The new Omega Seamaster Regatta, Ready for the 37th America’s Cup
Marking the start of the 37th America’s Cup, Omega unveils its latest sailing instrument watch.
Omega‘s involvement in sailing and regattas, whether as official timekeeper or provider of dedicated timepieces, isn’t to be demonstrated anymore. The brand backs entire crews, such as Emirates Team New Zealand, and times historic events such as the America’s Cup – for which it has recently announced the renewal of its role as the Official Timekeeper. As the 37th America’s Cup, one of the world’s most intense sailing races and the oldest trophy in international sport, is in full swing, the brand unveiled its latest sailing instrument, a proper tool watch based on the X33 family, the new Omega Seamaster Regatta.
Omega and regatta
Omega began its partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand and legendary sailor Sir Peter Blake in 1995 and continues to be a strong provider of regatta-themed watches. As such, the Swiss watchmaker has been the official timekeeper of the famous America’s Cup in 2000, 2003 and 2021, and now for the 37th edition of the race in 2024, it renewed its role as Timekeeper.
This strong position in the field of regattas and sailing of course comes along with dedicated timepieces. Over the years, the brand has presented countless dedicated editions, with vintage models such as the 1970s Seamaster Yachting, and various modern iterations of the Seamaster with dedicated regatta complications – check for example the Seamaster Diver 300m ETNZ for the 35th America’s Cup, the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m for the 36th America’s Cup, the Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph, the Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black ETNZ Edition or the recent Seamaster Diver 300m for the 37th America’s Cup. All of these were, as you’d expect, mechanical watches with some of them clever tech underneath the dial. Today’s release is different.
The X33 Family
Omega’s latest regatta watch is not a mechanical chronograph or an automatic watch with a special regatta countdown on the dial. It’s a proper tool, an instrument that isn’t meant to be luxurious, but created for a mission – some will say that it lacks charm, and some will say that it’s the most relevant option for a regatta contender…
The new Omega Seamaster Regatta is part of the X33 family, a watch that is usually associated with Speedmasters and space exploration. First launched in 1998 and developed together with former NASA Apollo X astronaut General Tom Stafford, the Speedmaster Professional X-33 was built as a tool for astronauts, not as a luxury watch. As such, this instrument-like titanium-clad timepiece blended digital and analogue displays and was powered by a quartz movement packed with functions specific to NASA missions – universal time, perpetual calendar, alarm, countdown, chronograph… In 2001, Omega released a modified version (2nd generation) and in 2014 the brand presented the Speedmaster Skywalker X-33, which we have reviewed extensively here.
The X33 remains a niche product within the brand’s lineup, yet several versions of this modern digital tool watch have been unveiled since it entered its 3rd generation – such as the X-33 Marstimer and, importantly in 2017 a limited edition of the Speedmaster X-33 Regatta made for the ETNZ (Emirates Team New Zealand) regatta team – a watch that we have not covered but you can check the details from our colleagues at Fratello. This special version was equipped with the indispensable regatta function to keep track of the critical 5-minute countdown to the start of the race, as well as a specific ceramic bezel with a dedicated scale. What we’re looking at today is somehow the successor of this Speedmaster X-33 Regatta… But for the first time, Omega brings the Seamaster design to the X-33 family.
The Omega Seamaster Regatta
While the 37th America’s Cup is in full swing in Barcelona, Spain, Omega introduces the Seamaster Regatta, a new X-33-based watch that’s designed for sailors, featuring both analogue and digital displays, and fully equipped for life at sea.
Despite being part of the X-33 family of instruments, the new Seamaster Regatta is first and foremost… a Seamaster. As such, its grade 5 titanium case has classic traits of Omega’s diving collection, with lyre-shaped lugs and a scalloped rotating bezel that’s inspired by the one used on the Seamaster Diver 300M. There are, however, strong differences with these classic automatic models, including fairly impressive proportions, with a 46.75mm diameter – it’s a striking watch, no doubt about that, yet it’s close to 2mm larger than a classic X-33 Skywalker (measured at 45mm). However, the length of the case remains pleasant at 48.5mm and titanium makes it light, with a total weight of about 90 grams. Like all models from this family of watches, it’s loaded with pushers (4 of them, all rubber-coated), which are colour-coded depending on their function – one in red and three in blue – and paired with a sandblasted crown with laser engraved Ω logo. Water-resistance is rated at 50 metres.
The dial of this new Omega Seamaster Regatta is framed by a classic SM blue ceramic bezel (bidirectional), with a 60-minute scale that is here fully graduated and done with white hybrid ceramic and Super-LumiNova. Classic for this quartz-powered instrument collection, the display mixes analogue and digital indications, with a base dial that’s been blue-coloured with the 300M classic wave pattern. Oversized round luminous markers are paired with Diver 300M-inspired hour, minute, and central seconds hand, which can be cleared from the display when in backlit mode to increase the legibility of the digital readouts, which are enhanced by an LCD display with black markings on a white-grey background to show its multiple digital readings.
Let’s talk functionalities now, as this part as always been the main reason for getting a watch from the X-33 collection. While automatic regatta watches have an undeniable charm, the new Omega Seamaster Regatta is all about being a tool for a mission, to help sailors navigate at sea and win a race (which might well be the goal of the ETNZ sponsored by Omega…) The watch includes a moonphase indicator (at 3 o’clock), a chronograph, a sailing logbook, a temperature gauge, an accelerometer, and of course a regatta race function (at 9 o’clock) – to name some of the functions…
In addition to these displayed indications, the Seamaster Regatta also includes 3 alarms – Omega describes this watch as a multifunctional tool that you can wear and hear on your wrist. Audio cues are enhanced by a wave-patterned caseback designed along the principles of Helmholtz resonance – it consists of a resonating cavity to help increase the volume of the alarms (a type of resonance occurs when air is forced in and out of a cavity, causing the air inside to vibrate at a specific natural frequency, like when you blow air across the top of a glass bottle).
The caseback, embossed with the distinctive 37th America’s Cup logo, hides a new multifunctional quartz movement, Calibre 5701. This analogue-digital movement has a 31-month battery life and a precision of ±7s/year.
Worn on a classic Diver 300M blue integrated rubber strap with brushed bands and Omega’s patented Quick-Change system, the Omega Seamaster Regatta (ref. 216.92.46.79.10.001) is released as part of the permanent collection and will retail for CHF 6,500 (excl. taxes). For more details, please consult omegawatches.com.
1 response
At first glance, it looked to me like a piece of Delftware pottery.