Pie With A Subtle Menace: Omega Globemaster Annual Calendar Watch Review

Constellation and Globemaster. The aeronautically minded will think of the Lockheed Constellation or the Douglas C74 or C-124 Globemaster. Perhaps the Boeing C-17 Globemaster will come to mind. For the watch fan Constellation and Globemaster from Omega might come to mind. But, have you ever seen one and do these watches deserve your attention? Can this review of an Omega Globemaster annual calendar spark you’re interest in these hidden gems?

A bit of history

The Constellation range was introduced in the 1950s and the name Globemaster was applied to watches sold in the US market because of a trademark dispute with Lockheed Corporation. The Douglas Corporation who made Globemaster aircraft at the time apparently didn’t care. The current Constellation range contains a vast number of watches (516) split into two portfolios; Constellation and Globemaster. These are “dressy” watches within the Omega portfolio and have a very different aesthetic to the sports watches. The Globemaster range was introduced in 2015 and the Annual Calendar watches were released in 2016. The Globemaster designs are thoroughly modern but are influenced by the designs of earlier timepieces.

Design

The design brief for this watch seems simple. Make a modern, highly functional watch which references its history with an unusual complication.

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The Case – The Globemaster range takes a style of watch from the depths of the Omega back catalogue and brings it up to date. The case is 41mm in diameter with a 20mm lug width, a height of 15mm and a lug-tip to lug tip length of 50mm. This is a set of dimensions that will infuriate the small watch brigade but it’s a watch that can be worn by most due to the curvature of the lugs. The case itself is made of stainless steel and has a mixture of brushed and polished surfaces. The sides of the case are rather slab sided in the current Omega fashion and the brushing on the case sides and top of the case reinforce the idea that this is a modern design. The fixed, fluted, tungsten carbide bezel provides a bright contrast to the brushed surfaces of the case.

The crown is small, simple and unguarded. It is a two position pull out crown but still manages to produce a water resistance of 100m. It’s not a dive watch by any means and it’s not supposed to be but the case won’t mind exposure to water even if the blue alligator strap will.

The Dial – More than most recent Omega watches this watch is all about the dial. The return of the pie pan dial should be celebrated as it is a feature of vintage watches that works very well when scaled up to modern sizes. The dial is rhodium plated to give a grey sunburst dial that is constantly changing with the changing light.

The dial is a recreation of the pie pan dial from the 1950s. The central part of the dial is raised and has twelve facets which slope down towards the edge of the dial. These facets are the slices of the pie. The segmentation is amplified by the simple, baton indices at each 5 minute mark. The months of the year appear in abbreviated form between each index. These are rendered in an elegant italicized font and their orientation changes at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions which means that the months are easy to read at each point.

There is a stepped and framed date window at 6 o’clock and this isn’t colour matched. Colour matching the date wheel is a contentious issue. It is regarded as a sign of quality design as it removes a potentially jarring visual element but can make the date hard to read. Just try to read the date on a Seamaster blue and grey… Functionality and legibility is part of this watches design ethos and the white date wheel with black numbers is very legible.

The hour and minute hands are simple lume filled batons. The second hand and the month indicator are also brutally simple with the month indicator being very slim and with a lighter blue colour than the other hands. The hands match the simple indices very well and their simplicity is refreshingly modern compared to the original Globemaster hands and indices.

The rest of the dial is plain. The Omega symbol and text at 12 o’clock are applied and there is an applied star at 6 o’clock. The remainder of the text is printed on to the dial. Different fonts are used the discrete size and dark blue colour do not distract from the lustrous sunburst effect of the dial.

The movement – According to Crown and Calibre (https://blog.crownandcaliber.com/the-perpetual-calendar-complication-a-history/) the first Perpetual Calendar watch was made by English watchmaker Thomas Mudge in 1762. Patek Phillipe created a perpetual calendar pocket watch in 1864 and the first wristwatch to feature this complication in 1927. Patek Phillipe were also the first brand to make an annual calendar watch in 1996. It’s fair to say that the perpetual calendar complication remains niche. It doesn’t have the glamour of a minute repeater or a perpetual calendar complications but it is surprisingly practical and elegant complication. It also won’t need to be reset by a watchmaker in 2100 CE. The Globemaster Annual Calendar uses the Omega Calibre 8922 which is partly visible through a sapphire case back. In the middle of the case back is a medallion of the Neuchatel Observatory with eight stars celebrating Omega breaking eight timekeeping records in 1931. The movement is well decorated but a little plain and monochromatic.

What’s it like to wear?

This is a serious watch. It has a subtle understated class. It makes wish I wasn’t quite so scruffy. Given its size it could dominate smaller wrists. The tungsten carbide bezel catches the light and plays with the rhodium plated dial. It does look best with a dress shirt but works with everything else too. On the alligator strap it weighs 114g and can be worn all day, every day. If you feel the need to add a bit of menace and class to your life this is the watch to wear.

Quibbles

Sharp edges – This watch has been finished to within an inch of its life. The ends of the lugs are quite sharp as a result. This is only on the top of the lugs but I find this to be a tactile dissonance. I don’t expect to feel such sharp points on a watch. I know it’s a measure of how well the case is made but it feels wrong.

Strap monster? – I generally prefer watches on bracelets but there is no bracelet available for any of the Globemaster Annual Calendar watches. If you like to change straps then you will struggle to find anything that suits the watch quite as much as the supplied dark blue alligator strap.

Slippery Crown – Like a lot of modern Omega watches the crown is small and hard to grip.

Conclusions

When the Globemaster Annual Calendar range was released it didn’t garner a good reception from the media. Some didn’t like the fluted bezel and thought Omega copied Rolex. They didn’t, Omega was using fluted bezels in the 1960s. Some didn’t like the font and arrangement of the month abbreviations and some didn’t like the fact that it is 41mm. It’s a very sophisticated watch. It has a METAS certified Annual Calendar movement and subtle design.

The launch of three new Globemaster watches in December 2021 showed Omega’s commitment to the range and design language. There have been some changes to the watch case so that the sharp edges present on the model reviewed are absent. The co-ordination of the available straps to the individual models remained as does the font and text alignment. With a bit of a squint you could say the font resembles that used on Nestlé’s After Eight (thanks Rikki) but there’s nothing wrong with a mint filling enrobed in dark chocolate. The new watches should broaden the appeal of the Globemaster and in the US, at least, the green model is priced below the steel model reviewed. These aren’t bargain priced watches but they are extremely good value, rarely seen, fine timepieces with a touch of history and a whole lot of modern. If you try one, you’re sure to be smitten.

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