Well, the 33rd Olympiad games have just concluded, but we’re not quite done with watch stories. The summer games only happen once every four years (well, three years this past time), so I think they warrant more time than the few weeks that the Olympics give us. That said, instead of bogging you down with two different stories, I’ve decided to combine two surprising Olympics replica watches for sale into one “Hands-On.”
There are a few official timepieces from Omega for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris (and a handful of Swatches too, but I’ll get to those in a future story). There is a five-color set of “Official Timekeeper” Seamasters that didn’t seem to get much attention. Same goes for the very heritage-oriented Canopus/Sedna/Yellow gold Seamasters and Chronographs. There was even a three-color set of wild (and wildly expensive) split-second pocket Swiss made fake watches.
But Omega knows what the customer base wants. Surprisingly, at least surprising to me, was the fact that there was no three-counter Speedmaster Moonwatch like there was for Tokyo – actually, there were a few for Tokyo – but rather a Speedmaster Chronoscope in steel with gold numerals and one in Moonshine gold. The Chronoscope has grown on me. It’s not much larger than the Speedmaster Moonwatch, and the quickset hour hand is a nice feature. The Seamaster for the Olympics is also in keeping Omega’s “gold” theme. It’s possible I’d like the watch better if the bracelet was also two-toned. But what surprised me the most is how two unsuspecting releases have become the most attention-getting AAA UK copy watches from Omega.
The Heritage-Inspired Replica Omega BG 859 Watches
The “Specialties Paris 2024 Bronze Gold Edition” – as it’s called on Omega’s website – aka the “BG 859,” seemingly came out of left field. The cheap fake watches follows in the footsteps of the CK 859, a release I had mostly completely forgotten despite how solid, clean, and classic it was, and the OT 859 in Sedna gold for Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics. But it’s not a watch for timing world record laps or swimming 10,000m in the open water, which is why it felt a bit odd when I saw the release. Instead, this watch is a great reminder of Omega’s classic heritage.
The watch measures 39mm by 11.7mm, housing Omega’s caliber 8926 manually wound Master Chronometer movement with 72-hour power reserve movement. It’s both a strong heritage reissue and gorgeous in the metal. If I didn’t already have my eye on a Speedmaster and Seamaster, this would be a watch I’d seriously consider.
Omega positioned this as an Olympics watch for the same reason as their trios I listed above and the touch of gold on the Chronoscope and Seamaster: materials. The perfect replica watches has a 0.925 (92.5%) silver dial, while the case is the brand’s exclusive Bronze Gold alloy, which is 9K gold mixed with other materials like copper that gives it the bronze hue. I think you get the point here; the watch covers all three Olympic metals – I mean, medals. It also keeps the watch a bit more affordable versus the 18k Sedna gold model, coming in at $12,000 versus $19,200.
I’ve seen the feedback that people might have liked if Omega skipped the “Olympics” branding on the caseback. The fact is, the watch is strong enough as its own release. It frankly doesn’t bother me much. If I could change one thing, that wouldn’t be it.
The dial isn’t quite as creamy silver in person as in the pictures online, but it’s not quite stark white. The “Clous de Paris” pattern at the center really elevates this over the original CK 859, with a lot of the other dial finishing remaining the same. The hands are 18k Sedna gold with a PVD Bronze Gold coating closely matching the case. But, frankly, Omega didn’t need to put the “Ag925” on the dial. As with the caseback engraving, it’s a bit too “on the nose.” Sure, it’s small enough that you won’t see it at a glance, but once you see it, it’s hard to ignore.
That said, I think it’s the 1:1 China super clone watches from Omega’s Olympics releases that I could most imagine adding to my collection. The heritage inspiration is right up my alley. While 36mm would have been more “heritage-sized,” on the wrist it’s a comfortable option and worth a second look for people looking to add a dress watch to their collection.
