a habit out of buying watches this size...I didn't try it on but I did look at the profile of the racing speedies and it looked very nice, nothing crazy thick at all. The lug to lug seem to be reasonable too from what I saw. Sorry DCheeta I should have tried it, was thinking about it but then blue cocktails that bubbled with dry ice they call space water came and I was distracted hah. And gosh...I really only looked at the new Basel pieces at the beginning when no one showed up yet....the event had way too many interesting people to talk to afterwards heh. Sorry if I try at another local boutique event before you get to it, I'll make sure to try it on and give feedback.

Ha, please don't apologize! The racing models are just a mild curiosity for me, my main interest is in the 60th Anniv models. In fact I've already reserved and paid for the Speedy, so reading your review and seeing your pics has reinforced that decision.

But now my secondary curiosity is this blue cocktail...

Thanks again!

[sensui]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

But now my secondary curiosity is this blue cocktail...

Omega knows how to party.



Even had a photo booth to take pictures with friends/family and of course watches!

[Eccentric]

Thanx for a very nice post! I when on a similar event a couple a days ago and tryed the speedy 60th, now I can't wait until it arrives!

[ejvette]

Really great post and photos I wish I lived near a Boutique I'm a 100 miles from midtown Manhattan where the nearest one is. The display of vintage pieces looked awesome. So many great looking references

[axjimenez]

Thanks for sharing - looks like a great time. Man, that Speedy Tuesday is something...

[ap1]

Did you handle the standard line railmaster by any chance. For the icing on the cake?

[sensui]

Originally Posted by ap1

Did you handle the standard line railmaster by any chance. For the icing on the cake?

Surprisingly they didn't have these pieces there. But we did chat about them in terms of how they'll change their customer base on the entry level. Very well pieced watches with a nice movement.

[sea-dweller]

Nice write-up and photos!

[mmalek1]

I am scheduled for an event at the end of may for my area and I am even more excited to attend, thanks for sharing.

[DramaTurtle]

Damn this looks like it was an awesome time. One Omega reference that I have not seen covered very thoroughly is the icy blue Speedmaster 38 which I am absolutely drooling over:


Any word of this piece?!

[wantonebad]

Great great post Sensui, thanks for sharing the info and pictures!!

[_speedmaster_]

Awesome post and review. Glad to hear you came away impressed with the railmaster, I was most interested in seeing that piece in person.

[sensui]

Originally Posted by DramaTurtle

Damn this looks like it was an awesome time. One Omega reference that I have not seen covered very thoroughly is the icy blue Speedmaster 38 which I am absolutely drooling over:


Any word of this piece?!

Sorry man, didn't see that variation either but my wife loves the cappucino 38mm speedy they had:



I think it looks killer but a tad thick. We'll see if she follows through, everyone was respectful despite her being the only one wearing Rolex lol...it's her only watch

[Ru4scuba]

Thx for the post! I'm looking forward to seeing the 45th SS Apollo.

[PanosI]

Great post ! Thanks for sharing

[FTX I]

Awesome post.

[B.B.B.]

Love the info and the pics. Great post!

[RW16610]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

[DramaTurtle]

Originally Posted by sensui

Sorry man, didn't see that variation either but my wife loves the cappucino 38mm speedy they had:



I think it looks killer but a tad thick. We'll see if she follows through, everyone was respectful despite her being the only one wearing Rolex lol...it's her only watch

Very smooth watch that brown one!

But yeah... I really need to find myself some pics of that ice blue Speedy. I dreamt about it last night... I fear for my wallet.