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Opened July 1999, zOwie is the Internet's first and longest running discussion forum dedicated to Omega brand watches.

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Beat *these* specs, Rolex...

How about these specs:


  • Shock resistance: 3,400Gs / 6.5 milliseconds

  • Temperature resistance: 1,100 degrees Celsius / 30 minutes

  • Water resistance: 20,000 feet

  • Power reserve: 6 years

No, these are NOT the specs of any wristwatch. These are the specs of the flight voice and data recorders installed on modern airplanes.

But for some perspective, compare that to a popular watch like the Omega Seamaster Professional (Quartz):


  • Shock resistance: 5,000Gs

  • Max temperature for normal operation: 70 degrees Celsius

  • Water resistance: 1,000 feet

  • Power reserve: 4 years

I was rather surprised to see that quartz wristwatches can have a HIGHER shock resistance than the flight data recorders! That's a trivia bit you can use to impress your friends!

Even the Omega X-33 with its more fragile LCD display has a shock resistance of 3,500Gs--which is *still* higher than the flight recorders.

[Flight recorder specs from CNN and the National Transportation Safety Board. Omega watch specs from Omega. Omega, like many other watch manuacturers, do not publish specific shock resistance figures for their mechanical watches.]

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