The Fake Omega Aqua Terra 150m ‘Ultra Light’ Duplantis Edition Watches
The biggest surprise launch of the Olympics, for me at least, was a Gamma Titanium Aqua Terra 150 “Ultra Light” that first showed up last Monday on the wrist of Swedish pole-vaulting phenom Armand “Mondo” Duplantis. We covered the launch of that 55g light-weight timepiece after I noticed it on his wrist during a world-record vault, and the high quality replica watches itself turned up on the Omega website the next morning. I hadn’t seen one of its predecessor models in person, so I didn’t expect to see this one either.
To date, Omega still hasn’t sent out a press release about the Swiss movements fake Omega watches. There’s no doubt that Omega purposefully placed it on Duplantis’ wrist; Daniel Craig also, yet again, wore an unreleased watch (this time a Seamaster 300M) in official pictures put out from his visit to the Olympics and nothing in a company like Omega happens accidentally. But, to be clear, Omega never once reached out and said, “Did you see this?” or “Look closer.” Nor did they provide extra images when asked. Even more amusing, when I asked Omega’s regional PR and their VP of Product, both had a look of complete shock (and almost horror) when they saw the zoomed-in pictures of Craig; they couldn’t share any information about the watch. If you’re going to tease a watch, leaving it up to the passionate fans to notice seems like a fun way to do it. However, I was also shocked that, while sitting at a men’s beach volleyball match near the Eiffel Tower last Wednesday night, the “Duplantis watch” had somehow found me yet again.
This is one of two prototypes for the Duplantis watch, and it was being worn by Gregory Kissling who heads up product management at Omega. As surprised as I was to see the replica watches for men, that was matched how surprised I was that people had such strong – often almost completely incredulous – feelings about a watch that has technically been on the market for nearly 5 years (and was in development for years before that) in some form. One dial color refresh, a world record, and a few stories, and people had thoughts and questions. Well, hopefully, I can answer some of them now.
I won’t try to convince you that the $51,300 price tag is a bargain. It certainly feels far outside what we’ve come to expect from Omega – a brand that gives a lot of value at a reasonable price tag of around $8,000 (plus or minus a few grand). It’s not in my budget, nor does it feel very obviously like a watch that has such a premium price tag. But neither do some Richard Mille. What I can do, however, is try to explain what Omega has told me about the development and horology. Maybe it will still seem a bit high-priced, but at least you’ll understand more about the reason behind it.
When Omega launched this watch – developed in partnership with their longtime ambassador and golf legend Rory McIlroy – at the Omega European Masters in 2019, it was billed not specifically as a golf watch but as a tool that could stand up to the strain of golf. McIlroy, like any great athlete, has his game so dialed in that he feels the impact of an extra few grams on a club on his swing. Keeping the watch light (the goal was 50 grams, but it came in at 55), unobtrusive (from shape to the fact that it’s a non-distracting matte finish), and durable was the goal. The copy watches shop was never meant to be a high-volume commercial product, and as such, it fell off the radar until the renewed interest at the Olympics. There were around 12 athletes at the Olympics wearing various forms of this watch, including Dutch track star Femke Bol, who I watched win a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles.
Omega calls this the “Ultra Light,” and it certainly felt light on the wrist, but at 55 grams, it’s not as remarkable as Ming’s recent 8.8-gram release or a few of the Richard Mille pieces that clock in closer to 12-15 grams. It also is only 21 grams lighter than the BG 859 above and about half the weight of an Aqua Terra 150m in steel on the rubber strap. How much does that matter? People in the comments argued that jewelry, big hair, or watches could slow down an athlete. Over at Wired, physics professor Rhett Allain has crunched the numbers. It turns out that if you left your accessories at home, you’d probably save at most 0.0009 in a sprint, one-fifth of the time between Noah Lyles’s photo-finish gold and his getting a silver. I guess that means he can pull a “Nicolas Hayek” and wear at least four more replica watches UK online site and still win gold.
