Omega De Ville Tourbillon Numbered Edition: The World’s First Antimagnetic Tourbillon

When you think about Omega, what comes to mind? James Bond, the moon landing, the Olympics? Whatever it is, your first thought is probably not tourbillons. However, if you take a close look at Omega’s long history, you’ll discover a handful of very significant milestones in that horological field. It was Omega, in fact, that created the first wristwatch tourbillon movement in 1947. Nearly 50 years later, in 1994, the Swiss brand introduced the first self-winding tourbillon wristwatch with a center-mounted cage, and followed it up a decade later with the first chronometer-certified wrist tourbillon. This week, Omega rolled out its latest achievement: the first manual-winding, wrist-borne tourbillon that meets the rigid standards of Omega’s in-house Master Chronometer certification.

The 43-mm case of the De Ville Tourbillon Numbered Edition combines two precious metal alloys that have become signatures of the Omega brand. The casebody (along with and crown logo and buckle logo) are made of 18K Canopus gold, a proprietary white-gold alloy of particular brilliance, while the bezel, lugs and caseback are in 18K Sedna gold, Omega’s in-house-developed rose-gold alloy that incorporates copper and palladium for a fiery reddish gleam. The dial, also constructed of Sedna gold, has a sun-brushed, black PVD finish. In dead center of the dial is the tourbillon cage, whose hand-polished bevels are made of black ceramized titanium.

For those unfamiliar with the attributes of Omega’s Master Chronometer movements, what sets them apart primarily is their industry-leading level of magnetic resistance. In practice, this means that this watch’s tourbillon escapement, which makes one complete revolution per minute, thus providing a display of the running seconds, can continue its rotation even under the influence of magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss — a watch industry first. The faceted hour and minute hands appear to float under the tourbillon cage in the manner of a mystery clock.

An expansive sapphire window in the caseback movement affords a rear view of the movement, Omega’s Co-Axial Master Chronometer Caliber 2640, and its luxuriously executed mainplate and bridges, made of Sedna gold and featuring hand-polished bevels on their curvaceous edges. Also in full view on the back side of the movement is the arc-shaped indicator for the watch’s power reserve of 72 hours, or three days.

The Omega De Ville Tourbillon Numbered Edition (apparently that means numbered but not a limited edition per se) comes on a black leather strap and boasts Omega’s five-year warranty. It’s packaged in a special presentation box with a travel pouch and a winder; priced at $168,000, it will be available at retail in July 2020.