You might roll your eyes at the news of another limited edition from Omega, but this one is a little more special. Omega’s first ever chronograph that was worn on the wrist, the simply named First Omega Wrist-Chronograph features the 18‴ CHRO calibre movement, a manually wound chronograph movement from 1915. These movements are not merely recreated from the 1915 design, but are actually 105 years old, kept all these years in the vaults of the Omega museum and refurbished to modern standards by Omega’s Atelier Tourbillon.
Although the watch employs a hatched caseback that opens to show the movement, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal is on both sides to prevent direct contact with the movement and allow for a splash-proof 3 bars of water resistance.
The triple prime in “18‴ CHRO” refers to the historic unit of measurement “ligne,” which was roughly 2.2558 millimeters, making 18 lignes about 40 millimeters. The rather large movement leads to the case size of 47.5mm, and frankly, that seems like an unwearable size (bigger than a Panerai or the IWC Big Pilot). But hey, why would you? t’s in 18K white gold, and there are only 18 of these in the world. The First Omega Wrist-Chronograph is a museum piece, delivered from Omega’s museum to yours.