This has to do with the movement than the dialup, but because we’re looking at the dial anyway, it is a fantastic chance to discuss one of the major differences between the 8601 and the 8500. The 8500 is well known for its independent hour but the 8601 returns to the more traditional manner of setting the time. But you do profit quickset month and date in that exchange. This was essential because to flip the independent hour round the dial twice per date progress it might have taken hours to make it to the appropriate month.There’s another benefit also, namely the date changes instantly at midnight. From the 8601, however, this occurs all at once without a awkward transition between two different numbers. For my personal preferences, this is a huge perk.With its rather subtle dial, you’d expect the situation to follow suit, but you would be wrong. The situation is actually much more adventurous than the rest of the watch.Before we get to the interesting aspects we will discuss its fundamental attributes, namely its 41mm diameter. I think that’s a great, versatile size for your opinion though I wouldn’t mind seeing a smaller dimensions provided alongside it, possibly a 38mm. The side of this case has a very trendy and well-executed vertical brush on it, sandwiched between the polished top and bottom of the watch. As is proper of a dress watch, the crown does not screw down, which makes hand twisting and setting the eye much more convenient. The watch remains rated for 100 meters though, so while you will not be diving inside, it’s not as secure than any given sports watch.
The free sprung balance, as opposed to the smooth equilibrium with ruler, has become the standard in high-end Swiss watches. Though the Germans and Japanese have stayed more or less concentrated on controlled designs, Patek, Journe, Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Omega and now even Tudor have nearly exclusively moved into the free sprung balance. Regulated movements, which possess their own prestigious followers like Grand Seiko and most A. Lange & Sohne, as well as many more reachable Swiss watches (namely those powered by ETA), use another mechanism to control the rate of the motion called the regulator. This device changes the effective period of the hairspring to accelerate or slow down the movement. This creates a watch considerably easier to adjust, so easy that many watch collectors can also do it at home, however it does include possible penalties. To begin with, the regulator may have a disruptive influence on the hairspring, damaging equilibrium, but for another they can “deregulate” over time, causing the eye to deviate progressively more over the course of years.Omega, like Rolex and Patek, however, utilizes a free sprung balance. This actually means, counterintuitively, the watch has one fewer component than their more entry level counterparts, namely the regulator. With no ruler, watchmakers still will need to modify the speed of this movement, and that is usually by way of a varying inertia equilibrium. In a regulated movement, the balance wheel is almost always smooth and it lacks any practical means of adjusting the balance wheel itself. In a free sprung layout, however, the balance wheel could be immediately altered to alter the rate. This is almost always done by way of tiny screws in the rim of the balance wheel, emphasized here. These little screws are usually made in gold, to provide weight, and by advancing or retreating an opposing pair of screws you can speed up or slow down the motion.
One thing that I haven’t shown you is the yearly calendar complication, and there is a good reason for this: you can not see it. But I can tell you a little about how it functions. Basically, the watch knows which months are brief and long. On a 30 day month, at midnight of the 30th, it is going to skip the 31st and go to the 1st, making the watch a bit more suitable to use. What’s the distinction between an annual calendar and the more prevalent (and pricey) perpetual calendar? The endless calendar understands when the jump season is and can correct February accordingly. With this 8601 movement, February is treated as a 30 day month, but based on the year it has either 28 or 29 days. Thus, on an annual calendar such as this, you will need to change the date once per year at the conclusion of February.The De Ville, generally speaking, is one of my favorite lines of Omega watches. Maybe that is not surprising to get a fan of Grand Seiko and Nomos watches, but it is surprising that the line receives so little attention from watch collectors. As many lovers of understated watches are all out there models such as this and the Hour Vision should be huge hits. Obviously, it is not that they’re unliked, more that they’re overshadowed by the mythical Seamaster and Speedmaster lines, and that is a shame. Omega collectors are actually missing out.When I saw this De Ville, albeit the regular date model, I desired that the hands were a bit more provocative. As time’s gone now, I have come to really enjoy how the hands and every individual line of the Roman numerals match perfectly. The polishing on the numerals is especially impressive. They are some of the finest applied markers I’ve ever seen.
The dial, although it looks white, is actually silver, made in the sort of prototypical German fashion which you may find in Nomos, Glashutte Original or ALS. This offers the silver a sort of matte white appearance and lets it have adequate contrast against the silver hands and markers.The great design actually starts with the hands. These are very simple multifaceted stick hands, all which have a slight imprint. The opposing angles of every side give it a type of brushed look, and this also allows it to catch quite different lighting on each edge, raising legibility. The seconds hand is heating blued and looks brilliant against the dial. When these elements are great, it’s what Omega does together elsewhere that actually makes the watch come together.What I love this is that the exact same style of the hands has been carried over into elegant Roman numerals. They are exceptionally angular and finely polished, but what is more important is the fact that it’s cohesive. A real designer, or team of painters, sat down and actually believed this view. I don’t even normally like Roman numerals and I’m dismissed by these.Here we find the biggest visual difference between the annual calendar and regular model. Most men and women expect to find a day complication in this situation, but rather you will find that the month complication. This was (more or less) necessary really for purposes of setting the watch although it does have the functionality of just being able to find the month (in case you forget?) . The date/month rings match the dial very well and there’s a nice beveled edge that smoothly transitions into the complications. I truly enjoy the marginally shortened III mark rather than just removing it completely. You really don’t notice that it is abbreviated at a glance.Of program, the dial also acknowledges itself to be an annual calendar if you forget.
Founded in 1848 by Louis Brandt in the Swiss village La Chaux-De-Fond, Omega have more than 160 years of expertise making some of the world’s finest timepieces. Omega watches have served with distinction supporting the Apollo astronauts on the surface of the moon, and also being the choice of watch for the world’s favourite secret agent –James Bond. Since 1932, Omega have been the official timekeepers to the Olympic games, keeping time of every second of the games and bearing witness to some of sport’s greatest moments.
This Omega DeVille Prestige Ladies Watch comes with a 32.5 mm stainless steel case and a stainless steel bracelet attached.