Now, I think the average watch lover has long since given up the fight of trying to argue about Richard Mille. They’re expensive watches that often have some extremely cool horology, but people have accepted that the prestige, demand, rarity, and hype are also major drivers of Richard Mille’s price tags. Things like RM’s quoted G-force resistance are often impressive, but Omega has largely matched many of those specs here at 1/10th the price.
Take, for instance, the grade 5 titanium movement – something that Richard Mille does as well. Regardless of what you might think, despite the improvements in CNC machining, milling titanium into a movement isn’t as easy as people might tell you, especially when you try to create any level of finishing. I’ve cross-checked this with a number of people in the industry involved in movement manufacturing. That was apparently the high bar (no pun intended) that Omega had set for this movement: not just to make them but to make them look as good as any Master Chronometer movement they make. This also isn’t a matter of judging value by the weight of the movement or material. Titanium is by far the most difficult material to machine when it comes to material used for movements (compared to brass or gold, which are much, much softer). The titanium is then ceramicized for the anodized look.
One other thing to note is shock resistance. Omega is very clear that as a part of each product they release, they test their fake watches for men to 5,000 G’s. This sounds like a lot – Richard Mille touted that same figure for the RM UP-01 (the new RM 27-05 is 14,000 gs) – but that’s the force of the shock of a fall of one meter onto a wood table. For this watch, Omega does these tests in various positions, checking the crystal, crown, and case to make sure it will stand up to the forces of a fall from any angle and implied to me that the watch should hold up to far more shock than the 5,000 G’s. But they also note that a lighter watch will be subjected to less G forces from a fall. Omega also tested the original watch with Rory McIlroy, and the forces of the swing itself were much lower (some estimates say it’s closer to 50 gs or below). The impact forces between the club and the ball cause the most potential issues, around or above 5,000 Gs, and they can travel up the club (which is why the old adage is to not golf or play tennis with a mechanical watch). But while any Omega movement should be able to withstand that shock, different dials or cases might suffer more wear. Here, every part of the watch is over-engineered to resist those forces.
Just like with the movement, the case remains the same as the previous releases. The best quality replica watches is made of Gamma Titanium, an even 50/50 split between aluminum and titanium. Gamma Titanium is less dense than grade two or five which measure 4.5 kilograms per decimeter cube. The density of Gamma Titanium is 3.9, saving a few grams. The material also gives the watch a different shade of gray and increases case hardness to roughly 300 Vickers. The bezel, meanwhile, is in silicon nitrate ceramic like the recently released dark grey Planet Ocean. And finally, it’s all finished in a specially-developed sandblasting for a matte finish that is remarkably fingerprint-free.
Before I look at the other minor features that are the same as the past releases, I just want to point out one other subtle feature I missed in the original launch. The seconds hand, rendered in bright yellow, is pretty neat. First, it’s designed to look like Mondo Duplantis’ vaulting pole, yellow with a white tip (which was literally dipped in SuperLuminova). But more interestingly, the entire piece is perfectly cut by 3D laser machining.
The hands and dial are all made of titanium as well. The top of the dial is coated in a blue PVD scheme to match the Swedish flag color scheme and the underside of the dial is skeletonized to save weight. The elasticized rubber strap is quite comfortable on the wrist as well. Also designed for comfort: the recessed crown.
This was also something that was developed with athletes or active wearers in mind. Instead of having a crown that could potentially dig into your wrist as you flex (like if you’re golfing, playing tennis, or pole vaulting) the crown sits nearly flush with the guards but is easily accessed with a push on the crown, which pops out like a button.
Is this the first watch I’d grab if I had $50,000? Maybe not, but I don’t think it’s as ridiculously overpriced as people thought on first glance. I’m also not the kind of person who considers himself sporty enough for a watch like this. More than that, it’s just unexpected. To me, this feels like a purpose-built tool more than a flex piece – a “halo” release for the sake of it or a “novelty” with a capital “N.” It’s a perfect example of the fact that not every watch has to be for everybody. But those it’s for, like Duplantis or McIlroy or anyone who sees themselves as the amateur version of either, will certainly be able to put it through its paces.
