You might not have heard of Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis. But that doesn’t mean Omega’s latest Seamaster Aqua Terra watch, which is inspired by the Swedish pole vaulter, isn't worth your attention.
Revealed ahead of this summer’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the watch follows a recent trend of Omega making watches inspired by its brand ambassadors. For this model the target is Duplantis, the pole vaulter who took gold at the Tokyo 2020 games and is the current indoor and outdoor world record holder.
As a nod to the Swedish flag, the watch has yellow stitching on its blue structured rubber strap, while Omega says the bright yellow second hand with white tip is inspired by the vaulting pole itself. Blue also appears on the opaline-finish dial, which has a lovely teak patterned spread horizontally across it.
The new Omega watch has a 41mm, 316L stainless steel case with a crown at the three o’clock position and a date window at six o’clock. The outer circumference of the dial features second markings, with the 15, 30, 45 and 60 finished in the same shade of yellow as the strap stitching and Seamaster logo.
Sapphire crystal is used on both the front and back, where an exhibition-style case back shows off the inner workings of the watch’s in-house Co-Axial Master Chronograph Calibre 8900 automatic movement, which has 60 hours of power reserve. Water resistance is 15 bar (150 metres) and like other members of the Aqua Terra family the Armand Duplantis comes presented in a stylish wooden box.
I think this injection of colour is just what the Aqua Terra needed, and while Duplantis is of course a worthy member of the Omega family, I like how being a pole vaulting fan – or indeed a supporter of the Swedish Olympic team – isn’t required to love this watch. It’s a lovely piece, with the yellow and blue working perfectly together, and the ‘teak’ finish giving the dial just enough texture to stand out from the crowd.
Priced at £5,900, the watch is available to order from Omega boutiques now.
