While it doesn’t have the name recognition of the Speedmaster, Omega’s Constellation collection is one of the Swiss watchmaker’s oldest and most venerable lines. Introduced in 1952 with the famous “pie-pan dial,” the collection of men’s chronometers took on its signature look in 1982, when the watches were overhauled to include barrel-shaped cases with half-moon facets at the top and bottom and four “claws” on the side, integrated mono-link bracelets, circular dials and indexes on the bezel. As of this month, the Constellation Gents’ line has a fresh new look, marking the fifth time the iconic range has been updated in nearly four decades.
All 26 new models in the current collection are housed in 39 mm cases fashioned from 18-karat yellow gold, 18-karat Sedna gold or stainless steel. Like the Constellation ladies’ collection, which received a makeover in 2018, the gents’ pieces now feature polished and bevelled edges along the case, claws and bracelet; slimmer bezels with redesigned Roman numerals; slimmer claws; conical crowns; redesigned hands and hour-markers inspired by the triangular facets of New York City’s Freedom Tower; and metal bracelets with new mid-bar links and a comfort-release function, or leather straps in various colours.
The upgrade also includes a behind-the-scenes update: All of the new Constellation Gents’ models boast master chronometer movements, denoting their superior precision, performance and magnetic resistance.
In the years since its debut in 1982, the Constellation collection has been redesigned four times: with a “softer and rounder” style in 1995, with Omega’s first Co-Axial calibre 2500 in the 2003 “Double Eagle” model, and further refined (and made more feminine) in 2009 with the Constellation ’09 style.
The current Gents collection begins at US$5,280 (or about RM21,590) for the steel-cased models on leather straps. Steel models on bracelets are US$6,050 (about RM24,738); the two-tone steel and Sedna gold or steel and yellow gold models are US$7,450 (about RM30,463); the two-tone on steel bracelet models are US$9,000 (about RM36,801); the two-tone models on leather straps with diamond indices are US$9,100 (about RM37,201); and the two-tone styles on bracelets with diamond indices are US$10,600 (about RM43,343). The line tops out at US$31,000 (about RM126,759) for the all-gold (case and bracelet) style.
