Review: Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer
Worldtimer is a watch that is capable of displaying 24-hour time-zones with representative cities at a glance. Similar to a GMT watch, a Worldtimer is a travel watch with a fun complication that may belong to any watch collection. As a frequent traveler, I had wanted to get a Worldtimer for a long time and had been doing research on close to 10 Worldtimers on the market.
When the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer was introduced in May 2019, I knew that this was the one due to its stunning look and reasonable price. I went to a local authorized dealer to place an order, as all the new models would take some time to come. I was offered a discount if I could pay for it full, which I did, and it was in August 2019. To my surprise, the watch was not available for a long time, partly due to the factory shutdown relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was in July 2020, one full year later, that I finally picked up the timepiece. We all know that Rolex sports watches are hard to get, but it is true that certain Omega models are almost the same.
Fortunately, the wait was well worth it! The Omega Worldtimer is immaculately built inside and out, without any trace of defects. The blue dial is gorgeous with a 3-D map of the globe in the center. The globe is showing the northern hemisphere as if looking down from the top of the North Pole. The centre of the dial contains a 24-hour glass ring, with light blue to indicate daytime and dark blue to indicate night. The ring rotates a full circle every 24 hours. On the outermost circle of the dial are the 24 major cities in the world, corresponding to the 24 time zones. By matching the 24-hour ring with the cities, one may get the time for each city. The summer saving time is facilitated by the color difference of the city names.
Setting the time is a bit tricky, especially during the summer saving time. The first step is to turn the 24-hour ring such that the home location time zone is at the correct hour of the day. Then set the central hour hand and minute hand accordingly. The movement provides a hacking function, such that exact time may be set to the second.
Inside, the Worldtimer is driven by the Master Chronometer Calibre 8938 with self winding and 60 hours power reserve. The accuracy of the timing is +1.7 seconds per day averaged over 13 days by my measurement.
The case and bracelet are stainless steel with a case diameter of 43mm. There is a screw-in crown and the water resistance is 150 meters, which makes this Worldtimer a sports watch. The list price is $9100 in 2019 and Omega kept the price the same for 2020.
The only regret of getting a new, stunning Worldtimer this year is that we cannot travel during the pandemic. However, this watch comes in very handy when I work from home and need to talk to colleagues in Asia, Europe and India. I look forward to the days we may travel again, with this beautiful Worldtimer on my wrist.